Learn Independently

These resources will introduce you to the University’s Discovery tool, OneSearch, and some of the databases available to you as a student at Lancaster University. They are suitable for students at all levels.

Using OneSearch:

• Getting started with OneSearch tutorial
• OneSearch: Searching for a Journal by Title
• OneSearch: How to log in and use when off-campus
• OneSearch: Getting started with topic searching
• OneSearch: doing a basic search
• OneSearch: How to find a specific ebook

Using Web of Science:

• Topic search using Web of Science
• Refining and sorting your results in Web of Science

Google Scholar:

• Linking Google Scholar to Library Collections

These resources offer guidance in searching the literature at all levels of study, and include resources on defining the question, carrying out a literature review, systematic literature searching and what to do if you have too few or too many results.

Defining the question with PICO is relevant for students in FHM, and the Systematic literature searching topic guide is useful for anyone required to carry out a systematic literature review.

• Defining the question
• Defining the question with PICO
• Searching the literature Topic Guide
• Systematic literature searching Topic Guide
• Too many results?
• Too few results?
• Writing a literature review for science and technology students

These resources introduce you to the principles of referencing and plagiarism, and provide guidance on setting up and using the reference management tools EndNote Online, EndNote Desktop and RefWorks. They are suitable for students at all levels.

• Introduction to referencing and reference management tools
• What is plagiarism?

This interactive resource can help you with your time management for study:

• Time Management

These short videos contain tips and advice from students on how to approach studying online:

• Using Moodle to support online learning
• Managing time effectively whilst studying online
• Making the most of online lectures
• Approaches to types of online teaching
• Communication and collaboration

These interactive resources can help you to develop your academic reading and writing skills. They are suitable for all undergraduate and postgraduate taught students, especially if you are new to university study.

• Essay basics
• Using your reading in your writing

• Structuring a scientific report
• Writing the introduction to a scientific report
• Writing the methods section for a scientific report
• Writing the results section for a scientific report
• Writing the discussion section for a scientific report

These resources contain advice on preparing for written assignments and some exams at university. They are suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate taught students.

• Understanding your assessment task
• Preparing for online open book exams 2022
• Preparing for in-person exams 2022

In the resources below, students share their experiences and advice on preparing for online exams:

• Video 1: Preparing for online exams
• Video 2: Preparing your workstation for an online exam
• Video 3: Ways to reduce anxiety about online exams
• Audio 1: Advice for students who are new to online exams
• Audio 2: Similarities and differences between online and in-person exams

These resources contain ideas and activities to develop your critical thinking. The first one is suitable for postgraduate taught students and the videos are suitable for undergraduate students. For access to more resources on this theme, please sign up to your Faculty Learning Developers’ Moodle site, using the link from the Learning Development page.

• Developing critical argument

• What does it mean to be critical?
• How to develop a more critical approach

These resources can support the development of your maths and stats skills. They are suitable for undergraduate and postraduate students from all disciplines. For more maths and stats resources related to your area of study, please sign up to your Faculty MASH (Maths and Stats Hub) Moodle site.

Mathcentre - quick reference topic guides, teach yourself booklets, practice and revision booklets, video tutorials and more.

Mathtutor - excellent for revision of some of the main maths subjects: arithmetic, algebra, functions & graphs, geometry & vectors, trignometry, differentiation and integration.

Statstutor - statistics support materials, including bite-sized SPSS video tutorials.

Paul's online notes - online maths tutorials and notes created by Paul Dawkins.

HostMath - an online tool for equation writing.

Desmos - Graph functions, plot data, evaluate equations, explore transformations and more.

GeoGebra math apps - online maths tools for graphing, geometry, 3D and more.

Maths Glossary -online glossary of maths terms created by Greg Kuperberg.

These resources provide useful tips and advice for working in groups and presenting at University.

• Group work 1 Making a positive start
• Group work 2 Making group decisions
• Group work 3 Reviewing progress
• Group work 4 Making discussions work
• Tips for academic presentations
• Presentations - preparation checklist
• Presentations - self evaluation

To support you in navigating the digital library while the library building is closed, we have created a series of 'Top Tips in using the Digital Library which are available through the Lancaster University Library YouTube channel

This resource will introduce you to the library and the access it gives to many resources that can help enhance your employability, including databases you can use to research companies and industries to increase your commercial awareness. The tutorial will take around 20 minutes to complete.

The link to the tutorial is here: https://articulate.library.lancs.ac.uk/articulate/employability