This year, as the campus and BC Libraries take a sharper look at social justice issues, our workshops will use race and diversity (e.g. US Census) data to explore both the affordances and constraints of tools and strategies for transforming data into narratives and images. We hope you can join us!
Curating Digital Exhibits with Omeka
September 25, 2019, 11–12:30 pm.
O’Neill Library, Room 307
In this workshop, participants will learn how to use Omeka.net to create digital exhibits. Together we will look at examples of successful digital exhibits and will demonstrate the basics of describing, organizing, and displaying your content. Bring your own image files, or use the sample images provided in the workshop.
Introduction to Data Visualization
October 28, 2019, 11–12:30 pm.
O’Neill Library, Room 307
In this workshop, participants will be introduced to the basics of data visualization techniques. We will look at and discuss different visualization types, use cases, and visualization tools. Through hands-on exercises, you will explore a data visualization project to see how it was made, practice in real time on data viusalization tools, and think about how data visualization can help with your research.
Mapping Customary Authority and State Land Titles in Zambia and Senegal
November 6, 2019, 3 pm.
O’Neill Library, Room 307
Guest speaker: Dr. Lauren Honig, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Boston College
This talk explores the methodologies of Professor Lauren Honig’s research in two African countries. Her research employs a range of methods and forms of data, combining: semi-structured interviews with customary authorities (chiefs), state bureaucrats, and local farmers; case studies of specific land deals; British and French colonial archival land records; geo-referenced historical maps; contemporary land titling databases from two countries; an original survey of smallholder farmers in Senegal; and statistical analyses of a number of geo-spatial variables. Together, these research approaches shed light on how customary institutions impact state attempts to expand control over land in Senegal and Zambia. The talk discusses these methods as well as ethical considerations of fieldwork in developing countries.
GIS Day Celebration
November 13, 2019, 11:00 am–1:00 pm.
O’Neill Library, Digital Studio, Room 205
Join us for a celebration of GIS Day! Come see demos of commonly-used GIS and geospatial tools and meet others interested in GIS at BC.
From 11:30–1 pm, join us for a workshop on Mapping for Non-ArcGIS users. In this workshop, participants will learn to map and visualize tabular data without using geographic information system (e.g., ArcGIS). We will consider mapping examples using accessible tools such as Excel, Google MyMaps, Google Earth, and simple geocoding via Google Sheets. The workshop will focus on hands-on exercises and assumes no prior GIS background.
Crowd Cafe
We are pleased to announce that Crowd Cafe, an initiative to encourage participation in crowdsourcing projects, is restarting for the 2019–2020 academic year. Along with colleagues from Boston University, we’ll host monthly meetups to work on crowdsourcing projects together.
We meet the third Friday of the month from 1–3 pm in the Faculty Preview Room of the Digital Studio, room 205, O’Neill Library.