Library Carpentry Workshop

California State University, San Marcos

Online

May 24-27, 2021

1:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Instructors: David Palmquist, Elizabeth McAulay

Helpers: Natalya Serge Magazino, Khuong Vu, Steve Espinosa, Stephanie Casillas, Jamie Jamison, Tim Dennis, Dave George

General Information

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

automate repetitive, boring, error-prone tasks
create, maintain and analyze sustainable and reusable data
work effectively with IT and systems colleagues
better understand the use of software in research
and much more...

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: May 24-27, 2021. Add to your Google Calendar.

Requirements: Participants must have access to a computer 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 cbooth@csusm.edu , dpalmquist@fullerton.edu or emcaulay@library.ucla.edu 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

Before Starting	Pre-workshop survey
13:00	Jargon Busting, A Computational Approach, Introduction to Working with Data (Tidy Data)
14:30	Break
14:40	Jargon Busting, A Computational Approach, Introduction to Working with Data (Tidy Data)
16:10	Break
16:50	Wrap-up
17:00	END

Day 2

13:00	OpenRefine
14:30	Break
14:40	OpenRefine
16:10	Break
16:50	Wrap-up
17:00	END

Day 3

13:00	OpenRefine
14:30	Break
14:40	OpenRefine
16:10	Break
16:50	Wrap-up
17:00	END

Day 4

13:00	The Unix Shell
14:30	Break
13:00	The Unix Shell
16:10	Break
16:50	Wrap-up- Post-workshop survey
17:00	END

Setup

To participate in a Library Carpentry workshop, you will need access to software as 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:

Two monitors: If you have two monitors, plan to have the tool you are learing up on one monitor and the video conferencing software on the other.
Two devices: If you don't have two monitors, do you have another device (tablet, smartphone) with a medium to large sized screen? If so, try using the smaller device as your video conference connection and your larger device (laptop or desktop) to follow along with the tool you will be learning about.
Divide your screen: If you only have one device and one screen, practice having two windows (the video conference program and one of the tools you will be using at the workshop) open together. How can you best fit both on your screen? Will it work better for you to toggle between them using a keyboard shortcut? Try it out in advance to decide what will work best for you.

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

The Bash Shell

Bash is a commonly-used shell that gives you the power to do simple tasks more quickly. Please find setup instructions in the lesson.

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.