Study - ELISE | Informing your studies tutorial - Library guides at UNSW Library

Study tools

Learn how to use software quickly and easily with LinkedIn Learning.

Check out UNSW online workshops from Academic Skills Support and Student Life.

Boost your motivation by setting goals.

Academic skills support

Visit the Academic skills support portal for information and resources to help your online study.

Further information

Visit the Library website for more information on accessing online resources

Study digital wellbeing

Every student uses digital technologies in their studies even if their degree is not entirely online.

This section contains useful tools and resources to help you create a positive digital environment for your study needs.

Study space

When studying at home your desk should be set up ergonomically. UNSW has work, health, and safety guidelines for setting up your desk or you can listen to an ergonomics expert explain the best way to set up your workstation.

It is not all about ergonomics - your study space impacts your learning and wellbeing. Desk clutter can impact your ability to concentrate while studying.

Tips to make your study space work for you

Put time into setting up your desk space.
Organise your physical and digital space.
Remove distractions.
Take time away from your study space to have breaks. For ideas, see Taking effective study breaks, Home workouts and Rest breaks.
Apply the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes take a 20 second break and focus on something 20 feet away to reduce eye strain and increase concentration.

Study support

UNSW IT offers software for all UNSW students that can support your study and a portal with information about studying from home. If you would like to learn more about using any of these programs, try searching the name of the software in LinkedIn Learning.

Reference management software allows you to store, organise and manage the references you use in your assignments. These references can be linked to word documents to create in-text citations and reference lists.

For more information visit the Library's Managing references page or explore the ELISE tutorial page on Managing references.

Online etiquette

Online classrooms and learning environments are becoming increasingly common and the UNSW Code of Conduct and Values extends to your behaviour online as well as on campus.

Netiquette refers to the code of conduct for interacting in online spaces via online discussion forums or virtual classrooms. The code is based on common sense rules and social conventions.

The most important rules of online etiquette are to think before posting anything online and only posting something you would say in person.

Tips for online etiquette

	Classroom Mute your microphone unless speaking. Do not talk over someone else. Use the chat box for discussions relevant to the class. Respect the privacy of your classmates. Limit distractions - turn off phones or televisions. Adhere to the same standard of behaviour online that you follow in real life.
	Discussion forums Use proper language, spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Avoid using acronyms, slang and emoticons. Be brief, concise and stay on topic. Respect the diversity of opinions and different points of views of your classmates. Respect your classmate's privacy and ask permission before sharing posts outside of the classroom.

Unlock resources

The Library holds over a million resources that you can use for your research. There are also hundreds of databases, which do not always include full text.

To help you access the full text of items not held in the Library collection you can download a browser extension tool. These tools have different coverage of subject areas and types of information, so it can help to download more than one to experiment with and to identify which works for your content needs.