Library Carpentry Workshops

Monash University Malaysia

Online

13 October, 15 October, 20 October, 22 October, 2020

10.00 am - 3.00 pm, Malaysia time

Instructors: Dong Danping, Liz Stokes, Belinda Sta Maria, Matthias Liffers, Anton Angelo

Helpers: Matthias Liffers, Anton Angelo, Liz Stokes, Dong Danping, Belinda Sta Maria

Registration

Please register your interest in the Library Carpentry workshops by 22 September 2020, Tuesday, by filling up this form.

General Information

Library Carpentry is made by people working in library- and information-related roles to help you:

Library Carpentry introduces you to the fundamentals of computing and provides you with a platform for further self-directed learning. For more information on what we teach and why, please see our paper "Library Carpentry: software skills training for library professionals".

Who: The course is for people working in library- and information-related roles. You don't need to have any previous knowledge of the tools that will be presented at the workshop.

Where: This training will take place online. The instructors will provide you with the information you will need to connect to this meeting.

When: 13 October, 15 October, 20 October, 22 October, 2020. Add to your Google Calendar.

Requirements: Participants must bring a laptop with a Mac, Linux, or Windows operating system (not a tablet, Chromebook, etc.) that they have administrative privileges on. They should have a few specific software packages installed (listed below).

Accessibility: We are dedicated to providing a positive and accessible learning environment for all. Please notify the instructors in advance of the workshop if you require any accommodations or if there is anything we can do to make this workshop more accessible to you.

Contact: Please email dpdong@smu.edu.sg , liz.stokes@ardc.edu.au , belinda.sta.maria@monash.edu , matthias.liffers@ardc.edu.au or anton.angelo@canterbury.ac.nz for more information.

Roles: To learn more about the roles at the workshop (who will be doing what), refer to our Workshop FAQ.


Code of Conduct

Everyone who participates in Carpentries activities is required to conform to the Code of Conduct. This document also outlines how to report an incident if needed.


Collaborative Notes

We will use this collaborative document for chatting, taking notes, and sharing URLs and bits of code.


Surveys

Please be sure to complete these surveys before and after the workshop.

Pre-workshop Survey

Post-workshop Survey


Schedule

Day 1 - 13 October 2020, Tuesday

Before Starting Pre-workshop survey
10:00 Jargon Busting, A Computational Approach, Introduction to Working with Data (Regular Expressions)
12:00 Lunch break
13:00 Introduction to data - cont
14:50 Wrap-up
15:00 END

Day 2 - 15 October 2020, Thursday

10:00 Tidy Data
12:00 Lunch break
13:00 Tidy Data - cont
14:50 Wrap-up
15:00 END

Day 3 - 20 October 2020, Tuesday

10:00 OpenRefine
12:00 Lunch break
13:00 OpenRefine - cont
14:50 Wrap-up
15:00 END

Day 4 - 22 October 2020, Thursday

10:00 SQL
12:00 Lunch break
13:00 SQL - cont
14:50 Wrap-up
14:55 Post-workshop survey
15:00 END

Syllabus

Jargon Busting, A Computational Approach, Introduction to Working with Data

  • Jargon Busting
  • A Computational Approach
  • Introduction to Working with Data (Regular Expressions)
  • Reference...

Tidy Data for Librarians

  • What are good data practices?
  • How should data tables be formatted in spreadsheets?
  • What common mistakes are made when formatting spreadsheets?
  • How are dates handled by computers?
  • Can you keep data clean and sane?
  • What problems are there with Excel files?
  • What do you need to be aware of when exporting data?
  • Reference...

OpenRefine

  • Introduction to OpenRefine
  • Importing Data
  • Basic Functions
  • Advanced Functions
  • Reference...

SQL

  • Selecting and sorting data
  • Filtering
  • Aggregating & calculating values
  • Ordering and commenting
  • Joins and aliases
  • Saving queries
  • Database design
  • Other database tools
  • Reference...

Setup

To participate in a Library Carpentry workshop, you will need access to the software described below. In addition, you will need an up-to-date web browser.

We maintain a list of common issues that occur during installation as a reference for instructors that may be useful on the Configuration Problems and Solutions wiki page.

Install the videoconferencing client

If you haven't used Zoom before, go to the official website to download and install the Zoom client for your computer.

Set up your workspace

Like other Carpentries workshops, you will be learning by "coding along" with the Instructors. To do this, you will need to have both the window for the tool you will be learning about (a terminal, RStudio, your web browser, etc..) and the window for the Zoom video conference client open. In order to see both at once, we recommend using one of the following set up options:

This blog post includes detailed information on how to set up your screen to follow along during the workshop.

Day 1: 13 October 2020, Tuesday: Introduction to Data (General Expressions)

This workshop needs no special software beyond a web browser

Day 2: 15 October 2020, Thursday: Tidy Data

Tidy data introduces best practices for working with data in spreadsheets. This workshop needs a spreadsheet software (generally Microsoft Excel). If you don't have a spreadsheet program installed please follow the download instructions here. Please also download the data here.

Day 3: 20 October 2020, Tuesday: OpenRefine

OpenRefine is a tool to clean up and organize messy data. Please find instructions to install it and the data used in the lesson in the lesson.

Day 4: 22 October 2020, Thursday: SQL

SQL is a specialized programming language used with databases. You will need to install DB Browser for SQLite for this workshop. Please find instructions to install it and the data used in the lesson in the lesson.