2017-2018

Do More With Digital Scholarship

Join us for our free workshop series aimed at introducing McMaster students, faculty, and staff to the multifaceted domain of digital scholarship.

1: Introduction to Digital Scholarship   

Thursday September 21 / 1:00 to 3:00 / Slide Deck

What is digital scholarship and how can I do more with it? This workshop introduces participants to the interdisciplinary and multi-modal sphere of digital scholarship. We will briefly explore the facets of digital scholarly research and dissemination, and spend the bulk of our time authoring digital scholarship research plans. Workshop materials available through MacSphere: http://hdl.handle.net/11375/21919  Instructor: Andrea Zeffiro

2: XML based Metadata    

Tuesday September 26 / 1:00-3:00  

This workshop will introduce the basics of XML-based schemas used for digital encoding of texts, artwork, and other media. First, we’ll briefly discuss the ways in which such encoding of texts can be useful, using examples from the instructor’s own research and providing some sense of what you can do with XML-encoded data that will facilitate both close reading and big data approaches.  Participants will then be given a chance to try out text encoding using TEI and texts they will have provided.  No prior experience in TEI is necessary.  Post workshop drop-in: Friday September 28. Workshop materials available through MacSphere: http://hdl.handle.net/11375/21940 Instructor: Matthew Evan Davis

3: Citizen Science

4: Open Everything

Monday October 23 / 10:00 to 12:00

Open access, open source, open data, open science. The call for opening up scholarly research has been around for over a decade and shows signs of reaching a tipping point. We’ll define these concepts precisely and cover ways to meet various mandates and practices emerging from funding agencies and institutions. Not least, we will explore how openness can directly benefit an individual researcher. Instructor: Dale Askey

Guest speakers: Nick Shockey, SPARC Director of Programs & Engagement and Brady Yano, SPARC Assistant Director of Open Education. SPARC is the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition.

This event is taking place in conjunction with other Open Access Week events. Please join us for a free lunch and conversation with Nick and Brady after the workshop.

5: Knowledge Mobilization

Friday October 27 / 10:00 to 12:00 

Please join us for our fifth installment in the Do More With Digital Scholarship series, as we explore Knowledge Mobilization. In this workshop, we will look at various definitions of Knowledge Mobilization, the evolving research environment that places a greater emphasis on the significance of Knowledge Mobilization, and the services provided by the university to assist researchers with their Knowledge Mobilization strategies. Workshop materials available through MacSphere: http://hdl.handle.net/11375/22346 Instructors: Gabriela Mircea and Grace Pollock

6: Building Data Sets Using Social Media  

Thursday November 9 / 1:00-3:00 

This workshop will  provide a brief introduction to the concept of social media data sets and their possibilities for scholarship and pedagogy.  It does so through a gentle introduction to various tools used to mine Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms of interest to the participants (please send an email to davism17@mcmaster.ca if you would like another platform included), as well as a brief examination of the ways in which social media data can sometimes fall short of our expectations. No prior experience with datasets is required, but please bring a laptop as this session will have a hands-on element. Instructors: Matthew Evan Davis and John Fink

7: Introduction to Git

Thursday November 16 / 1:00-2:00 

This workshop will give you a solid introduction to Git. Git is software originally designed to help manage vast, decentralized software projects with hundreds of authors, but it works just as well with many things that aren’t software, like data and text. Imagine having a complete archive of your work at every stage in its development! This workshop assumes no prior experience with Git, but please do bring a laptop. Instructor: John Fink

8: Visualization        

Friday January 26 / 1:00-3:00 

This workshop provides a brief introduction into various tools and methods used to prepare data for examination digitally.  Beginning with the divide between Explanatory and Exploratory Data Analysis, it asks participants to critique several visualizations found in the wild, looking at them with an eye towards understanding the ways they both provide information quickly and and succinctly and the ways in which visualizations can be used to hide weaknesses or flaws in the underlying data used.  Several tools for visualization will be discussed from the relatively simple to the relatively complex. Participants who want to examine these tools further will have the opportunity to do so during an associated drop-in session. Slides for this course are available here. Instructor: Matthew Evan Davis

9: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)      

Thursday February 8 / 1:30-4:00 

Location: Wong e-Classroom, Mills Library

For many digital scholarship researchers, being able to investigate and visualize the spatial nature of their information provides them with important insights and dissemination opportunities. In this introductory workshop, participants will work with open source software to learn about Geographic Information Systems (GIS), geospatial data and map design principles— fundamental skills and knowledge that can be applied to their own research. Instructor: Jay Brodeur

10: Minimal Computing

Thursday March 15 / 1:00-3:00

Computers have gotten exponentially faster over the decades, and are capable of more and more complex tasks. However, there has been a recent trend towards minimal computing — cheap, but capable hardware. In this workshop, we will set up and play with the Raspberry Pi, an inexpensive single-board computer that is surprisingly capable – you’ll learn how to bring one up from scratch and browse the web, play games, and even run a web server. Instructor: John Fink

11: 3D Design and Printing    

Thursday March 22 / 1:00-3:00

Prior 3D-printing workshops in the Sherman Centre have emphasized working with the printers and dealing with common hardware failures. In this workshop, we will shift the attention to selecting, modifying, and designing models for printing. You will learn the attributes of a successful model, where to find and how to modify existing models, and about the tools one can use to create a model from scratch. Instructors: John Fink and Dale Askey

12: Social Media Research Data Ethics and Management

Thursday April 05 / 10:00-12:00 / Slide Deck

As more scholars in the humanities and social sciences incorporate publicly available data into their research, technical knowledge to acquire and analyze data is needed, but so too is a refined understanding of the moral, scientific, and political norms and values embedded within data protocols and practices. The aim of the workshop is two-fold: 1) we will discuss some of the practical and philosophical questions pertaining to social media research data ethics; and, 2) we will spend time reviewing the DMP Assistant. Workshop materials will be circulated in advance. Instructors: Andrea Zeffiro and Jay Brodeur