Continuing Education Workshops

Course Descriptions

CE-01: Library Carpentry: 

Instructor:           Frances Wong, Department of Physiology, Haidy Giratallah, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jordan Pedersen, Metadata Librarian, all at University of Toronto

Time:                    9:00 am - 4:30 PM

CE Credit:             6.5 hours

Morning - Introduction to working with data and FAIR data practices

Course Description:

In this interactive workshop, participants will be introduced to best practices for working with tabular data highlighting quality assurance and manipulation of data using spreadsheet programs.  Participants will then work with regular expressions (regex) to understand ways of making batch transformations on their data, and which software programs support regex. The session will conclude with an exploration of FAIR Data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable), how to talk to researchers about the importance of FAIR Data, and why it may become increasingly relevant as a stipulation for receiving research funding.

By the end of the workshop, participants will learn:

• Basic data wrangling techniques
• Why librarians should care about FAIR data.
• How to assess FAIRness of data.
• How to integrate and support FAIR data in their libraries

Participants will need to have a laptop with a spreadsheet editor such as Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice installed but no experience is required.

Afternoon - OpenRefine

Course Description:

This completely hands-on workshop will introduce participants to using OpenRefine to improve how they work with tabular data (in other words, anything that you would deal with in a spreadsheet). Examples will be given as to how OpenRefine may be used as part of the systematic review search, and how it can allow for reproducibility in data cleaning.

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

• Facet and filter data to correct common data issues
• Cluster data as part of a strategy to deduplicate rows in a file
• Transform their data using GREL (a type of regular expressions)

Participants will need to have a laptop with OpenRefine installed (download from https://librarycarpentry.org/lc-open-refine/setup.html), but no experience is required!

CE-02: The psychology of focusing on what really matters: A reset for workplace productivity

Instructor:            Joe Kim, Associate Professor Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University

Time:                     9:00 am - 12:30 PM

CE Credit:              3.25 hours

Course Description:

We are often pulled in multiple directions with increasing demands on our time and attention.  Without a game plan confusion, procrastination, and busy work dominate over moving toward higher goals.  Research from psychology provides effective strategies to choose priorities that separate signal from noise, focus attention to engage in deep work, and develop habits that invest limited resources where they matter most.

In this session we will:

• Explore how understanding the cognitive architecture of the mind leads to developing a working plan to handle daily challenges with optimized solutions. 
• Develop a culture for productivity that promotes deep work and movement towards a goal. 
• Learn about digital tools to integrate into workflows to shift our resources to important tasks like strategic planning which also deserve attention

CE-03: Designing and delivering an engaging session

Instructor:            Rebecca Taylor, Educational Developer at the Paul R. MacPherson Institute for Leadership, Innovation, and Excellence in Teaching, McMaster University
Time:                      9:00 am - 12:30 PM
CE Credit:              3.25 hours

Course Description:

Teaching and engaging users in developing skills and expertise can be a significant component of an information professionals work. This course introduces you to a session planning model that can be used in a variety of teaching settings including individual consultations and small or large groups.

We will discuss:

• how to design a session
• creating clear learning outcomes
• strategies to engage participants
• assessing participants learning
• challenges with participant buy-in and engagement

In addition, you will have an opportunity to create your own session plan. Either bring an existing plan that you would like to refine or come with a new idea for a session that you would like to design.   

CE-04: Building a strong future: Harnessing your strengths

Instructor:            Cate Walker Hammond, M.Ed, Leadership Consultant, Certified Facilitator and Certified Career Consultant
Time:                      1:30pm - 5:00pm
CE Credit:              3.25 hours

Course Description:
Employees who have the opportunity to work from their strengths often speak about feeling energized, engaged, and surprised at how time seems to fly away.  They note the sense of satisfaction that results from being able to contribute, to innovate, and to be at their best. Grounded in the science of positive psychology, the Strengths philosophy focuses on helping individuals, organizations, and communities thrive.  
This introductory workshop will provide insight into research on applying the Strengths philosophy to promote positive outcomes in work, relationships, and other desired outcomes.   Participants will have the opportunity to learn more about their unique strengths, and how their strengths can be applied in work/life, career management, and leadership development.  Leaders/managers will have the opportunity to reflect on how the CliftonStrengths assessment can enhance collaboration and innovation and support employee development and succession planning.  Participants will have the chance to discuss strategies to enhance team productivity and innovation practices.  Workshop will be interactive with group activities, scenarios, individual reflection and exercises.