The Lewis and Ruth Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship has launched its 2023-2024 workshops, with over 40 sessions on subjects ranging from 3D printing and website design to digital map-making and data sharing.
The free workshops are open to McMaster faculty, students, staff, as well as anyone interested beyond of the university. Many workshops are beginner-friendly allowing those new to digital scholarship to participate in training opportunities.
“With each passing year, the Sherman Centre workshop slate develops in tandem with the impacts, opportunities and challenges of new and emerging digital technologies,” says Andrea Zeffiro, academic director of the Sherman Centre. “In 2023-2024, we’re incredibly excited to host 40+ sessions that continue to advance training for digital and computationally engaged research and pedagogy while creating opportunities for critical reflection and dialogue on the tools and approaches that support research, teaching and learning. There’s truly something for everyone.”
Workshops are grouped by topic, including Do More with Digital Scholarship (DMDS), Research Data Management (RDM), and the Data Analysis Support Hub (DASH).
New to the slate is a partnership with the Digital Research Commons Pilot, including numerous workshops delivered by its Research Software Development Team. Offering sessions on entry-level and intermediate events on cybersecurity, website design, and research impact, this collaboration is a natural evolution of the Sherman Centre’s programming.
Jay Brodeur, administrative director of the Sherman Centre, said: “Collaborating with the Digital Research Commons Pilot signifies the continued development of the Centre’s programming. The seven sessions in the Digital Research Workshop Series will appeal to a wide variety of scholars—whether they are interested in developing websites, assessing the impact of their research, protecting their sensitive data and their research, or authoring, managing, and sharing code.”
This fall also marks the return of the Sherman Centre’s certificate program, where a certificate of attendance is offered to individuals who attend seven or more sessions. Attendance is cumulative across years, allowing faculty, staff and students to work towards a certificate at their own pace.
Another exciting feature lies in the continued streams program. Participants can earn certificates in areas honed by each workshop series: Data Analysis & Visualization, Digital Scholarship, and Research Data Management. Participants must attend at least four workshops within a particular series to earn this specialization.
The Sherman Centre, based within McMaster University Library, provides digital scholarship services for research and teaching that respond to the needs of faculty and students. To learn more, visit their website, which includes a searchable catalogue of 90+ learning modules, webinars, and e-guides related to data analysis, digital humanities, research data management, and more.
2023-2024 Workshops
All workshops are virtual unless otherwise noted. All are scheduled in the EST time zone.
DASH: Data Analysis Support Hub Workshops
Data Visualization in R Using ggplot2
September 14, 2023 | 1:30-2:30 p.m.
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This virtual workshop will provide an introduction to ggplot2, an open-source data visualization package for the statistical programming language R. This workshop will go over basic tips for creating visualizations and customizing the design of those graphs.
Introduction to R Programming
October 18, 2023 | 1:30-3:30 p.m.
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This beginner-level workshop will focus on basic concepts of R programming using R Studio. Various Data Types and Data Structures will be discussed, as well as basic data analysis in R. No prior knowledge of R programming is required. This workshop consists of a synchronous workshop session, which will be recorded and shared publicly afterward.
Introduction to Data Analysis with SPSS
November 15, 2023 | 1:30-3:30 p.m.
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This beginner-level workshop will introduce you to the basics of SPSS statistical software, how it works, and some basic descriptive statistics, statistical procedures and chart building features. No prior knowledge of SPSS is required. This session will be recorded and made available openly.
Introduction to Making and Sharing Maps with ArcGIS Pro (In-Person Workshop)
November 22, 2023 | 10:30-11:30 a.m.
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ArcGIS Pro is a professional desktop Geographic Information Systems (GIS) program. It is a powerful data visualization tool that maps and analyzes data, depicting patterns and trends. This workshop is geared towards beginners new to ArcGIS or ArcMap users making the switch to ArcGIS Pro. Attendees will become familiar with ArcGIS tools that are available on campus, learn the ArcGIS Pro interface, symbolize data, and share the resulting map.
Creating Animated Plots in R using ggaminate
January 11, 2024 | 1:30-2:30 p.m.
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This virtual workshop will build on the Fall 2023 workshop “Data Visualization in R using ggplot2” to provide an introduction to gganimate in the statistical programming language R. This workshop will go examples on how to create visualizations that change over time and how to and customize the design of those graphs.
Map Making for Absolute Beginners Using QGIS (In-Person Workshop)
January 16, 2024 | 1:30-3 p.m.
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Designed for those who are curious about making maps but haven't yet had the opportunity to learn. This workshop will provide a friendly introduction to geographic data and the mapping of this data using the geographic information system (GIS) software, QGIS. Absolutely no geography or quantitative background is necessary for an engaging experience.
Introduction to Python
February 14, 2024 | 1:30-3:30 p.m.
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This beginner level workshop will introduce you to the basic concepts of the world’s most popular Python programming language. You’ll learn to store data in Python data types and variables, as well as learn how to perform operations on numbers and strings. Python IDE Anaconda will be briefly discussed. No prior knowledge of Python is required.
Web Scraping with Python’s Beautiful Soup
February 15, 2024 | 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
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This workshop will introduce attendees to techniques for scraping information from the web using Python’s Beautiful Soup (bs4) toolkit. We will begin with a basic overview of the “anatomy” or structure of a webpage. Students will then learn how to write a script for extracting textual data from websites like Reddit and organizing it into spreadsheets. The second half of the workshop will explore how to use Python's Pandas library to clean and analyze your data. In addition to technical skills, students are encouraged to engage with critical questions like: What is web scraping for and what can we, as researchers, learn from publicly available data? What are the potential ethical and legal challenges of data harvesting, and how do we do it responsibly?
Introduction to Document Typesetting and Scientific Publishing with LaTeX
March 13, 2024 | 1:30-3 p.m.
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LaTeX is a typesetting programming language used to produce beautiful documents. It especially excels at scientific, mathematic, and engineering specific layouts, but can be used to produce nearly any sort of document. This workshop will teach you the basics of LaTeX, including how to render things like chemical formulas with ease.
Stay tuned for additional sessions!
DMDS: Do More with Digital Scholarship Workshops
Introducing Digital Scholarship: Podcasting, Born-Digital Publishing, and Social Media Research
September 21, 2023 | 1-2:30 p.m.
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In the first installment of this two-event series, learn more about the interdisciplinary, multifaceted and emergent approaches to digital scholarship from our 2023 Graduate Residency cohort.
Introducing Digital Scholarship: Interactive and Digital Storytelling, Digital Exhibits, and Community Archiving
September 26, 2023 | 3-4:30 p.m.
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In the second installment of this two-event series, learn more about the interdisciplinary, multifaceted and emergent approaches to digital scholarship from our 2023 Graduate Residency cohort.
Gephi Part 1: Introduction to Network Visualizations
September 28, 2023 | 1:30-2:30 p.m.
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Learn to graph data and visualize networks at this virtual workshop on Gephi. Participants will learn how graph data can help express relationships between entities and visualize networks for Humanities scholars. The group will use a visualization tool intended for social network analysis to map and identify relationships.
Intro to Podcasting: Interviewing and Recording
October 17, 2023 | 1:30-3:30 p.m.
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Podcasts can take academic research out of the ivory tower and into the public. Learn how at this beginner-friendly workshop. Participants will create a 5-minute research story and, in the process, gain hands-on experience producing podcasts, from pitching an idea to building an online listenership. The Intro to Podcasting series will be split into two parts. This first session will introduce participants to the art of interviewing, as well as tips and tricks for recording studio-quality sound using the Lyons New Media Centre recording booths.
Intro to Podcasting: Audio Editing
October 24, 2023 |1:30-3:30 p.m.
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This second session of the two-part Intro to Podcasting series will explore how to tell stories through sound using the free audio editing software Audacity. Participants will learn the basics of audio cleanup and sound design, as well as how to access streaming services so your podcast can reach a wider audience.
Exploring Networks of Research: New Searching with AI and Visualization
November 2, 2023 | 10:30-11:30 a.m.
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Instead of retrieving articles by search terms, new tools allow one to explore publications through interactive visualizations. Learn how to navigate networks in Litmaps, Research Rabbit, Research Graph, and/or Citation Tree.
Getting Started with Computational Text Analyses
November 6, 2023 | 1:30-4 p.m.
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Are you interested in textual analysis but unsure about where to start? Join us for an interactive “no experience required” introduction to the fundamental concepts, processes, and methodological approaches for analyzing text using computational approaches. Analytic techniques introduced include named entity recognition (NER), topic modeling, and sentiment analysis.
Introduction to Version Control with Git
November 8, 2023 | 2-3:30 p.m.
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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. In addition, we'll go over some Github specific functionality, like how to make a free hostable website using Github Pages and how to utilize Github's wiki feature.
Optional Set-Up Session for Less is More: Create Minimal Websites with Jekyll
November 14, 2023 | 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
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The "Less Is More: Create Minimal Websites with Jekyll" event requires attendees to complete some preliminary work ahead of sessions. Complete the Sherman Centre's asynchronous learning module on Git and/or attend this session to make sure you're ready for the session on websites this afternoon.
Less is More: Create Minimal Websites with Jekyll
November 14, 2023 | 1:30-3 p.m.
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In this workshop, students will learn how to build a lightweight website using Jekyll and GitHub Pages. Website-building platforms, like Squarespace and Wordpress, while convenient and user-friendly, can be costly, have limited customizability, and require continuous updates to stay afloat. Static sites, on the other hand, are pure html, css, and javascript. As such, they are free to build, endlessly customizable and, once generated, require little to no maintenance. Jekyll is an open-source static site generator that offers the best of both worlds. In this workshop, students will start with a basic Jekyll website template. Then, we will walk through how to create and edit pages in Markdown, an easy to understand word processing language (like simpler html) that was created for blogging. Next we will explore how to customize the layout and design with CSS. Finally, students will learn how to deploy and host their finished site (for free!) on GitHub Pages.
Enhancing Your Digital Exhibit: Customization and Interactive Elements in Omeka S
November 16, 2023 | 1:30-3:30 p.m.
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Create next level digital exhibits! We will use HTML5 to customize the appearance of your Omeka S digital exhibit and add interactive elements to your website.
Gephi Part 2: Conducting Network Analysis
January 18, 2024 | 1:30-2:30 p.m.
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This workshop will build on the Fall 2023 workshop "Gephi Part 1: Introduction to Network Visualizations" to look at how one can conduct network analysis for research. We will go through a case example together and discuss more features that researchers can use to design their own network visualizations.
Sonification: Sounding and Listening as Critical Practice
February 9, 2024 | 1-3 p.m.
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The sounds of data are all around us: from phone notifications to car horns to the whistle at a sports game. In this two-part workshop, participants will be introduced to the theory and practice of data sonification. We will briefly delve into the history of sonification and think through the unique ways that humans process and communicate sonic information. In the first session, through interactive exercises, like virtual sound walks, participants will be introduced to approaches and theories of listening to sound critically and reflectively.
3D Printing Soup to Nuts (In-Person Workshop)
February 28, 2024 | 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
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This is a day-long workshop that will explore 3d modelling and printing. We'll take a physical object from the real world, use a series of sophisticated software to render it into a 3d model, and then learn how to print that model on a 3d printer.
Sonification: Communicating Data with Sound
March 15, 2024 | 1-3 p.m.
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In this two-part workshop, participants will be introduced to the theory and practice of data sonification. Most of us are familiar with data visualizations like graphs, charts, and maps. How might we communicate and engage with data differently through sound as opposed to visuals? In the second session, we will examine what sonification can do, the different types of sonification, and the types of data that work best in sound. We will put theory into practice and experiment with communicating data through sonification tools like TwoTone.
Preserving Your Digital Scholarship Projects
May 1, 2024 | 1-2:30 p.m.
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Don't lose all that hard work you've put into creating a digital scholarship project! With all the moving parts involved, it's not uncommon for something to break a year or two after completion. In this workshop, we will discuss challenges in preserving digital scholarship projects and explore tools & approaches to supporting their long term access and use.
Stay tuned for additional sessions!
RDM: Research Data Management Workshops
Crash Course: Digital Tools to Ace Grad School
September 20, 2023 | 10:30-12 p.m.
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Start your research off on the right track using digital tools. In this session Jeff Demaine (Bibliometrics Librarian) and Isaac Pratt (Research Data Management Specialist) will introduce you to research impact and research data management tools you can use to organize your research and create a researcher profile. Your profile as a researcher should be a story that you create. Learn how to distinguish yourself from other researchers using a free ORCiD account that will automatically showcase all your academic activities. Plus learn how to organize and document your data to save time and make your life easier. Follow a few simple tips to keep your data safe and securely store your research data so your thesis isn’t taken down by a hard drive failure
Best Practices for Managing Data in Your Research
September 27, 2023 | 10:30-11:30 a.m.
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In this introductory workshop, learn about research data management best practices and how investing a small amount of time in organizing your data now can save you a lot of time and prevent future headaches. We will go over best practices for data planning, storage, organization, preservation, and sharing.
Data Management Plans + Intro to DMP Assistant
October 25, 2023 | 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
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Planning ahead for research helps you prepare for data questions and problems before they happen. Submitting a Data Management Plan (DMP) is increasingly a requirement for funding applications with Tri-Agencies and the NIH. But DMPs can also be very helpful "living documents": research tools that identify strengths and gaps which are updated through your research process. In this session, we'll start with best practices of data management planning and go through a demo of DMP Assistant, a web-based tool for developing and collaborating on Data Management Plans in the Canadian research context. We'll end with a sandbox session
Depositing & Sharing Data Online with McMaster Dataverse
November 29, 2023 | 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
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Are you thinking of sharing your data for re-use by other researchers? Have you been asked to share your data by a journal or funder? Are you worried about the long term accessibility of your data? Join Danica Evering (Research Data Management Specialist) for this workshop on how to deposit your data on McMaster Dataverse for archival, preservation, and sharing. Learn more about how openly sharing data can benefit you and the research community, and how online repositories are helping to improve the availability of research data. We'll end with a sandbox session where participants can experiment with the Demo instance of Dataverse.
Best Practices for Managing Data in Your Research
January 24, 2024 | 10:30-11:30 a.m.
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In this introductory workshop, learn about research data management best practices and how investing a small amount of time in organizing your data now can save you a lot of time and prevent future headaches. We will go over best practices for data planning, storage, organization, preservation, and sharing.
Storage Scores: Store and Back Up Data at McMaster
February 14, 2024 | 10:30-11:30 a.m.
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From very small tabular datasets to mid-size mixed methods records to the titan data for Advanced Research Computing, researchers at McMaster have a wide range of needs for storing research data. But what options are available? What are some workflows when you're working alone vs with a research team? What's available if you need a bit more? Join us for a session on research data storage and backup. In this workshop, we'll start with an overview of different storage platforms available to you as a researcher, their features and drawbacks, and outline data backup and security principles. Then, we'll share information about the Digital Research Alliance of Canada's annual Resource Allocation Competition and how researchers can start working with large-scale computational resources.
How to Implement Encryption to Protect Your Research Data
March 20, 2024 | 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
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The modern online environment is dangerous - data breaches and cyber attacks are increasingly prevalent, making safeguarding sensitive research data more important than ever. Join Isaac Pratt (Research Data Management Specialist) for this workshop diving into the world of encryption. No technical expertise required – we’ll demystify encryption and show you how it can be used to secure your data against unauthorized access, ensuring its confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity.
Sensitive Data Management
April 17, 2024 | 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
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Are you working with environmental, commercial, health, personal, or other sensitive data? Are you unsure whether your data is sensitive and unclear on your responsibilities for managing it? In this workshop, we will discuss the foundations of working with sensitive data including how to protect your data, your research participants, and yourself. We’ll take about how and when to de-identify sensitive data, and how to share sensitive data.
Data Management Plan (DMP) Boot Camp (In-Person Workshop)
May 14, 2024 | 1-4 p.m.
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Data Management Plans are both incredibly helpful research tools and increasingly required for grants but it can hard to know how to complete a Data Management Plan if it’s your first time. If you're in the process of creating a DMP, either for a grant application or for your own research, join RDM Services for this afternoon session. By the end of the session, you’ll understand what the major components of a DMP are and walk away with a potentially completed plan for your own research!
Data Deposit Boot Camp (In-Person Workshop)
June 18, 2024 | 1-4 p.m.
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Data deposit and data sharing are increasingly recognized as best practice to support open research, reproducibility, research integrity, collaboration, and more. Disciplines, funders, and journals are increasingly requiring researchers to share or deposit data. But how do you get your dataset ready for sharing? What's the best repository to share it in? If you have a dataset that's ready for deposit or that you'd like to get deposit ready, join RDM Services for this workshop.
Digital Research Workshops
Optional Set-Up Session: Building JavaScript Websites 1: Styling Modern Web Apps
September 20, 2023 | 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Register
The "Building JavaScript Websites" event series requires attendees to complete some preliminary work ahead of sessions. Because these workshops are for beginner web developers with some JavaScript experience and their own web development environment, participants will need to set up React.js and frameworks in their own development environment. You can do this by following the workshop setup guide, or coming to this optional preparation session, where staff will help you troubleshoot any issues the day before the workshop.
Building JavaScript Websites 1: Styling Modern Web Apps
September 21, 2023 | 1:30-3 p.m.
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Are you building your own web site using JavaScript and frameworks? In this first workshop of the Building JavaScript Websites series, learn to apply consistent design standards to a JavaScript web site. Starting from a simple prepared single-page application, we will walk you through how to apply consistent theme styling, using McMaster Branding guidelines as an example. Each workshop in this series can be taken independently of the other workshops in the series.
How Ideas Travel: Introduction to Research Impact
September 26, 2023 | 10:30-11:30 a.m.
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This virtual session introduces attendees to the world of Research Impact. Research impact counts the number of times a publication has been cited by other researchers or mentioned in media. Understanding the field can help you identify "hot topics" of emerging research, gain a more thorough grasp of your research community, benchmark your career progress, communicate your knowledge more effectively, and more. Learn to leverage key databases to identify the expertise of researchers, institutions, and journals at this introductory workshop!
Protect Your Research Data: Introduction to Information Security for Researchers
October 4, 2023 | 2:30-3:30 p.m.
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Universities are not immune from data breaches and cyber attacks. Learn to protect your research data at this webinar with McMaster experts in IT Security and Cybersecurity. After introducing Information Security (a field dedicated to protecting sensitive digital information and data from unauthorized access, alteration, and/or destruction), the session will examine InfoSec problems specific to researchers. This webinar will also include a case study: If we take a hypothetical research workplace (such as a lab or office), what are its potential Information Security weak spots and how might we fix them?
Optional Set-Up Session: Building JavaScript Websites 2: Designing for Mobile UI
October 26, 2023 | 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Register
The "Building JavaScript Websites" event series requires attendees to complete some preliminary work ahead of sessions. Because these workshops are for beginner web developers with some JavaScript experience and their own web development environment, participants will need to set up React.js and frameworks in their own development environment. You can do this by following the workshop setup guide, or coming to this optional preparation session, where staff will help you troubleshoot any issues in the hour before the workshop.
Building JavaScript Websites 2: Designing for Mobile UI
October 26, 2023 | 1:30-3 p.m.
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Are you building your own web site using JavaScript and frameworks? In this second workshop of the Building JavaScript Websites series, learn to design your web site to work for desktop and mobile sized screens. Starting from a simple prepared single-page application, we will walk you through how to scale your web site to work with the small screens on mobile devices without any loss of functionality. Each workshop in this series can be taken independently of the other workshops in the series.
Optional Set-Up Session: Building JavaScript Websites 3: Easy Steps to AODA Compliance
November 23, 2023 | 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Register
The "Building JavaScript Websites" event series requires attendees to complete some preliminary work ahead of sessions. Because these workshops are for beginner web developers with some JavaScript experience and their own web development environment, participants will need to set up React.js and frameworks in their own development environment. You can do this by following the workshop setup guide, or coming to this optional preparation session, where staff will help you troubleshoot any issues in the hour before the workshop.
Building JavaScript Websites 3: Easy Steps to AODA Compliance
November 23, 2023 | 1:30-3 p.m.
Register
December 3 is International Day for Persons with Disabilities! Are you building your own web site using JavaScript and frameworks? In this third workshop of the Building JavaScript Websites series, learn to adapt UI controls in a JavaScript web site to be accessible. Starting from a simple prepared single-page application, we will walk you through how easy it is to make a JavaScript web site to be AODA compliant. Each workshop in this series can be taken independently of the other workshops in the series.
Best Practices for Managing Your Code and Scripts You Use to Generate Your Research
February 8, 2024 | 1:30-3 p.m.
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Preservation of software with your research data is an important part of open research and will be a future requirement by the Tri-agencies for Data Deposit. In this introductory session, learn how you can apply research data management practices and FAIR data principles to software, and some best practices that will help you prepare for depositing the custom code and analysis scripts you use to generate and process your research data, and how these practices can help you now in developing and maintaining this work.
