Workshops and Tours

There are many opportunities available to learn more about the library's resources. The following workshops can be scheduled for any group or class of 5 or more people. Here follows descriptions of available workshops and links to register for those currently scheduled.

Workshop Descriptions

Creating Metadata Using National/International Standards
(Interested parties should contact Cynthia Dietz, Map Librarian, for details)

Evaluating Sources for Research
There is so much information available at your fingertips, how do you filter out what’s usable from the garbage? This workshop will go over the basics about what criteria you can use to determine what information is better for your research papers and what’s best left out.

Extreme Googling
See a Librarian reveal some of the secret powers of Google’s amazing search engine. Learn new ways to defy ignorance and the merely unthinkable. See Google challenge scholarship and lose! Watch as Google redefines the law! Go places you never dreamed were possible sitting down! Discussion and live demonstrations of: Google Images, Google Video, Search Operators, Google Maps, Google Local, Google Earth, Number Searches, Google Statistics, Google Scholar, Definitions, Google Geekery, Google Trends

Federated Search: an Introduction to Galaxy.
Galaxy is the Library's new federated search system that allows you to search across multiple databases at the same time. Learn how Galaxy works and how to use it most effectively.

How to Avoid Plagiarism and use Citations
In this workshop you will learn how to write a paper without committing plagiarism, become familiar with the components of a citation and how to locate the source it represents, get an overview of different citation styles and learn why correct usage is important when trying to avoid plagiarism in your own work.

How to Find Government Information.
Learn how to find the many sources of information that the government provides, where it is located and how it is categorized.

The Library and Research: the Basics.
In this workshop, learn how to get started doing research, where to look for information (books, articles and websites), narrow your topic, use subject headings vs. keywords, evaluate sources as well as how to find course reserves, review your library account and renew books online.

Library Tours
Take a tour of the Melville Library’s main public service areas. Learn about our collections and services and get some freebies while you’re here. Meet us @ the Central Reading Room, Melville Library. All tours run about 30 minutes. .

Long Island's Geospatial Data
(Interested parties should contact Cynthia Dietz, Map Librarian, for details) 

Managing your Research Using Endnote- Basic, Advanced or Subject/Discipline Specific
Creating the bibliography is often the most tedious part of writing a research paper. Using EndNote, a bibliographic management software program, this task just became much easier. In this workshop learn:

• How to create an EndNote Library
• How to download results from a literature search into EndNote,
• How to organize your EndNote Library
• How to insert your references into a MS Word document
• How to format your bibliography.

For those who are using EndNote already, but have specific questions, or want to learn how to take advantage of ALL the advanced features and customization options, EndNote Advanced offers:

• Customize filters and output styles
• Attaching Pdf documents
• Attaching objects/images
• Figure numbering
• Footnotes
• Creating term lists
• Traveling library

Discipline specific. Basics and some advanced features will be presented, focusing on using EndNote with databases or other resources specific to a discipline.

Patent Searching: An Introduction
All you ever wanted to know, well maybe not all, about patent searching. In this workshop learn the basic tools and techniques used for searching information on current patents and for those pending.

SciFinder Scholar
SciFinder Scholar is one of the premier databases for searching chemical literature and it is also a valuable research tool for biology, physics, geology and the medical sciences. This workshop will focus on how to search SciFinder Scholar by topic, author, chemical name, CAS Registry Number and structure. Learn how to locate full-text articles using ChemPort. Experience using structure drawing programs is recommended but not necessary.  

Searching the Internet like a Pro: Tips for Expert Searching
There is so more online than you think. Find out about tools and tips for searching online. Whether you’re looking for articles for a research paper or personal use, this workshop will inform. Find out about meta-search engines and the Deep (or Invisible) Web. Also learn a little about evaluating what you find. Bring questions and tips and tricks to share with others, we can all learn from each other. Send questions ahead by email.  

• Find books
• Print journals
• Review your borrower information
• Renew books online
• Find Course Reserves
• Plus much more  

Using the Internet for Historical Research.
More and more valuable historical information can now be found on the Internet, especially primary source material being digitalized by libraries and research institutions around the world. This workshop will highlight some of the most interesting Web sites and discuss search methods to help you find quality historical information when you need it.

Web of Science
The Web of Science is a multidisciplinary database indexing the most prestigious, high impact research journals in the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Sciences. This workshop will cover basic searching of the Web of Science as well as more advanced features such as cited reference searches, advanced searches, citation alerts and the analyze results tool.

Where are the Journal Articles?
You’ve been asked to write a research paper using at least three journal articles from peer-reviewed journals. What does that mean and how do you find them? This workshop will go over what peer-reviewed means, where to find the articles, how to find out if an article is or isn’t peer-reviewed and which databases are best for which subject matter.

Where are the Science and Engineering Journal Articles?
Discover which databases are best for these specialized subject areas.

To View our Current Workshop Schedule, click here.

To schedule one of the workshops or a customized session for your class, click here.