Skip to Main Content Header and Footer Templates

A Social Work Research Guide

Social work research guide

Boxes on This Sessions & Handouts Page

Here are links to the boxes on this Sessions & Handouts page.  The links will quickly jump the screen to the boxes of information.
Tutorial Videos
Brown School Library Sessions
Additional Sessions at WUSTL
Brown School Library Session Handouts
 

Tutorial Videos

Brown School Library Sessions

Feel free to attend the following library sessions.  Many of the sessions offer hands-on instruction.  In addition to Brown School Library sessions, the list includes selected sessions from WashU's Becker Medical Library and WashU's Olin Library.

Catalog of Library Materials
Learn how to search the catalog, request WashU items, set up a reading history, and renew checked out items.  No registration needed.
     By appointment or Recorded session

Course Reserves Tips
Learn how to find and use the Brown School course reserves located in the Library Catalog and Ares.
          Please email the Library for a one-on-one or small group appointment: brownlibrary@wustl.edu 

Current Work on the WashU Papyri
Roger Bagnall, honorary professor of Classics; Alexander Free, visiting researcher from the University of Munich; and Will Sieving, a grad student in the John and Penelope Biggs Department of Classics, will discuss recent advancements in the conservation, digitization, and editing of the 451 papyri from Roman and Byzantine Egypt. These papyri are owned by the John and Penelope Biggs Department of Classics and are housed in the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections at WashU Libraries.
     December 6,  4:00 ‒ 5:00 p.m., Olin Library, Room 142

Don’t Sign Your Rights Away: Author's Rights
Hope to publish an article in the future? Learn how to retain your copyrights so you can freely use your own work for teaching, scholarly, and professional activities.  Otherwise, you may have to pay the publisher in order to use your own work.  Learn about WashU's open access repository for articles. No registration needed.
          By appointment or PowerPoint slides

Evidence-Based Resources
Learn about the evidence-based resources.  Covers evidence-based databases, websites, and filters.  These resources should save you some time when doing evidence-based assignments.  No registration needed.
          By appointment or Tutorial

Finding Similar Phrases for Database Searching
Learn how to find similar phrases in order to expand your database search.  Covers the research guide tab, database thesauri, database words, and a thesaurus.  No registration needed.
          By appointment or Recorded session

GIS Week in November  (Geographic Information Systems) (November 2024)
Learn about some geospatial resources at WUSTL.

GIS in Indian Country

Join us as we celebrate Geography Awareness Week with a discussion featuring Garrett Couch, GISP, President of the National Tribal Geographic Information Support Center (NTGISC), also known as Tribal GIS. Mr. Couch will discuss topics related to GIS activities in Indian Country, including defining Indian Country, exploring the geography of federally recognized tribes today, examining the intersection of geospatial activity in Indian Country from historic to modern times.
     November 20,  2:00 - 3:30 p.m., Olin Library, Room 142
     Please register: https://library.wustl.edu/events/gis-in-indian-country
Native Space: Mapping, Expulsion, and Confinement in 19th-century North America
The fall meeting of the Geospatial Working Group features Balraj Gill, an Indigenous Studies Postdoctoral Fellow at WashU, who will discuss Native relationships with space and place as settlers colonized and transformed Native space during the 19th century in what is called North America. The talk will explore Native epistemologies of space alongside settler mapping, the expulsion of Native peoples from their homelands, and their confinements in concentrated spaces when tribal nations and communities evaded expulsion.  Presentation will be followed by group discussion and light refreshments.
     November 18,  4:00 - 5:30 p.m., Olin Library, Room 142
     Please register: https://library.wustl.edu/events/geospatial-working-group-fall-meeting-featuring-balraj-gill
Protecting the Cultural Resources of the Seminole Tribe
Join us as we celebrate Geography Awareness week with a virtual presentation and discussion with guests from the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Juan J. Cancel, Assistant Director of the Tribal Historic Preservation Office, and Joseph Nicholas Butler, Chief Data Analyst, will discuss their work in helping to protect and preserve cultural resources tribal lands in the southwest.
     November 19,  10:00 - 11:00 a.m., via Zoom
     Please register: https://library.wustl.edu/events/protecting-the-cultural-resources-of-the-seminole-tribe

Green Get-It Button
Learn how to use the green get-it button to retrieve full text items. Learn what to do when the full text doesn't display. No registration needed.
     By appointment or Recorded session 

Index, A History of the (Book Club Discussion)
If you’ve ever written a research paper, looked up a recipe, consulted a dictionary, or just needed to check on something you’re sure was in a book, you’ve used an index. These lists of words are an indispensable part of navigating the information landscape, but have you ever given a thought of just how the index came to be?  Join us for the December virtual book club to discuss Index, A History of the by Dennis Duncan and delve into the fascinating story of how information is structured (it’s a fun read; we promise!) along with a look at some historical examples.
     December 11,  3:00 ‒ 4:00 p.m., via Zoom
     Please register: https://library.wustl.edu/events/index-a-history-of-the

Interlibrary Loan (Mobius and ILLiad)
WashU cannot buy every book and journal that is available.  Learn how to use the interlibrary loan system to request items that WashU does not own.  No registration needed.
     By appointment or Recorded session

Library Resources After Graduation
Learn about the library resources that are available to you after you graduate.  No registration needed.
     November 18,  8:30 - 9:00 p.m., via Zoom
     November 20,  8:30 - 9:00 p.m., via Zoom
     November 21,  9:00 - 9:30 a.m., via Zoom
     November 21,  4:15 - 4:45 p.m., Goldfarb Hall, room 359
     December 11,  8:00 - 8:30 p.m., via Zoom
     December 12,  10:00 - 10:30 a.m., via Zoom
     By appointment or PowerPoint

Love Data Week (expected February 2025)

Medline via PubMed: A Fantastic, Free Health Database
Learn how to effectively search Medline via PubMed for public health, psychological, and therapeutic information. Covers MeSH searching, applying limits, using the search history, changing the results display, accessing full text, using the evidence-based clinical queries, and more.  No registration needed.
     By appointment or Recorded session

Open Access Month (October 2025)
A series of events highlighting trends in open science, open data and open access.  Presented by Bernard Becker Medical Library and Washington University Libraries with sponsorship from the Digital Intelligence & Innovation (DI2) Accelerator.

Python Workshops
Recorded sessions are in the Previous Workshops section, Python tab: https://becker.wustl.edu/services/research-computing/

R Workshops
Recorded sessions available. Introduction to R sessions: https://wustl.app.box.com/s/xz68on19wnnp8o0jtctz5h8i4pvcaaqn
Recorded sessions available: Advanced Data Visualization and data wrangling in R: https://wustl.app.box.com/s/gsxu4l7qma5yfgqdd60zzayj9kii0v7e

REDCap Workshops
REDCap is a secure, web-based application for building and managing online databases and surveys, but you do not need web development or computer programming experience to use REDCap. REDCap has built-in quality assurance/quality improvement features and is HRPO compliant. If you have a WUSTL Key, you can use REDCap for free!   Note: some REDCap workshops are recorded.  The recordings are available at the following website: Recorded sessions available

Search Strategies for Database Searching  
Learn about the basic search strategies and use them in a database search in order to find relevant articles. Covers Boolean Operators, truncation, phrase searching, field qualification, proximity operators, using the search history, and applying limits. No registration needed.  
     By appointment or Tutorial

Social Explorer Census & Social Statistics    
Learn how to use Social Explorer for census and social statistics.  Generate maps.  Overview of the 2010 census and the American Community Survey.  Produce statistical reports through the Premade, Keyword, and table features (age, race, households, education, income, etc.).  No registration needed.
          By appointment

Social Welfare Policies & Services Class: Library Resources    
Learn about library resources that may help you with your Social Welfare Policies & Services class assignments. Covers Congress.gov, ProQuest Congressional, CQ Researcher, PAIS, and more.  No registration needed.
     By appointment

Tour the Brown School Library    
Take a walking tour of the Brown School Library and learn where the resources are located.  No registration needed.   
           By appointment

Zotero Sessions
-1- Zotero Citation Manager
Learn how to use Zotero to organize citations and create APA bibliographies.  No registration needed.
     By appointment or Recorded session

Here is the above list in chronological order:
November 20,  2:00 - 3:30 p.m., GIS in Indian Country, Olin Library, Room 142
November 20,  8:30 - 9:00 p.m., Library Resources after Graduation, via Zoom
November 21,  9:00 - 9:30 a.m., Library Resources after Graduation, via Zoom
November 21,  4:15 - 4:45 p.m., Library Resources after Graduation, Goldfarb Hall, room 359
December 6, 4:00 ‒ 5:00 p.m., Current Work on the WashU Papyri, Olin Library, Room 142
December 11,  3:00 ‒ 4:00 p.m., Index, A History of the, via Zoom  
December 11,  8:00 - 8:30 p.m., Library Resources After Graduation, via Zoom
December 12,  10:00 - 10:30 a.m., Library Resources After Graduation, via Zoom

Additional Sessions at WUSTL

Brown School Library Session Handouts