Library Carpentry workshops

Posted on January 20, 2017

Library Carpentry is made by librarians, for librarians, to help them:

  • automate repetitive, boring, error-prone tasks;
  • create, maintain and analyse sustainable and reusable data;
  • work effectively with IT and systems colleagues;
  • better understand the use of software in research;
  • and much more…

It introduces them to the fundamentals of computing and provides them with a platform for further self-directed learning.

The DLS has been involved in two Library carpentry workshops to date. The first was on the 7th of October 2016 in collaboration with CSIR. The workshop was fully booked by members of our staff, CSIR and other university librarians. The session for the day was on “How to clean your data with OpenRefine”. OpenRefine is an open-source platform used by various disciplines to clean messy data. The workshop introduced attendees on how to install, configure and use the software.

The second workshop was presented on the 14th of November during the OpenCon 2016 event. The event was hosted virtually and onsite by University of Pretoria (UP), University of Cape Town (UCT) and the North West University (NWU). The majority of attendees attended virtually and this was the first Library Carpentry workshop presented fully online. The session saw over 40 attendees across South Africa and the feedback was positive. The workshop also focused on the cleaning of data with OpenRefine.

2017 will see an increase in Library Carpentry related training and workshops. The Library Carpentry community has assigned three South African community members to be representatives for the country. They are: Isak van der Walt: University of Pretoria, Erika Mias: University of Cape Town and Kayleigh Roos: University of Cape Town.

- Author Isak van der Walt

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