Computational analysis, also known as distant reading, provides access to information or insights about a text that would be nearly impossible to gather using methods of close reading and “manual” synthesis. This workshop is based on Matthew Jockers’ book “Text Analysis with R for Students of Literature”. We will provide an introduction to computational text analysis using the programming language R and look at 1-2 analysis techniques based on word frequency. 

This workshop is for beginners.

Software/Technical Requirements:

• a computer will be needed and participants should download and install R (free) at https://cran.rstudio.com/ and R Studio (free) at https://rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download/

• computer with access to the internet via an up-to-date browser

Do you work with research data in spreadsheets? If so, this workshop is designed for you! Good data organization is the foundation of your research project, and so we will be covering the best practices for Data Organization in Spreadsheets, according to Data Carpentry. Then we’ll look at formatting values, fixing dates, dealing with missing data, merging/splitting columns, variable names, and more. By the end, you’ll be prepared to take your spreadsheets to the next level. Note that this workshop will not teach you how to use macros or code inside spreadsheets; this is mainly because such approaches are not efficient for data analysis, and are not easily reproducible.

Collect. Describe. Store. Backup. Preserve. Share.

Learn how to draft a plan to manage your research data and ensure its openness over time. The focus of this workshop will be learning about best practices for data storage, organization, preservation, and sharing as well as adhering to funding and publishing requirements. Attendees will be shown exemplars of data management plans and introduced to the DMP Assistant, an online tool for creating data management plans.

• You need to have Git bash installed on your computer. We will not be using GitHub, so no need for a GitHub account.
• You need a remote secure shell (SSH) client installed:
  • If you are on a Mac or Linux laptop, you already have it installed.
  • If you are on Windows and don't have SSH installed (or don't know what it is), we recommend you install Ubuntu on your windows OS before the workshop. We will guide you through installing SSH before the class. 
• We assume no previous knowledge of the Linux command line or version control.

This series of lessons will introduce you to the programming language R.  R is an open-source, widely used, and increasingly popular tool for statistical and data analyses, text mining, geospatial analysis, modelling, and a growing number of other applications. No prior knowledge is required. Students will learn the skills needed to start analyzing their own data.

The topics covered include:

• the R environment (directories, workspace, scripts, and packages),
• simple commands to get you started,
• data structures (vector, matrix, data frames, lists),
• basic data analysis tools (built-in statistical packages, plotting, etc.)

 As time permits, an introduction to functions may also be covered.

Requirements:

• Participants need to install the latest versions of R and RStudio prior to attending the workshop.

Python is a popular language for scientific computing, and great for general-purpose programming as well. This hands-on workshop will cover basic concepts and tools, including data structures, and popular data science libraries such as pandas and numpy. This workshop uses curricula from Software Carpentry, whose mission is to help researchers get more work done in less time and with less pain by teaching them basic lab skills for scientific computing.

Setup & Software Installation

Participants will need to install Python on their device.

We will be using Python 3.7 and Jupyter notebooks throughout the workshop. The easiest way to install is via Anaconda https://docs.anaconda.com/anaconda/install/. We will also explore incorporating an IDE such as PyCharm https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/, please ensure you install this. 

In addition to this, please make sure you install the following Python dependencies:

Matplotlib (Instructions https://matplotlib.org/3.1.1/users/installing.html  )
Numpy (Instructions https://scipy.org/install.html  )
Pandas (Instructions https://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/install.html)
Plotly  (Instructions https://pypi.org/project/plotly/)
 

Prerequisite:

This workshop is designed for people with no background in Python.

This multi-day workshop is designed for non-science students interested in the statistical computing program R. No prior knowledge of R is required. Often data outside of the sciences includes textual data, such as a corpus or series of surveys. In this workshop we’ll learn how to process textual data in R, as well as the basic skills to start analyzing it. Specific topics covered include the R environment (directories, workspace, scripts, and packages), data structures (vector, matrix, data frames, lists), and the beginnings of simple data analysis (built-in statistical packages, elementary statistics, etc.).

Note: Workshop participants will need have R and RStudio installed on their device prior to joining the workshop.

Text mining techniques can be applied to various data sources (e.g., newspaper articles, emails, online discussion posts, etc.) to efficiently extract useful data for different research purposes. For example, health science researchers may be interested in investigating a frequency of a particular disease name mentioned in a large set of newspaper articles. Educational researchers, on the other side, may wish to extract and categorize students' opinions from discussion forum in a high enrollment course. R offers a comprehensive set of functionalities for text mining. In this workshop, you will learn how to implement basic methods for preprocessing textual data, metadata management, a creation of term-document matrices over the collection of textual documents, sentiment analysis, text tokenization, word relationship extraction and text visualization.

Requirements:

• Participants will need to have R and RStudio installed on their device prior to attending the workshop
• Familiarity with R and the RStudio environment including an understanding of basic functionality such as object assignment, data structures, and running scripts 

• You need to have Git bash installed on your computer. We will not be using GitHub, so no need for a GitHub account.
• You need a remote secure shell (SSH) client installed:
  • If you are on a Mac or Linux laptop, you already have it installed.
  • If you are on Windows and don't have SSH installed (or don't know what it is), we recommend you install Ubuntu on your windows OS before the workshop. We will guide you through installing SSH before the class. 
• We assume no previous knowledge of the Linux command line or version control.

• What is the travel route of the Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna)? Does it pass close to areas where predators are present, specifically those which prey on eggs?

• Are neighbourhoods with low socioeconomic status spatially correlated to high morbidity rates?

• Or, a more pressing question, to what extent has mobility changed due to social distancing interventions against COVID-19?

Many of these questions ask about the spatial relationship between two or more phenomena. This workshop is an introduction to spatial thinking and the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This workshop assumes attendees have no previous experience with GIS.

Software

ArcGIS Online. You do not need to install any software but need to send email to gis-software@sfu.ca to request an ArcGIS online account if you wish to participate the hands-on part.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• think spatially about their research;
• understand the elements of GIS;
• use a web-based GIS environment (ArcGIS Online)
• create simple maps using geospatial data;
• look for and find geospatial data and resources.  

Core competencies
finding and using spatial data, projections, spatial thinking, map essentials

Many GIS projects require georeferencing images including aerial photographs, scanned historical maps, satellite images and etc. Georeferencing is the process of relating internal image coordinates to real-world geographic coordinates, so that GIS software can 'place' the image in its appropriate real world location. This workshop will guide you through the process of georeferencing an image using QGIS, a free and open-source cross-platform desktop GIS application. 

At the end of this workshop you will be able to:

• Understand the basics of QGIS;
• Understand different types of data;
• Define georeferencing;
• Understand coordinates;
• Understand transformations;
• Understand raster alignment; and
• Georeference an image.

Image: Georeferenced images of Map of portion New Westminster District showing the original shoreline of False Creek, overlaid on the current OpenStreetMap. 

Software: 

Please install QGIS, a free and open source GIS platform, on your computer beforehand. QGIS is available on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android.

You’ve likely used Google Maps, Yelp, or Craigslist, which all have integrated web map elements, but have you ever thought of creating a web map for your research project? An interactive web map is a great tool for both data exploration and communicating your research with a wide audience, academic and public alike.

The workshop will begin with a basic overview of technologies, principles, and terminology related to web mapping, such as map tiles and web services. The remainder of the workshop will introduce you to using ArcGIS Online to create a web map.

Software

ArcGIS Online. You do not need to install any software but need to send email to gis-software@sfu.ca to request an ArcGIS online account at least one day ahead of the workshop if you wish to participate the hands-on part.

GIS software doesn’t have to be expensive! QGIS is a free, open source GIS platform with powerful tools and wide variety of plugins. Learn how to use the basic tools in QGIS for your spatial projects. 

Learning Outcomes: By the end of this workshop you will be able to:

• Import data to and export data from QGIS
• Edit data within QGIS
• Do basic vector analysis in QGIS
• Do basic raster analysis in QGIS
• Export simple maps using the layout manager

Software: Please install QGIS on your computer beforehand. QGIS is available on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android.

Core Competencies: vector analysis, raster analysis, data management

You’ve likely used Google Maps, Yelp, or Craigslist, which all have integrated web map elements, but have you ever thought of creating a web map for your research project? An interactive web map is a great tool for both data exploration and communicating your research with a wide audience, academic and public alike.

Leaflet is one of the most popular open-source JavaScript libraries for interactive maps. Here’s an example Interactive Map Tracking Charges & Enforcement Related to Covid-19 created with Leaflet by two researchers in Canada. This workshop will introduce you to Leaflet for R, an R package, which makes it easy to integrate and control Leaflet maps in R without knowledge of JavaScript. You can create interactive web maps right in R Studio! The topics covered include:

• Web mapping basics (map titles, web services, etc)
• Using the Leaflet package for R to add titles, markers, popups, create a theme map, change basemap, etc.
• Host and publish your web map through Github

Requirements:

Familiarity with R and the RStudio environment. 

Software:

Participants need to install the latest versions of R and RStudio prior to attending the workshop.

This workshop will introduce you to ArcGIS Collector, an Esri app, which allows you to use your mobile device as a tool for collecting spatial/non-spatial data in the field and seamlessly add it to a web map. This workshop will appeal to a range of disciplines where researchers need to collect field data, such as biology, ecology, geography, natural resource management, archeology, and more.

The workshop will cover:

• Publish a feature layer on ArcGIS online, change the settings to enable editing, set up attributes
• Create a web map which will serve as the interface for adding data
• Use Collector to add data in the field
• Enable syncing (this is useful for off-line use where connection is low).

Software

• You need to send email to gis-software@sfu.ca to request an ArcGIS online account if you wish to participate the hands-on part.
• iOS or Android Mobile Device (phone and/or tablet), download and install ArcGIS Collector app.

Maps are great tools for enhancing how you communicate your research to diverse audiences, and when combined with compelling storytelling empowered by web technology, the communication will be even more impactful!  ArcGIS StoryMaps is an online storytelling tool that enables you to integrate interactive maps from ArcGIS Online with multimedia content (audio, video, graphs, charts, apps, and more) to create an immersive storytelling experience.

Looking for inspiration? Check out the story maps gallery to see the ways that story maps have been used across disciplines, or these two story maps created by SFU researchers, both of which serve as a compelling, public-facing communication venue for the research projects:

• Covid-19 Risks in British Columbia’s Neighbourhoods: Mapping Risks & Vulnerability Across the Province and
• Room to Move: Approaches to Covid-19 street reallocations in four Canadian cities

This workshop will cover:

• Create a story on ArcGIS StoryMaps: add texts and multimedia content
• Create a web map on ArcGIS online and embed it in StoryMaps.

Software

You need to send email to gis-software@sfu.ca to request an ArcGIS online account if you wish to participate the hands-on part.

What is Google Earth Engine?

Google Earth Engine (not to be confused with Google Earth) allows anyone to access and process satellite imagery quickly and easily. Using a few lines of simple code, you can access images for a region, display a map, look for temporal or spatial trends, export data and statistics, and much more. Previously, remote sensing required downloading huge datasets and high computing power to process the data, but Google Earth Engine takes care of that by storing and processing 50+ years of earth observation data on Google’s servers. 

Topics covered

In this introductory workshop we will use Google Earth Engine Javascript API to make maps using satellite images, perform calculations, and plot results. This workshop will loosely follow the material at https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/tutorials/ttt. Tentative schedule:

Day 1

• GEE overview
• Client vs Server operations
• Accessing and viewing satellite images
• Band math
• Image reducers

Day 2

• Image collections
• Functions
• Map functions
• Collection reducers

Day 3

• Vectors
• Cloudmasks
• Classifying
• Charting
• Exporting data

Prerequisites

No previous experience with Earth Engine or Javascript is necessary, but some basic programming experience and basic knowledge of remote sensing and/or GIS are highly desirable. Willingness to learn some coding is required. Step-by-step tutorials will be sent via email to participants the week before class.

1. Register in advance for free GEE account at https://earthengine.google.com/signup
2. Clone class repository into your account (more info in email)
3. Complete Javascript 101 module prior to first day of class (15 - 30 minutes, more info in email)

Software

Google Earth Engine is run in the cloud, so no software downloads are necessary. Participants only need Google Chrome web browser and a stable internet connection. 

You’ve likely used Google Maps, Yelp, or Craigslist, which all have integrated web map elements, but have you ever thought of creating a web map for your research project? An interactive web map is a great tool for both data exploration and communicating your research with a wide audience, academic and public alike.

The workshop will begin with a basic overview of technologies, principles, and terminology related to web mapping, such as map tiles and web services. The remainder of the workshop will introduce you to using ArcGIS Online to create a web map.

Software

ArcGIS Online. You do not need to install any software but need to send email to gis-software@sfu.ca to request an ArcGIS online account at least one day ahead of the workshop if you wish to participate the hands-on part.

You’ve likely used Google Maps, Yelp, or Craigslist, which all have integrated web map elements, but have you ever thought of creating a web map for your research project? An interactive web map is a great tool for both data exploration and communicating your research with a wide audience, academic and public alike.

Leaflet is one of the most popular open-source JavaScript libraries for interactive maps. Here’s an example Interactive Map Tracking Charges & Enforcement Related to Covid-19 created with Leaflet by two researchers in Canada. This workshop will introduce you to Leaflet for R, an R package, which makes it easy to integrate and control Leaflet maps in R without knowledge of JavaScript. You can create interactive web maps right in R Studio! The topics covered include:

• Web mapping basics (map titles, web services, etc)
• Using the Leaflet package for R to add titles, markers, popups, create a theme map, change basemap, etc.
• Host and publish your web map through Github

Requirements:

Familiarity with R and the RStudio environment. 

Software:

Participants need to install the latest versions of R and RStudio prior to attending the workshop.

This workshop will introduce you to ArcGIS Collector, an Esri app, which allows you to use your mobile device as a tool for collecting spatial/non-spatial data in the field and seamlessly add it to a web map. This workshop will appeal to a range of disciplines where researchers need to collect field data, such as biology, ecology, geography, natural resource management, archeology, and more.

The workshop will cover:

• Publish a feature layer on ArcGIS online, change the settings to enable editing, set up attributes
• Create a web map which will serve as the interface for adding data
• Use Collector to add data in the field
• Enable syncing (this is useful for off-line use where connection is low).

Software

• You need to send email to gis-software@sfu.ca to request an ArcGIS online account if you wish to participate the hands-on part.
• iOS or Android Mobile Device (phone and/or tablet), download and install ArcGIS Collector app.

Maps are great tools for enhancing how you communicate your research to diverse audiences, and when combined with compelling storytelling empowered by web technology, the communication will be even more impactful!  ArcGIS StoryMaps is an online storytelling tool that enables you to integrate interactive maps from ArcGIS Online with multimedia content (audio, video, graphs, charts, apps, and more) to create an immersive storytelling experience.

Looking for inspiration? Check out the story maps gallery to see the ways that story maps have been used across disciplines, or these two story maps created by SFU researchers, both of which serve as a compelling, public-facing communication venue for the research projects:

• Covid-19 Risks in British Columbia’s Neighbourhoods: Mapping Risks & Vulnerability Across the Province and
• Room to Move: Approaches to Covid-19 street reallocations in four Canadian cities

This workshop will cover:

• Create a story on ArcGIS StoryMaps: add texts and multimedia content
• Create a web map on ArcGIS online and embed it in StoryMaps.

Software

You need to send email to gis-software@sfu.ca to request an ArcGIS online account if you wish to participate the hands-on part.

Python is a popular language for scientific computing, and great for general-purpose programming as well. This hands-on workshop will cover basic concepts and tools, including data structures, and popular data science libraries such as pandas and numpy. This workshop uses curricula from Software Carpentry, whose mission is to help researchers get more work done in less time and with less pain by teaching them basic lab skills for scientific computing.

Setup & Software Installation

Participants will need to install Python on their device.

We will be using Python 3.7 and Jupyter notebooks throughout the workshop. The easiest way to install is via Anaconda https://docs.anaconda.com/anaconda/install/. We will also explore incorporating an IDE such as PyCharm https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/, please ensure you install this. 

In addition to this, please make sure you install the following Python dependencies:

Matplotlib (Instructions https://matplotlib.org/3.1.1/users/installing.html  )
Numpy (Instructions https://scipy.org/install.html  )
Pandas (Instructions https://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/install.html)
Plotly  (Instructions https://pypi.org/project/plotly/)
 

Prerequisite:

This workshop is designed for people with no background in Python.

This series of lessons will introduce you to the programming language R.  R is an open-source, widely used, and increasingly popular tool for statistical and data analyses, text mining, geospatial analysis, modelling, and a growing number of other applications. No prior knowledge is required. Students will learn the skills needed to start analyzing their own data.

The topics covered include:

• the R environment (directories, workspace, scripts, and packages),
• simple commands to get you started,
• data structures (vector, matrix, data frames, lists),
• basic data analysis tools (built-in statistical packages, plotting, etc.)

 As time permits, an introduction to functions may also be covered.

Requirements:

• Participants need to install the latest versions of R and RStudio prior to attending the workshop.

You’ve likely used Google Maps, Yelp, or Craigslist, which all have integrated web map elements, but have you ever thought of creating a web map for your research project? An interactive web map is a great tool for both data exploration and communicating your research with a wide audience, academic and public alike.

Leaflet is one of the most popular open-source JavaScript libraries for interactive maps. Here’s an example Interactive Map Tracking Charges & Enforcement Related to Covid-19 created with Leaflet by two researchers in Canada. This workshop will introduce you to Leaflet for R, an R package, which makes it easy to integrate and control Leaflet maps in R without knowledge of JavaScript. You can create interactive web maps right in R Studio! The topics covered include:

• Web mapping basics (map titles, web services, etc)
• Using the Leaflet package for R to add titles, markers, popups, create a theme map, change basemap, etc.
• Host and publish your web map through Github

Requirements:

Familiarity with R and the RStudio environment. 

Software:

Participants need to install the latest versions of R and RStudio prior to attending the workshop.

Computational analysis, also known as distant reading, provides access to information or insights about a text that would be nearly impossible to gather using methods of close reading and “manual” synthesis. This workshop is based on Matthew Jockers’ book “Text Analysis with R for Students of Literature”. We will provide an introduction to computational text analysis using the programming language R and look at 1-2 analysis techniques based on word frequency. 

This workshop is for beginners.

Software/Technical Requirements:

• a computer will be needed and participants should download and install R (free) at https://cran.rstudio.com/ and R Studio (free) at https://rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download/

• computer with access to the internet via an up-to-date browser

This multi-day workshop is designed for non-science students interested in the statistical computing program R. No prior knowledge of R is required. Often data outside of the sciences includes textual data, such as a corpus or series of surveys. In this workshop we’ll learn how to process textual data in R, as well as the basic skills to start analyzing it. Specific topics covered include the R environment (directories, workspace, scripts, and packages), data structures (vector, matrix, data frames, lists), and the beginnings of simple data analysis (built-in statistical packages, elementary statistics, etc.).

Note: Workshop participants will need have R and RStudio installed on their device prior to joining the workshop.

Text mining techniques can be applied to various data sources (e.g., newspaper articles, emails, online discussion posts, etc.) to efficiently extract useful data for different research purposes. For example, health science researchers may be interested in investigating a frequency of a particular disease name mentioned in a large set of newspaper articles. Educational researchers, on the other side, may wish to extract and categorize students' opinions from discussion forum in a high enrollment course. R offers a comprehensive set of functionalities for text mining. In this workshop, you will learn how to implement basic methods for preprocessing textual data, metadata management, a creation of term-document matrices over the collection of textual documents, sentiment analysis, text tokenization, word relationship extraction and text visualization.

Requirements:

• Participants will need to have R and RStudio installed on their device prior to attending the workshop
• Familiarity with R and the RStudio environment including an understanding of basic functionality such as object assignment, data structures, and running scripts 

Tableau is a data visualization tool that is being used to help analyze data and illustrate the patterns and insights behind them. This online, interactive workshop will introduce researchers and students to Tableau Public, a free access version of Tableau.

You will leave this workshop with an understanding of how to:

• connect datasets to your Tableau workbook;
• create a variety of basic chart types (including bar charts, line graphs, and maps);
• publish and share interactive charts and graphs.

Graduate students are always encouraged to publish but often without really knowing what that means or how to start. This workshop will focus on navigating the peer review process and will also touch on the topics of open access, working with an editor, and co-authorship.  It will include a discussion of copyright transfer agreements and licenses and provide insight into publishing venues for assuring your research has the best possible visibility, accessibility, and impact.

A few questions this session will help to answer:

• How does the publishing cycle work?
• How can you assess potential publishing venues?
• What is peer review and how can you respond to reviewer comments?
• What rights can you retain to your published research?
• What are predatory publishers and how can you avoid them?

The SFU Library thesis template is a Microsoft Word file designed to assist students in preparing theses, projects, and extended essay(s) in accordance with formatting standards and requirements for submission to the Library.

There are 3 parts to this workshop:

1. SFU Library's research data specialists will give instruction on how to store, preserve (archive) and, if appropriate, share research data for future uses. (15 to 20 minutes)

2. SFU Copyright Office will briefly explain copyright law as it relates to reproducing copyright protected material in your thesis and other published works, and explain how to request permission from copyright holders when required. (20 to 30 minutes)

3. For the remainder of the time, the Theses Office will walk through the overall structure of your thesis and demonstrate the functionality of the thesis template. You will learn how to:

• download the thesis template (a Microsoft Word file) and set up some defaults
• format your text using styles (ie. block quotes, lists, references, etc.)
• insert figures/images and tables and generate auto-numbered captions
• update the Table of Contents, List of Tables and List of Figures
• bring in text from other documents

Prerequisite: This workshop assumes that you have taken the Thesis Word Template: The Basics workshop or equivalent

This workshop covers more advanced features of the Library’s MS Word thesis template. The workshop can help with fixing issues with your thesis or addressing any personal preferences you might want (that are allowable within the template). Topics covered may include, but are not limited to:

• how to fix margins
• how to fix page numbering errors
• how to properly include terms in the List of Acronyms and Glossary sections
• how to create a landscape page to better fit your figure or table
• how insert an 11x17 page to fit larger tables or figures
• how to crop your figures in Word
• tips on table design and tweaking tables to fit your data without making your text smaller
• how to see all of your footnotes at once

After you have defended, the final step for graduation eligibility is submitting your thesis, project, or extended essay(s) to the Library. This workshop will walk you through the thesis submission process.

Note: A good time to take this workshop is sometime during the semester that you’ll be defending or sometime after you know when your defence date is.

You will learn:

1. How to log into the Thesis Registration System (TRS)

2. What required documents you need to upload to the TRS

3. What “if applicable” documents you need to upload to the TRS

4. What happens after you have submitted

Graduate students are always encouraged to publish but often without really knowing what that means or how to start. This workshop will focus on navigating the peer review process and will also touch on the topics of open access, working with an editor, and co-authorship.  It will include a discussion of copyright transfer agreements and licenses and provide insight into publishing venues for assuring your research has the best possible visibility, accessibility, and impact.

A few questions this session will help to answer:

• How does the publishing cycle work?
• How can you assess potential publishing venues?
• What is peer review and how can you respond to reviewer comments?
• What rights can you retain to your published research?
• What are predatory publishers and how can you avoid them?