Past Events
There’s more than one way to skin a cat make a map. This new take on an old adage speaks to the recent proliferation of software tools and online platforms for visualizing data spatially. This workshop will provide a broad overview of commonly used tools, from powerful open source GIS software like QGIS to new online web mapping platforms like ArcGIS Online. If you have ever wondered how to make a map from a table of geospatial coordinates or a list of addresses – this session is for you.
At this workshop, we will review the guidelines and deadlines necessary for graduation. An RSVP is required.
Hone in on the most marketable skills you've acquired while earning your graduate degree. Learn how to promote your research, teaching, and critical thinking skills outside of academia.
Spreadsheets can be a powerful tool for entering, analyzing, and managing data, but it’s crucial to ensure that they are well-formatted from the outset, before you even start entering data. This 1.5 hour hands-on* workshop will teach you how to think about data organization to increase your efficiency and help ensure that your data are reusable. We will discuss good data entry practices, how to avoid common formatting mistakes, basic quality control, data manipulation, and exporting. *Laptops are available for check-out.
Distill your message and tell jargon-free stories that connect laypersons with your science.
Distill your message and tell jargon-free stories that connect laypersons with your science.
Learn how to use Qualtrics, a powerful survey tool available to UT faculty, staff, and students, to administer surveys. This workshop will touch on the basics of survey design while teaching you how to use Qualtrics to administer online surveys ranging in complexity. We will discuss question types and their ideal uses, how to avoid common survey pitfalls, and how to design survey flow. By the end of the workshop, you should be able to design, send, and perform basic analysis on a survey using Qualtrics.
SANDRA TSING LOH hosts the NPR podcast/syndicated daily radio science minuteThe Loh Down on Science. Loh earned her BS in Physics at Caltech, where she was honored with a DistinguishedAlumna Award, the institution’s highest honor, in 2001. She is a contributing editor to The Atlantic Monthly and has been a regular contributor to NPR’sMorning Edition, APM’sMarketplace, and Ira Glass’This American Life. She is the author of six books; her most recent memoir, The Madwoman in the Volvo (W.W. Norton), was named one of the 2014 New York Times 100 Most Notable Books.
The importance of metadata is often misunderstood or underestimated. Metadata helps people find resources and determine their value. Learning basic concepts and understanding the purpose of standards can help you streamline your research and data management methods. If you've ever had difficulty finding relevant and reliable resources, or sifting through your own research data, you'll appreciate this session.
Taught by Melanie Cofield, Head of Access Systems, UT Libraries
PCL Learning Lab 1
Dealing with the mountains of digital data that can accumulate in the course of a research project can seem like a daunting process, especially if your work is collaborative or stretches over several years. Adopting a few key good habits early on can save you huge amounts of time, money, and frustration searching for things and recovering lost files.