Courses, introductions, lectures
Information literacy offers
We offer courses on the following topics.
Please refer to the "Training dates" page for the exact dates.
Orientation in the library and catalogue
We will give you a tour of the library and its services. We will also explain the most important functions of the catalogue.
After the event
- you will know the most important services for working and learning in the library,
- be able to search for books, journals and other media in the catalogue,
- you will know the different ways of borrowing media,
- know the functionalities of your library account.
Duration: 60 minutes
Show news or on request (for groups of 5 or more)
Orientation in the library and catalogue - with the help of the KOMO learning platform
In the course, you can discover the library's user areas and services by completing tasks in KOMO. You will also learn how to use the catalogue.
After the course
- you will know the most important services for working and learning in the library,
- be able to search for books, journals and other media in the catalogue,
- you will know the different ways of borrowing media,
- know the functions of your library account.
Dates and enrolment: Self-enrolment for the course - Enrolment takes place with your university account. The password for enrolment in the course is: Orientieren579
Duration: approx. 60 minutes
Plan a literature search
Writing a scientific paper involves systematic literature research and analysing the relevant specialist literature. We will show you how to prepare a literature search and which aspects need to be considered. You will consolidate what you have learnt with small exercises.
After the event, you will be able to
- determine meaningful search terms based on your topic,
- decide which tools and research instruments are relevant for your topic,
- apply different search strategies,
- name different types of documents.
Duration: 45 minutes
Find literature in the library catalogue
We will show you tips and tricks on how to use the catalogue effectively and how to find and use the electronic, printed and audiovisual information media offered by the library. You will consolidate what you have learnt with small exercises.
After the event
- you will be familiar with various search techniques, e.g. combining search terms,
- you will be able to create and manage watch lists to compile and edit literature on your topic,
- know the different ways of accessing electronic documents from home (via VPN or Shibboleth),
Dates and registration on request (for groups of 5 or more)
Duration: 30 minutes
Find literature in databases
We will show you how to find and select the databases relevant to you from the library's range. Using two databases as examples, we will show you how to research effectively. You will consolidate what you have learnt with small exercises.
After the event
- you will be able to apply various search strategies in databases,
- know the search options and the specifics of individual databases.
- know the different ways of accessing databases licensed by the library and electronic documents from home (via VPN or Shibboleth).
Duration: 45 minutes
Find essays in the Central Discovery Index
We will introduce you to the Central Discovery Index as a search portal, especially for finding essays. You will consolidate what you have learnt with small exercises.
After the event
- you will know the difference between our catalogue and the Central Discovery Index,
- know the different ways of accessing electronic documents found via CDI from home (via VPN or Shibboleth),
- you will be able to apply various search strategies.
Duration: 30 minutes
Dates and registration on request (for groups of 5 or more)
Find literature in Google Scholar
We will show you how you can search for literature in Google Scholar, how you can use the Paderborn library link in the hit list to quickly access the document and how you can further edit the results list.
After the event you will be able to
- name the advantages and disadvantages of searching with Google Scholar,
- assess the extent to which the search tool supports you in your research needs.
Dates and registration on request (for groups of 5 or more)
Duration: 30 minutes
Find literature with AI tools
We will introduce you to some selected AI tools that are suitable for literature research and give you tips on how to evaluate these tools. We will also make a comparison between literature research with AI tools and traditional library research tools (catalogues, databases, etc.).
After the event
- you will be familiar with various AI tools for literature research,
- be able to name the possibilities and problems of researching with these tools,
- be able to assess the extent to which the tools support you in your research questions,
- be able to evaluate research results in AI tools and in library research instruments.
Duration: 90 minutes
Evaluating literature - recognising quality
When researching literature, you will come across a wide variety of sources. We will show you how to assess quality and suitability.
After the event
- you will know the criteria for assessing the quality of scientific sources,
- you will be sensitised to the problems of internet sources and research with AI tools,
- you will be able to critically evaluate your research results.
Duration: 45 minutes
Manage literature and organise knowledge with Citavi
With Citavi you can manage literature for your academic work, organise your knowledge and keep track of your tasks.
Citavi helps you with your research: You can use a Citavi picker to transfer references from databases and catalogues to Citavi and use them to create a bibliography.
Citavi helps you analyse texts: You can mark text passages in PDF documents and insert them as citations in your academic work. Of course, you can also record citations from non-electronic texts in Citavi.
Citavi helps you to organise your ideas and knowledge: In Citavi, you can create an outline of your academic paper and link it to references, citations and pending tasks.
In the course, we use the standard version - not the web version - of Citavi.
After the course
- you will have an overview of the most important functionalities of Citavi,
- you will have an impression of the extent to which Citavi can support you in your academic work.
Duration: 90 minutes
Changing citation styles in Citavi
In Citavi you will find a large number of common citation styles that you can use for your bibliography or for citations in your academic work. However, if you would like to work with your own style, you can use an existing citation style in Citavi as a template and customise it according to your own ideas.
Manage literature and organise knowledge with Zotero
With Zotero, you can access a platform-independent literature management programme. It can be used for common operating systems such as Mac OS, Windows and Linux. In addition to classic document types such as books or journal articles, entries can also be created for videos, websites or podcasts, for example. PDF documents can be provided with notes and markings, and it is also possible to transfer marked text passages as quotations.
After the event
- you will have an overview of the most important functionalities of Zotero,
- you will have an impression of the extent to which Zotero can support you in your scientific work.
Duration: 90 minutes
Customised expert advice
Do you have questions about specialised research? Do you need personalised advice on specialist databases and specialist information services? Are you looking for literature for your seminar papers and theses?
Take advantage of our personalised advice service. The library's subject librarians are available to you personally during their service hours (usually Mon-Fri: 9:00-15:00) as contact persons for the departments listed below.
We will be happy to advise you!
| Ursula Hlubek | German Studies and Comparative Literary Studies, Media Studies, Romance Studies |
| Laura Kupke | Chemistry, Nutrition and Consumer Education, Education Studies, Art, Music, Psychology, Sports Science, Textiles |
Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, | |
| Gerd Richter | Sociology |
Mathematics, Philosophy, Economics | |
| Julia Weidner | English and American Studies, History, Theology |
How do I publish my doctoral dissertation via the publication service?
The course is aimed at doctoral candidates and teaches them how to publish a doctoral dissertation via the Paderborn University's publication service. Participants are given an overview of the dissertation submission process.
Duration: approx. 30 minutes
Open Access for beginners
The event is designed to give an overview of the ideas, principles and publication channels of Open Access and to provide an initial insight into the topic. The idea of "Open Access" will be explained in the context of Open Science and how it relates to the academic publishing system. You will also learn how you can support and benefit from Open Access.
No prior knowledge is required.
Duration: approx. 30 minutes
Open Access: Understanding and selecting CC licences
The lecture provides an overview of the legal framework and options for publishing in open access. Among other things, it highlights the most important issues in connection with the granting of Creative Commons licences for first publications in Open Access and what options exist for secondary publication.
Duration: approx. 30 minutes
Online tutorial on literature research for secondary school students
The students work independently to acquire the skills required for literature research for their specialised work. They start by searching for important terms on the topic, develop search strategies and get to know research tools, in particular the library catalogue. A virtual tour gives them an impression of the library's premises. An important aspect of research is literature evaluation. The students are given criteria for this topic, which they can use to assess the extent to which a source is suitable for a research paper.
At the end, there is the opportunity to carry out guided literature research and evaluation for their own subject and to prepare for a visit to the library.
The content is taught using texts, short videos and various types of tasks.
Note: If you would like more information about the online tutorial and access to it, please send an email to: schulung@ub.uni-paderborn.de.
Duration: approx. 90 minutes
Workshops
The University Library offers literature research workshops for groups of sixth form students with a maximum of 20 participants to prepare them for their dissertation. A teacher must accompany the group. Unfortunately, entire year groups cannot be organised for reasons of space and staffing.
The workshop begins with a short orientation tour of the library. The pupils then work on the skills required for literature research for their specialised work, with our expert guidance and support. They start by searching for important terms relating to the topic, develop search strategies, learn about research tools and finally learn how to find books in the library collection that they have researched in the catalogue. An important aspect of research is literature evaluation. Students are given criteria for this topic, which they can use to assess the extent to which a source is suitable for a research paper. We use the following methods to convey the content: Guided tour, keynote speeches, brainstorming, exercises in small group work.
Duration: 90 minutes
Enquiry: schulung@ub.uni-paderborn.de (In October and November, no events for pupils can be offered due to the high number of first semester introductions).
Writing counselling
When writing term papers or theses, a wide range of questions can arise relating to academic writing. The Writing Competence Centre offers students of all subject areas and semesters the opportunity to receive individual advice on Wednesdays from 13:00 to 14:00 and Thursdays from 13:00 to 14:00 at the library's Information Centre.
You can find more information on the website https://www.uni-paderborn.de/universitaet/kompetenzzentrum-schreiben/individuelle-schreibberatung
Studentisches Gesundheitsmanagement
Prüfungssituationen oder andere stressige Momente können besser bewältigt werden, wenn Entspannungs- und Atemtechniken angewendet werden. Das Team von mein beneFIT@upb.de stellt solche Techniken vor, so dass diese Übungen recht einfach in die Praxis umgesetzt werden können.
Further information
For groups of five or more, we are happy to put together events from the individual modules according to your wishes. Please contact us!
E-mail : schulung@ub.uni-paderborn.de
Phone: +49 5251 60-2017