Libraries to Offer Free, Virtual Data Workshops in October, November

Carlos Muza via Unsplash

Lora Lennertz, data services librarian for the University Libraries, will offer eight workshops on a variety of data management topics in October and November. All workshops are free and will be conducted via Zoom. A link to join the Zoom meeting will be sent via email upon registration.  

Version Control with Git (and GitHub)
9 a.m. to noon Friday, Oct. 14 
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Teams are not the only ones to benefit from version control; lone researchers can benefit immensely. Keeping a record of what was changed, when and why is extremely useful for all researchers who may need to come back to a project later on (e.g. a year later, when memory has faded). Version control is the lab notebook of the digital world. It's what professionals use to keep track of what they've done and to collaborate with other people. Every large software development project relies on it, and most programmers use it for their small jobs, as well. It isn't just for software: books, papers, small data sets and anything that changes over time or needs to be shared can and should be stored in a version control system. 

Programming with Python 
1-4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 17
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1-4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26
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The best way to learn how to program is to do something useful, so this introduction to Python is built around a common scientific task: data analysis. While this is an introduction to Python, its real purpose is to introduce the single most important idea in programming: how to solve problems by building functions. The goal is to teach people a little about the mechanics of manipulating data with lists and file I/O so that their functions can do things they actually care about. This session will be offered twice; please only register for one session.

Changes in the Research Landscape: Keeping up with NSF, NIH and OSP Identification and Data Guidelines 
Noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21
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This workshop will review changes recently announced by the US Office of Science and Technology Programs, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health regarding data management, personal identifiers and biosketches. 

Establishing Scholarly Identity with the Online Research Contributor Identifier (ORCID) 
Noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28
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Persistent digital identifier systems are quickly becoming required elements of the research landscape. These identifiers are already being used for research articles and data products using digital object identifiers. ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier (an ORCID iD) that individual researchers may own and control, which distinguishes them from every other researcher. The iD can be connected with professional information — affiliations, grants, publications, peer review and more. It can be used to share information with other systems, ensuring researchers get recognition for all of their contributions, saving time and hassle and reducing the risk of errors. 

Programming in R 
1-4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31
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1-4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2
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The best way to learn how to program is to do something useful, so this introduction to R is built around a common scientific task: data analysis. 

The real goal isn't to teach R, but rather to teach participants the basic concepts that all programming depends on. R is used in these lessons because something is needed for examples; R is free, well-documented and runs almost everywhere; it has a large and growing user base among scientists and it offers a large library of external packages for performing diverse tasks. This session will be offered twice; please only register for one session.

Introduction to the Unix Shell 
9 a.m. to noon Thursday, Nov. 3
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The Unix shell has been around longer than most of its users have been alive. It has survived so long because it's a power tool that allows people to do complex things with just a few keystrokes. More importantly, it helps them combine existing programs in new ways and automate repetitive tasks so they aren't typing the same things over and over again. Use of the shell is fundamental to using a wide range of other powerful tools and computing resources (including "high-performance computing" supercomputers). This workshop will start you on a path towards using these resources effectively.