In order to raise awareness of data governance issues and introduce some important topics to raise data literacy across campus, the Data Governance and Support Office is teaming with the Office of Institutional Research and University Libraries to bring you Data Dialogues, monthly presentations for the University community on data-oriented issues. We’ll usually meet on the second Thursday of the month from 1-2pm in Rush Rhees Library but please note details for individual presentations. These sessions can be found on the University events calendar as well as the registration web page.
Please join us for the following sessions:
- Data Governance: Not the Dark Side of the Force
September 12, 2019
Presenter: San Cannon, Chief Data Officer
Data Governance isn’t just about being told what you can’t do with data. It’s a discipline that provides all data management practices with the necessary structure, strategy, and support needed to ensure that data are managed and used as a critical University asset. Come learn what the Data Governance and Support Office is doing to help make it easier for University data users to do good things with our data.
Zoom recording (51 minutes, mp4 format, Box login required)
Slides (PDF, Box login required)
- Discovering Admin Data
October 10, 2019
Presenter: John Podvin, Senior University Director for Institutional Research
What data are available to me at Rochester? The University manages a wealth of data. This session will include a panel discussion featuring UR staff responsible for some of our administrative data resources. Panelists will introduce the data that they manage, discuss data that they make available to administrators and analysts at the University, and answer common questions related to their data.
- What do you mean by that?
November 14, 2019
Presenter: Cynthia Carlton, University Information Architect
Is everyone speaking the same language around the table? It can feel silly to ask what something means; especially when that thing seems so simple and fundamental. “Everyone knows what this is!” you think to yourself. But do they? And is that meaning the same for everyone? In this session, we will discuss when and way you should consider defining terms, how to deal with competing contexts, the differences between a business glossary and a data dictionary and best practices you can take away and start using right away on your teams and projects.
- The Data Checklist: Exploring the needs of your data
December 5, 2019
Presenter: Yennifer Hernandez, Business Architect
When adopting a new solution or requesting an IT implementation, do consider your data needs? We will discuss a list of questions that can help determine whether a solution will meet the needs required to capture, manage, and analyze your data successfully.
- Intro to Tableau
January 9, 2020
Presenter: TBD
Everyone is making pretty pictures with their data – how can I do that? Tableau is a very popular and very powerful data visualization tool. This short introduction will show you what it is, what it can do, and how you might be able to use it for your analytic work or research. This session will help prepare new users for more in-depth Tableau sessions scheduled for Love Data Week in February.
- Data Wrangling: How do I get those data into that report?
March 12, 2020
Presenter: TBD
You learned how do to data visualizations – yippee! Now what? Unless you are only interested in the most simple reports, there is a lot of data wrangling that is necessary to get the data in the shape you need to do the visualization you want. Come learn how to munge, wrangle, combine, define, format, and generally tame unruly data to have the right kind of data for clear and accurate reporting.
- So you want to do a survey?
April 16, 2020
Presenter: TBD
It seems like everywhere you turn, someone wants your thoughts: Just a brief survey please! With all the free tools to create simple questionnaires, it’s easier than ever for anyone to collect data on anything. But not all surveys are created equal. This session will cover survey basics around who should be surveyed and how to ask the questions that get the answers you want.
- Now what am I supposed to do?
May 21, 2020
Presenter: TBD
Should I email this spreadsheet? Do I know what’s in that chart? What kind of data are these? If you have ever been confused about how to handle data appropriately, what data security means, or what it means to use data responsibly, this is the dialogue for you. We’ll talk about basic data do’s and don’ts including how to know what kind of data you are working with, how to handle it, and how to use it appropriately.
And in February, be on the lookout for a slew of data discussions during Love Data Week (Feb 10-14, 2020) where we’ll have presentations on Tableau dashboards and reports, data management, the magic of metadata, and how to not be scared of statistics!
Love Data Week Workshops:
- Can’t help falling in love with Tableau?
February 2020
Presenter: Lauren Di Monte, Director, Research Initiatives
Are you interested in learning more about data visualization? Curious about the best ways to tell stories with data? Looking for simple and fast ways to create data dashboards and create compelling reports? In this beginner-level workshop you’ll get a hands-on introduction to creating interactive visualizations with Tableau Public, a free data analysis and visualization tool.
- Letting Your Data Love You
February 2020
Presenter: Adrienne Canino, Science & Data Outreach Librarian
Having trouble finding data for your projects? Struggling to store or share research data? Don’t let data become a four-letter word! In this hands-on workshop you’ll learn simple tools and techniques for effectively managing personal, business, and research data.
- Mad About Metadata
February 2020
Presenter: Maggie Dull, Head of Metadata Strategies
Even if you’re not aware of it, many of your day-to-day activities rely on metadata, or “data about data”. From your phone to the library to Google and beyond, metadata, or structured information, is working hard behind the scenes. Metadata helps you discover new objects, information and ideas, allows you to draw connections between them, and also preserve and manage that information long into the future. Join us to learn more about the basics of metadata, what good metadata looks like, and how good metadata practice can help you in your personal and professional lives.
- [open refine]
February 2020
Presenter: Sarah Pugachev, Research Initiatives Librarian
- [don’t be scared of statistics]
February 2020
Presenter: TBD