SLIS Technology Overview

Throughout the Fall Term, SLIS will be offering IT workshops in varying levels of instruction.

Searching Skills (6 hours): Sept 13, 9-4pm [Instructor: Shelagh Genuis]

Topics: This workshop provides an overview of the search process and will explore the following: question analysis, controlled and free vocabulary, the searcher’s ‘toolkit’ and advanced search features, database searching, approaches to information retrieval, advanced search strategy, information sources, common searching challenges, recall vs. precision in searching, and refining searches. The workshop will include lectures as well as opportunities for hands-on investigation of search terminology, harvesting search terms, developing search strategy, and exploring information sources. Skills learned in this workshop will not only make critical contribution to personal research skills and effective completion of MLIS course work, they will also facilitate employment both during and following completion of the MLIS program. .

Biography: Shelagh K. Genuis is an Interdisciplinary PhD Candidate with the School of Library and Information Studies and the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta. Her research interests include information behaviour, particularly with respect to health information; knowledge translation in health fields; information searching and retrieval; and information literacy.

Introduction to Computing Technology (3 hours): Sept. 20, 9-12pm [Instructor: Jeff Warner]

Location: 155A/155B Education South Windows Lab

Topics: Understand current computer terminology, Bios, I/O, memory, hard drive, network card, wireless setting, drivers’ installation, software installation and basics of server-client architecture, basic setting on the computers (e.g., screen resolution, back-end connections like mouse/keyboard, speakers, etc.), introduction to networking, switch/hub, router, etc., basics of File/Directory Management (Windows/Unix), software installations and maintenance, compression Software (on different operating systems), image manipulation (scaling, cropping, etc.), text editor (e.g., notepad++)

Introduction to Creating Websites (6 hours): Sept. 27, 9-4pm [Instructor: Wade Kelly]

Location: 155A/155B Education South Windows Lab

Topics: Life has moved online in ways we never imagined. We shop, communicate, research, socialize, monetize - and much more using a world built of bytes of information. It is easy to understand the primary infrastructure of the internet– a coding language called hypertext markup language, or HTML. This session explores the history of the internet and reviews current terminology. We will discuss the various methods of creating websites including content management systems (CMS), WYSIWYG editors, Web 2.0 options, blogging platforms, HTML, and cascading style sheets (CSS). This will be a hands-on workshop in which we will create a simple website in Adobe Dreamweaver utilizing HTML and CSS. The workshop is for people with little or no experience working with HTML. The skills learned will be transferable to a variety of platforms. Indeed, it will be useful for the duration of your future graduate and professional work.

Biography: Wade Kelly is a eLearning Professional Development Specialist in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta. He works with faculty members to build pedagogically sound online courses for blended and distance delivery. Wade facilitates the creation of video and multi-media interactions and learning objects for use in a variety of nursing programs. He provides ongoing professional development opportunities for faculty, staff and students in the area of technology and eLearning.

Introduction to Internet Applications (6 hours): Oct 4, 9-4pm [Instructor: Wade Kelly]

Location: 155A/155B Education South Windows Lab

Topics: The first incarnations of the internet saw information flow one way, out. The internet was a portal of information that reached the end of its life cycle once the reader consumed it. The internet has evolved. The flow of information is now increasingly multi-directional; this has been coined the social web or Web 2.0. In this session we discuss a variety of internet applications that allow users to interact with web environments in many ways, these include; wikis, blogs, real simple syndication (RSS), social bookmarking, social networking, and screen/vod/podcasting. Also, we will look at tools such as photo editors, collaborative work spaces, mind mapping applications, and more. This session is for beginner and intermediate computer users.

Introduction to Databases (using MS Access) (6 hours): Oct 18, 9-12pm; Oct 25, 9-12 [Instructor: Heather Archibald]

Location: 155A/155B Education South Windows Lab

Topics: Learn the basics of Microsoft Access and how this type of Database work will be useful for you in future projects. Topics covered include designing a table, field data types, forms, querying, relationships, filtering data, setting default values, adding hyperlinks, static web pages, exporting a table to HTML, Structured Query Language and more. As librarians, we work with databases every day. MS Access empowers you to make the most of your information, even if you are not a database expert! This system allows you in increase the power of the data that you are working with, making it easy to track, report and share information with others. This workshop will cover the basics of Microsoft Access and how this type of Database work will be useful for you in future projects. Topics covered include designing a table, field data types, forms, querying, relationships, filtering data, setting default values, adding hyperlinks, static web pages, exporting a table to HTML, Structured Query Language and more.

Biography: Heather Archibald is the Digital Asset Manager at Pattison Outdoor Advertising. Heather has experience in working with a large scale library database and graduated from the joint SLIS/Humanities Computing double degree at the University of Alberta.

Introduction to Spreadsheets (using MS Excel) (6 hours): Nov 22, 9-4pm [Instructor: Jeff Warner]

Location: 155A/155B Education South Windows Lab

Topics: spreadsheet components, copying and moving data, headers and footers, sheet settings and printing, common formulas, graphs and charts, mail merge using Excel and Word, importing and exporting data, analysis tools (e.g., descriptive statistics; charts).