Workshops

Ask us any questions on using the Library's resources or services, from where to find support with referencing, essay writing or doing a literature review. Our Library drop-in gives you the opportunity to speak to a friendly member of the Library and Student Team to get support and guidance.

Drop-ins are open to all University of Manchester students, researchers and staff. In peak times you may need to wait, support and advice will be provided as quickly as possible. You can join the drop-in at any time during the session!

Booking on

We encourage booking onto the event and participants are encouraged to bring their own laptops or tablets to the Library drop-in. If you don't have access to a device, there is equipment to borrow.

Further support

Talk to us online via Library Chat now. Alternatively, you can email us for advice at tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

In this session you will use a model for critical analysis to inform your critical thinking and support your analysing of new information. The model will move you from observing a source to connecting it to your own knowledge, and guide you in critically examining the new knowledge in the context of what you already understand. We will have some examples to use on the day, but you are certainly welcome to bring a chapter, image or other item from within your own subject to practice with.

Booking on

Due to popularity, booking onto the event is essential to ensure a place.

Further support

Talk to us online via Library Chat now. Alternatively, you can email us for advice at tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

Perfectionism has a way of robbing us of that glow of achievement and ultimately making us miserable. Having high standards is good but not if they make everything in life so challenging that we are exhausted before we have even started!

If you find that you are never really satisfied with your achievements, spend a lot of time procrastinating rather than working and are increasingly self-critical, then this could be the workshop for you.

Booking on

Due to popularity, booking onto the event is essential to ensure a place.

Further support

Talk to us online via Library Chat now. Alternatively, you can email us for advice at tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

Do you find yourself losing marks for referencing, spelling or grammar? This session will highlight how proofreading a written piece of work to a high standard will improve your marks and increase your academic success. You will work with others to define the term proofreading and understand its place in the process of academic writing. Finally, you will get the chance to put what you have learnt into practice, working together as a group to effectively proofread a sample piece of work.

Booking on

Due to popularity, booking onto the event is essential to ensure a place.

Further support

Can't make this session? Talk to us online via Library Chat now, or send us an email: tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

We all procrastinate to some extent. It may even be necessary to let things percolate in the mind before putting pen to paper or finger to keyboard. But when you find that you simply cant get down to work yet dream of handing in the perfect piece of work, that nagging guilt spoils your leisure time, that you are becoming increasingly self-critical about your abilities, then its probably time to tackle your procrastination.

We will seek to understand the causes of procrastination and look at practical ways to overcome it.

Booking on

Due to popularity, booking onto the event is essential to ensure a place.

Further support

Talk to us online via Library Chat now. Alternatively, you can email us for advice at tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

This workshop will focus on how to reference sources in your writing. We will consider different ways of incorporating the work of others into your writing including using quotations, summarising and paraphrasing. We will also discuss how to find the right balance between the work of others (references and data), and your own voice in your academic writing by adding in your own analysis and connecting your ideas to your main argument in order to answer the assignment question.

Booking on

Due to popularity, booking onto the event is essential to ensure a place.

Further support

Talk to us online via Library Chat now. Alternatively, you can email us for advice at tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

This workshop explores how sources are used within a literature review, with a particular focus on analysis and evaluation. Students will have the opportunity to practise constructing an argument through engagement with academic literature, identifying connections between sources and drawing out key themes, ideas, and questions. By the end of the session, students should feel confident in approaching synthesis in a way that enables their literature review to articulate a clear perspective and develop a coherent argument, rather than simply summarising existing research.

Booking on

Due to popularity, booking onto the event is essential to ensure a place.

Further support

Talk to us online via Library Chat now. Alternatively, you can email us for advice at tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

A workshop focused on practical revision tips and advice ensuring you maximise your efficiency and focus on the build up to assessments. Come and spend some time with our teaching and learning team to consider how your revision system can be refined, aligning your revision with your assessment for efficient time management. There will be time to connect the workshop to your own specific assessments with support from our team, including experienced students.

Booking on

Due to popularity, booking onto the event is essential to ensure a place.

Further support

Can't make this session? Talk to us online via Library Chat now, or send us an email: tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

A workshop focused on taking your revision to the next level by focusing on the connections and links between your course areas. Spend some time exploring how your studies so far piece together to ensure that you are fully prepared for your assessments with strategies to connect, explore and apply your understanding making the crucial links and unlocking your grades. There will be time to connect the strategies in the workshop to your individual circumstances and assessment model with support from our teaching and learning team, including experienced students.

Booking on

Due to popularity, booking onto the event is essential to ensure a place.

Further support

Talk to us online via Library Chat now. Alternatively, you can email us for advice at tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

In this session you will use a model for critical analysis to inform your critical thinking and support your analysing of new information. The model will move you from observing a source to connecting it to your own knowledge, and guide you in critically examining the new knowledge in the context of what you already understand. We will have some examples to use on the day, but you are certainly welcome to bring a chapter, image or other item from within your own subject to practice with.

Booking on

This event will take place on the online video conferencing app Zoom.us. Booking onto the event is essential to receive the link and passcode to join. Select 'find out more' to book your place!

Further support

Can't make this session? Talk to us online via Library Chat now, or send us an email: tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

Important information on Microsoft Teams:

All University of Manchester students and staff should have access to Microsoft Teams. For information on using Microsoft Teams, please visit the IT Services website:

https://www.itservices.manchester.ac.uk/ourservices/popular/microsoft365/teams/

For general support using Microsoft Teams, please visit the following website:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/join-a-meeting-in-microsoft-teams-1613bb53-f3fa-431e-85a

In this session, you will learn about what it means to read critically in the context of your studies. You will practice critical reading strategies and learn how to extract key information. You will make connections between sources and develop your analytical and evaluative skills, so that you will be able to select the most useful sources for your purpose. Youll also discover tips on how to aid comprehension and note-taking. Finally, you will reflect on your critical reading skills and how to apply them in future.

Booking on

Due to popularity, booking onto the event is essential to ensure a place.

Further support

Talk to us online via Library Chat now. Alternatively, you can email us for advice at tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

We can all fall into unhelpful thinking habits sometimes, and when we do it's important to understand what causes them.

This workshop is suitable for anybody who feels stuck or held back by their patterns of thinking. The aims and objectives are to:

• Develop a basic understanding of the interplay between thoughts, feelings and behaviour.
• Recognise how some patterns of thinking are unhelpful and lead to emotions and actions that are not in our best interests.
• Identify what your unhelpful thinking habits are.
• Consider alternative more helpful responses and how to practice these.

This workshop has been extended to be an hour and half.

Booking on

Due to popularity, booking onto the event is essential to ensure a place.

Further support

Talk to us online via Library Chat now. Alternatively, you can email us for advice at tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

Start your day feeling calm and focused at our 'Calm your brain and have a croissant' session, with some breakfast and the chance to join other students in a relaxing Headspace mindfulness session. You'll have the opportunity to connect with fellow students, whilst our friendly Library Student Team will be on hand to offer support and answer any questions.

To find out more about the Library's support offer this exam and assessment you can follow this link: Exam and assessment support.

There will be supported study sessions Show up and Study running between 13th-29th January 2026. Drop-in or book on via the My Learning Essentials webpage.

Relax and Recharge pop-ups hosted by the Library Student team will take place in the AGLC -104 training room and at Main Library: check Library Instagram and digital signage at Library sites for updates.

Booking on

You are welcome to either book on in advance or drop-by on the day. Please arrive 5 minutes before the session start time.

Further support

Talk to us online via Library Chat now. Alternatively, you can email us for advice at tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

Show Up and Study brings students together to revise and prepare for upcoming assignments or exams. Not only does this guarantee you a calm revision space during this busy period, but the session also offers the opportunity to work quietly and independently in a supportive environment with other students. The session is facilitated by library team members and will run over two hours, with the opportunity to use various study resources to aid your work.

Booking on

You are welcome to either book on in advance or drop-by on the day.

Further support

Talk to us online via Library Chat now. Alternatively, you can email us for advice at tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

As Generative AI tools become embedded in many aspects of daily life, it may feel difficult to understand how to assess and potentially adopt these tools in your learning. This session will take you through some key aspects of these tools that might impact how and when you decide to use them. It will offer practical suggestions for ensuring that you use Gen AI tools in ways that help your learning and connect with academic integrity, effective learning practices and the ever-changing nature of this technology.

Learning outcomes

• To reflect on and apply critical thinking around GenAI tools and learning.
• To explore where use of GenAI tools may be most helpful for learning.
• To experiment with strategies that may help you use GenAI tools for learning.

Booking on

Due to popularity, booking onto the event is essential to ensure a place. This is currently a one-off session.

Further support

Talk to us online via Library Chat now. Alternatively, you can email us for advice at tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.

This session focuses on the development of ideas and the creation of connections between ideas and sources to produce a strong structure for written assignments. It works through a method of breaking down the question as an approach to planning a structured response. There will be the opportunity to work in groups to practise this, creating a response to a choice of assignments.

Booking on

Due to popularity, booking onto the event is essential to ensure a place.

Further support

Talk to us online via Library Chat now. Alternatively, you can email us for advice at tls@manchester-uk.libanswers.com.