This is a Fall Break workshop for anyone in the physical and earth sciences, ranging from theoretical physics to observational cosmology to field geology.

The research you are doing right now stands on centuries of modern scientific journals and books, and sometimes, it can be challenging to figure out what to prioritize in your article or paper's introduction — not to mention find everything you need to cite. This is a 60-minute workshop for anyone in the sciences facing these challenges.

We will discuss:

How thorough you need to be (and the types of background research reviews to consider)

How to locate important preexisting review papers

Advanced search techniques in databases that will bring your work to the next level

Learning objectives:

Participants will identify how background research overviews fit into the broader category of review writing in the sciences.

Participants will use library resources to locate preexisting review papers in an area.

Participants will use advanced search techniques to construct a search, and they will save their results, in the Web of Science or Scopus.

Any student who participates in at least 3 library workshops during the fall 2022 semester will be eligible for a prize. Learn more about the Workshop Incentive Program.