Information Seeking and Management for Thesis Writers

Information Seeking and Management for Thesis Writers is a online course, for learning skills needed in completing a thesis. The course area is suited to the independent study of information seeking and management.  

This course is primarily designed for students about to start working on their bachelor's or master's thesis at the University of Helsinki. The course is suited to students of all faculties writing a thesis.  

The starting level for the course is the information seeking component of the Student’s Digital Skills learning material or equivalent proficiency. 

The various language versions of the course are slightly different: the Finnish and Swedish versions are designed for bachelor’s studies, while the English language version is designed for master’s studies. Select the course based on its language of instruction or your degree level.  

The course should be completed before writing your first extensive essay or, at the latest, when starting to work on your thesis. 

The course can be completed, and is available, throughout the academic year. In the summer, the course will be redesigned and modified.  

Time spent on completing the course depends on the student’s starting level and time spent on assignments. 

The topics examined during the course are part of academic skills, which require a lifetime of practice and maintenance.  

Students will be able to:

• Identify and use appropriate online databases to locate material relevant to their research topic
• Automate citations/bibliographies in their workflow using reference management software
• Understand how reference management software can be used as personal research databases
• Evaluate the academic quality of found material and describe the peer review process
• Recognize important themes in research ethics such as what academic integrity entails
• Describe the basics of quantitative research evaluation and understand that this approach is only common in the natural and life sciences (with still large differences between fields)
• Know the practices and support channels for open science related topics at our university 

The course involves seeking information on a chosen topic and practising the use of the information seeking tools introduced on the course. 

The course area is in University of Helsinki Moodle. You can complete the course according to your own schedule during the academic year.  

The course consists of the following sections:   

• learning materials (texts, images, videos)  
• voluntary assignments that support the conclusion of your own thesis  
• exams (mandatory if you want the course registered in Sisu as completed)  
• Course feedback and evaluation of your own learning (mandatory if you want the course registered in Sisu as completed). 

You can take the exams in any order. The total score of 80% is required for approved exam result. 

Students at the University of Helsinki:  

• You may register for the course Information Seeking and Management for Thesis Writers in Sisu by using the code LIB-200. 
• About two hours after registering, you may access the course directly from the Moodle link on the course page or after logging in to the Moodle Dashboard page.
• You do not need a course key. 

After completing the compulsory assignments, the course will be registered as completed in Sisu (registrations are made twice a month). 

Link to the course page: Information Seeking and Management for Thesis Writers 

More detailed Sisu instructions how to register for teaching. 

Others that students at the University of Helsinki:  

See: “Where can I find information seeking courses open to everyone?”

If you are enrolled in a course in Sisu with the course code LIB-200 and completed all the assignments, the course will be registered as completed in Sisu. The course credits are 0 credits.  

The course can be as a compulsory or elective course depending on your degree program. It may, for example, be a partial completion of another course. If your degree program requires you to complete a course, you will receive more detailed information through your degree program.  

You will not receive a separate certificate or digital badge for the course. Once you have enrolled in a course in Sisu and completed the course successfully, the course will be registered as completed in Sisu (only for students at the University of Helsinki).

You can study the part, but the course will be registered as completed in Sisu only if you have successfully completed all mandatory tasks. 

The University of Helsinki's mooc.helsinki.fi platform will be closed in 2022. For open courses there is a new platform Digicampus.fi.

As of 1 September 2022, the course Information Seeking and Management for Thesis Writers moves to University of Helsinki Moodle platform. Even though the platform changes, course contents remain the same.

• The materials of the course can be visited at Moodle by anyone as a visitor. Those who sign as a visitor cannot complete the course or do assignments, but they can view course materials.
• Students and staff at other universities in Finland can do course assignments on their own when they log into Moodle with a haka login.
• If you are not a student at the University of Helsinki and want to log in to the course area, you can find more detailed registration instructions and a Moodle course key on the course page.  
• Only students at the University of Helsinki can get the course registered as completed in Sisu.

You can find more about learning materials and guides in information seeking open to all on the library's website.