The New England Chapter of the Association for Information Science & Technology, together with the Simmons College Student Chapter, invite you to join us at our 2019 Winter Event:

Navigating the Data Landscape: Roles and Rules and When to Break Them

The amount, variety, and production rate of data have increased exponentially and rapidly. We also have tools that make data more available and make crunching data more accessible. With a demand for data-driven approaches to practically everything, there is a need for people who have been trained on being stewards, organizers, and facilitators of information (like librarians!) to assist and even lead the ways in which data is collected, identified, compiled, managed, analyzed, preserved, presented, and used. What an overwhelming picture!

So where do we start? Join NEASIS&T for a day of thoughtful presentations and hands-on participatory sessions on navigating this large and complex data landscape!

Check out info about travel stipends below and mark your registration accordingly if you wish to apply!

Programming Schedule

8:30 | Registration, Coffee & snacks, Networking

9:15 | Welcome, Information, Logistics

9:30 | Speaker 1

Claire Lobdell, Distance Education Library and Archivist, Greenfield Community College

Claire Lobdell was part of the inaugural 2018 cohort of the Library Freedom Institute. In this session, she’ll discuss the Library Freedom Institute, bringing an awareness of data collection and reuse to her community, and teaching digital privacy skills and tools to library patrons with low digital literacy.

10:15 | Speaker 2

Ceilyn Boyd, Research Data Program Manager, Harvard Library

Ceilyn's technical background includes the roles of analyst, research software engineer, and project manager at a variety of research and commercial organizations including SRI International, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mitsubishi Electric, and BBN Corporation. Her work in academic libraries has involved management of large-scale strategic library programs and projects and research data management. Other library-related activities include taxonomy development; building sustainable data and visualization workflows; managing the large-scale digitization of manuscripts; and managing large, multi-library strategic projects and project portfolios.

11:00 | Break/Transition Time

11:15 | Workshop Breakout Session I

Tidy Data: Joshua Dull, Digital Scholarship Support Specialist, Yale University Library

Good data organization is the foundation of much of our day-to-day work in libraries. Most librarians have data or do data entry in spreadsheets.Spreadsheet programs like Excel or Google Sheets are useful interfaces for interacting with tabular data, but we often over-rely on spreadsheets for any datatasks even when another software might be more suitable. In this workshop we will discuss the pros and cons of spreadsheets, talk about common data entry errors, and give tips on best practices for organizing your data.

Tableau: James Adams, Data Visualization Librarian at Dartmouth College

Data visualization helps us better understand our data, whether it’s a few data points or a few million. This hands-on workshop will help get you started with data visualization using the free point-and-click tool Tableau Public. We’ll discuss some important concepts in data visualization and practice creating a variety of plots, which will help you to explore and present your own data. We want to get started right away, so please install the following on your device prior to the workshop: Tableau Public (Must provide email address) (https://public.tableau.com/s/)

American FactFinder and Census Data: Ana Maria Garcia, Data Dissemination Specialist, US Census Bureau -- PLEASE NOTE: If the federal government shutdown continues into Friday, this workshop will need to be postponed until a future event. For this reason we have removed it from the list of options in the registration form.

Learn how to use the American FactFinder to access the most current and relevant demographic, socioeconomic, and housing statistics about your community. During this training, you will learn about Census Bureau programs, geographies and datasets available; and how to use the search and navigation features of the AFF. You will also learn about various tools to use to access data.

12:30 | Deli Buffet Lunch provided by NEASIST

1:30 | Presentation

Naresh Agarwal, Associate Professor, Simmons College

Naresh's teaching areas are technology and web development, theories of information science, knowledge management, and evaluation of information services. Naresh's research area is information behavior and knowledge management — the way people look for information and the contextual factors that impact their choice of information sources. He has held various leadership positions at the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) and was awarded the ASIS&T James M. Cretsos Leadership Award in 2012.

2:15 | Workshop Breakout Session II

OpenRefine: Joshua Dull, Digital Scholarship Support Specialist, Yale University Library

Have you spent hours doing menial data cleaning in Excel and thought 'there must be a better way'? Well, there is! OpenRefine is a free, open-source tool designed to make the hardest and most time-consuming data cleaning tasks a breeze. OpenRefine is described as “a power tool for working with messy data” and should be something in every data professionals toolbox. This workshop will overview how to install and get started with OpenRefine and highlight common data tasks made easier by this "power tool".

Tableau: James Adams, Data Visualization Librarian at Dartmouth College

Data visualization helps us better understand our data, whether it’s a few data points or a few million. This hands-on workshop will help get you started with data visualization using the free point-and-click tool Tableau Public. We’ll discuss some important concepts in data visualization and practice creating a variety of plots, which will help you to explore and present your own data. We want to get started right away, so please install the following on your device prior to the workshop: Tableau Public (Must provide email address) (https://public.tableau.com/s/)

American FactFinder and Census Data: Ana Maria Garcia, Data Dissemination Specialist, US Census Bureau -- PLEASE NOTE: If the federal government shutdown continues into Friday, this workshop will need to be postponed until a future event. For this reason we have removed it from the list of options in the registration form.

Learn how to use the American FactFinder to access the most current and relevant demographic, socioeconomic, and housing statistics about your community. During this training, you will learn about Census Bureau programs, geographies and datasets available; and how to use the search and navigation features of the AFF. You will also learn about various tools to use to access data.

3:15 | Workshops end, Boarding of Shuttle Bus to Union Station begins

Logistics

Travel Stipends

We want to serve all of New England, so we're offering five travel stipends for attendees coming from outside Massachusetts. Each recipient will receive $50 to offset travel expenses when they check in at the event registration desk. Email neasist@gmail.com if you're interested. First-come, first-serve; don't assume that you've snagged one of the stipends until you get a confirmation from neasist@gmail.com.

Getting There: Public Transport

Amtrak train service is available to and from Union Station/Worcester. Schedule and fare information is available on the Amtrak website.

The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) Framingham/Worcester line provides commuter rail service for points between Worcester/Union Station and Boston's South Station. MBTA schedules and fares are available on the Worcester Commuter Station section of the MBTA website.

NEASIST will provide one All Points Limo SHUTTLE BUS to Holy Cross, and only one, for those arriving at Worcester/Union Station (Zone 8) by 8:31AM. Those arriving at other times will have to use taxi, Uber/Lyft, or local bus service to get to the campus. One return shuttle to Union Station/Worcester will be scheduled at the end of the day to arrive in time for the MBTA train to Boston/South Station leaving at, or around, 3:50pm, according to current train schedules.

TAXI by Yellow Cab and Red Cab, as well as ride-share service, is available from Union Station to Holy Cross campus, about 10 minutes ride.

LOCAL BUS SERVICE: for bus service from Union Station to Holy Cross, please consult the website for WRTA for bus schedules, www.therta.com .Currently Bus 29 leaves the Worcester train station at 7:30 am and drives directly to Rotman's Furniture (Rt 12) across from the college. Attendees have to climb College Street hill, the Hogan Center is at the top. Then walk down the hill to catch Bus 25 with many stops to get back to the train station.

Getting There: Driving

Take Exit 11, Southbridge Street, off I-290 from either direction. Traveling East on I-290, the college entrance is immediately off Exit 11; merge into the lane farthest to the right. Traveling West on I-290, follow the exit loop for Exit 11, Southbridge Street, left around to College Street and the campus entrance, merging into the lane farthest to the right. Once on campus, go up the hill - the left turn for the Hogan Center is near the top - follow the signs for the Center and adjacent visitor parking.

Getting There: Parking

Free visitor parking is available between the Hogan Campus Center and the Luth Athletic Complex (accessible by entering Gate 7 or McKeon Road) in Hogan Lots A, B and C. See campus map for parking locations (PDF).

Getting There: Hogan Center

As you enter the campus through gate 7, the Hogan Campus Center is the second building on the left with the silver cross on it near the top of the hill. You will find yourself on the third floor entering Hogan. You may take either the stairs or elevator to the 4th floor and Suites A/B/C where the meeting will be held; the breakout romms are also on the 4th floor.

Wifi

HCGuest is available across the campus. Guests can access wireless services for 24 hours after completing a simple email registration process. Connect your device to HCGUEST, open a web browser. At the registration page enter your name, email address, accept the terms of use policy and click the Register button. After 24 hours, guests will need to re-register using the same steps.

FAQs

How can I contact the organizer with any questions?

Send an email to neasist@gmail.com.

What's the refund policy?

There will be no refunds unless the event is cancelled due to inclement weather conditions.

Can I update my registration information?

Yes, you can update your information and change your workshop choices after paying for your registration.

Do I need to bring a computer for the workshops?

YES, you should bring a laptop or tablet with a good sized screen to all the workshops. Cell phones will NOT be adequate to the tasks to be performed.

Do I need to download and install any software in advance of the workshops?

YES! See workshop descriptions for software installation needs.