Attend Data Workshops and Get RDS@GSU Data Certified!

Posted on January 18, 2021 by Mandy Swygart-Hobaugh

The Georgia State University Library’s Research Data Services (RDS) Team offers a wide variety of workshops on data analysis tools & methods, mapping & data visualization, finding data & statistics, and data collection. This Spring 2021 semester the RDS Team is offering 42 live online workshops — some of which are “Data After Dark” evening workshops to better accommodate your busy daytime schedules. And we also offer recorded versions of our workshops — so you can learn new data skills at your convenience, any time, any place!

And…

You can get RDS@GSU Data Certified!

IMPORTANT: All the pertinent details and requirements for certification are available at lib.gsu.edu/data-certified — please read them carefully, but below is the gist:

  • Find RDS workshop listings on the Library Calendar…
    • ​look for the logo with the GET DATA CERTIFIED seal, or
    • filter by: Category = Data Services Workshops.
  • OR, watch the recorded versions of our workshops.
    • Yes, watching recorded workshops also counts toward certification.
  • Attend a minimum of five unique RDS workshops during the certification period.
    • Be sure to check-in using the check-in form provided during the live workshops and in the recorded workshops so that your attendance gets counted!
    • Also be sure to read all the stipulations on the website (lib.gsu.edu/data-certified) for when certification periods begin and end, what counts as “unique,” and so on.
  • If you’ve attended a minimum five unique RDS workshops during the certification period, you get certified!
    • At the end of the certification period, we’ll tally attendance to determine who should be awarded certificates.
    • If you’ve made your minimum five, you will receive a PDF version of the certificate via email.​

Yes, it’s that easy! And by getting RDS@GSU Data Certified, you demonstrate to potential employers that you are committed to growing the data skills that they look for in hires. Here is what some of the RDS@GSU Data Certificate awardees have said about the experience:

The certificate is a great opportunity to become a more competitive candidate while applying for a job. The workshops were very interactive.

I thought the RDS@GSU Data Certification incentivized my participation in the RDS workshops. The workshops themselves were great and it definitely helped me brush up on prior skills and knowledge.

Certification looks amazing on resumes, I also found what was covered useful to my practice of SAS & SPSS.

It is essential for me as a student majoring in Epidemiology. I will be involved in research, and the only way to answer some of the world’s health problems is making sense out of data. I’m confident this certificate will prove useful for me in getting a job. The entire program is flexible, and the materials are very helpful in understanding the course content.

So, get RDS@GSU Data Certified! 

Why should you attend the Research Data Services (RDS) Team’s data workshops?

Data skills — even just basic data skills — are highly valued by today’s employers — being called “the most lucrative skill[s] to have” and “the most valuable skill[s] you can learn.” So, attending our data workshops will give you a leg up once you’re out there looking for a job.

Best of all, our data workshops are all free.

You may be thinking, “So what if they’re free?” Well, we researched how much workshops on our various topics would cost out in the real-world market, and what we found may make you re-think that “so what” reaction:

  • You could expect to pay $110 on average for a 1.5-hour workshop (the typical length of our workshops).
  • You could pay as low as $61/1.5-hour workshop, or as high as $200/1.5-hour workshop.

In other words, our free workshops are clearly quite a bargain and something you should be taking advantage of while you can…

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Posted in Data Services, For Faculty, For Graduate Students, For Students, Instruction, Services, Software | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Special Collections 50th Anniversary Kicks Off with Digital Exhibit and Community Panel!

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Christina Zamon

It’s exciting to begin our 50th anniversary celebrations by launching our latest exhibit “Bridging Communities: 50 Years of Collecting at GSU.” This exhibit features just a few stories from our collections that highlight key themes across our nine collecting areas. We look forward to opening the physical exhibit later this year when it is safe to re-open our exhibit gallery to the public.

Since we could not have a public opening, I am delighted to share this compelling Zoom conversation with six of our remarkable community partners and donors. In this conversation, I asked why archives are important to these donors and their communities. The conversation that followed touched on a wide range of urgent questions, such as: why are immigrant stories important? What happens to the stories of all those lives cut short by AIDS? How do we document the brave women activists from rural Georgia who sacrificed so much with little notice from national or urban media outlets? I found this conversation to be genuinely affecting and am grateful to the panelists for their time and thoughtful responses. I hope you’ll take the time to watch this panel to see the vital work our partners are doing in and around Atlanta!

Over the past year, we have been interviewing previous archivists at GSU in preparation for our 50th anniversary. When asked their favorite part of working at GSU, most archivists responded that working with community partners was the most fulfilling part of their jobs. There are amazing people behind each of the millions of objects, images, manuscripts, films, and more in our nine collecting areas. We, in Special Collections, are genuinely honored by the trust these individuals and communities have given to us to preserve their stories and make them available to a world-wide audience.

Panelists:

Franklin Abbott: Long term community activist in the LGBTQ+ community as well as our first donor to our Gender and Sexuality Collections.

Tyson Deal: Curator of her father Steve Deal’s expansive photographic collection from his work as photographer for the AJC. We have not processed this collection yet, but you can see some of Mr. Deal’s wonderful photos on our Digital Collections website.

Lucy Draper: founding mother of our Women’s Collections and the Lucy Hargrett Draper Collections on Women’s Rights, Advocacy and the Law.

Lily Pabian: Executive Director of We Love BuHI.

Bob Scarr: founding archivist for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Judith Thompson: CEO of the South Carolina Nurses Association.

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Posted in Digital Collections, For Faculty, For Graduate Students, For Students, Primary Resources, Resources, Special Collections & Archives | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service: January 18, 2021

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Jill E. Anderson
Visit https://dei.gsu.edu/info/mlk for information about
MLK Jr. Day events on campus and in the community.

Monday, January 18, 2021, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Although Dr. King was born on January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed on the third Monday in January. Meant to be “a day on, not a day off,” this is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service.

Georgia State University is hosting multiple events in commemoration of Dr. King, beginning on January 18 and extending into February, which is Black History Month. Important events include:

For more information about these events and other local and community events, please visit GSU’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’s MLK Commemoration Page at http://dei.gsu.edu/info/mlk.

The GSU Library has many resources to help you learn more about Dr. King, the Civil Rights Movement, and Black activism today. Here is a list of newly required resources on these topics:

About Dr. King

About the Civil Rights Movement

Black Activism Today

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Posted in For Faculty, For Graduate Students, For Students | Tagged | 7 Comments

Show off your data literacy skills — and win $$$ — in the GSU Undergraduate Get Data Lit! Contest!

Posted on January 11, 2021 by Mandy Swygart-Hobaugh

Are you a GSU Undergraduate or Dual Undergraduate-Graduate student? Do you get annoyed with news/memes/opinions that are not backed up with any data/statistics, or that offer data/statistics that are questionable or misrepresented? Do you get fired up to look for data/statistics to refute what you’re seeing, or to verify it, or to explore it more deeply?

If so…

The GSU Undergraduate Get Data Lit! Contest is for YOU!

$$$ PRIZES $$$

Three (3) Separate Prizes valued at $75 each* + Certificates of Participation for All Contestants

Contest in a Nutshell:

  1. Aspiring contestants (currently enrolled Undergraduates or Dual Undergraduate-Graduate Students only) find something they saw via social media/media that makes them want to take a deeper dive into data/statistics/scholarly research related to it.
  2. They find data/statistics/scholarly research sources to dig deeper into the item they picked – for example, sources to refute it, or verify it, or dig deeper into its nuances.
  3. They submit entries, and ten (10) are selected to compete in the contest.
  4. Selected contestants create and record a brief presentation (10 minutes maximum length) that they will submit for the contest.
  5. Three contestants are awarded prizes valued at $75 each*, and all contestants are given certificates of participation.

SEE FULL DETAILS and IMPORTANT DATES @ lib.gsu.edu/get-data-lit

*NOTE: Prizes are required to be awarded as financial aid; therefore, winners must be eligible for financial aid to accept a prize. Postbaccalaureate and Transient students are typically not eligible for financial aid; therefore, prizes cannot be awarded to students with this status. Even so, Postbaccalaureate and Transient students are still eligible to submit entries and compete in the contest if they wish, with the understanding that they will not be able to receive prizes.

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Posted in Data Services, For Students, Instruction, Services | 8 Comments

Library Study Room Reservations Now Required at Atlanta Campus

Posted on January 7, 2021 by Bryan Sinclair

Welcome back, everyone! Starting Monday, January 11, reservations will be required to use the 40+ individual study rooms available in the University Library at the Atlanta campus. 

Please use the Reserve A Space feature on the library website to reserve an individual study room.  Study rooms are for one person at a time and are available for 2-hour blocks, with a 30-minute resting or buffer period between reservations.  For example, see:

"Reserve A Space" screen shot from library website.

The library recently hired Student Library Ambassadors to assist with this process. At the time of your reservation, please wait at the indicated spot outside of the reserved room for a Library Ambassador to greet you, confirm your reservation, and check you in.

What here for check in sign posted at study rooms

Library Ambassadors and staff are here to help if you have questions. When interacting with library employees, please adhere to social distancing guidelines by staying 6 feet apart and wearing a mask covering your nose and mouth. We expect all library users to follow COVID-19 library protocols, including no eating in any library area, including study rooms.

Have a safe and successful semester, Panthers!

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Posted in Covid-19, For Students, General News | Leave a comment

Celebrating 50 Years of Special Collections and Archives!

Posted on December 28, 2020 by Christina Zamon

In 1971, library Director William R. Pullen recruited Dr. David B. Gracy II to establish the Southern Labor and University Archives. In a recent oral history, Dr. Gracy recalls arriving at Georgia State to find one box of materials and no place to work or house it. Today our collecting areas have been expanded to include Photographs, Women, Gender & Sexuality, Music & Radio Broadcasting, Social Change, Rare Books, Pulp Literature, and University Archives, consisting of 8 miles of materials and several terabytes of digital content. To commemorate our 50th Anniversary, we are so excited to share the story of our collections through an exhibit, a series of conversations and workshops, and concluding with an exciting keynote lecture in the fall! We hope you will join us for one of our 50th Anniversary events! 

January: Join us for the opening of our 50th anniversary exhibit Bridging Communities. This exhibit will feature objects and stories from our collections over the past half-century. Due to the pandemic, this exhibit will open as a digital exhibit on January 14th.  We anticipate the physical exhibit to open in our gallery in the summer of 2021.  

Corresponding with the online debut of the exhibit, we will be hosting a panel with some of our community partners to discuss their interests, needs, and concerns with archives. 

February: Join us for an online presentation, 50 Treasures for 50 Years. We will show off some of our most unique items in the collections with one-minute presentations by some of our archivists on the background, significance, and history of these items. We will answer questions from the audience after the presentation.  

April: In conjunction with GSU’s Women’s Philanthropy Network, we will host our annual event celebrating our Women’s Collections. This year’s exhibit and event “Leveling the Playing Field” will focus on women in sports.  

June:  We will be expanding our popular oral history workshops to hold an oral history symposium. The event will include a keynote speaker, as well as workshops focusing on the practical aspects of conducting oral histories.  Further details will be forthcoming. 

Other Events 

We look forward to hosting some additional events throughout the year  

We will host three brown-bag lunch discussions with our 2020 and 2021 Reed Fink Award winners. Our 2020 winner was Bryce Evans, Associate Professor in the School of Humanities at Liverpool Hope University in the UK.  In 2021, we presented awards to two scholars:  Danielle Phillips-Cunningham, PhD, Associate Professor & MWGS Program Director in the Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies (MWGS) Program at Texas Woman’s University and Alexandrea (Allie) Penn, M.A., M.L.I.S. History PhD Student at Wayne State University.

In October we will host our annual Gender & Sexuality event, focusing on the history of the LGBT+ community in Atlanta.  

In addition to these events, we recorded several oral histories with former faculty and staff that have worked in Special Collections over the last 50 years.  Their stories cover the creation and development of Special Collections, as well as a glimpse into what GSU was like over the past 50 years.  

To honor the legacy of David Gracy and the founding of Special Collections & Archives, we recently established the Dr. David B. Gracy II Graduate Research Assistantship for Special Collections & Archives, which will fund one graduate student (and potential future archivist) to engage planning and executing outreach efforts while benefiting from the mentorship of experienced, professional archivists. To learn more about this endowment see our recent blog post.  For questions or additional information about donating to the endowment please contact libdev@gsu.edu.  

All of the events will be open to GSU students, faculty, and staff as well as to the broader Atlanta community. We hope these events will provide an excellent pedagogical resource and we look forward to working with GSU Professors and local high school teachers to incorporate these resources into their lesson plans on southern history and archives. Please email any inquires to archives@gsu.edu and follow us on social media for more information about these events. We hope you’ll join us to celebrate 50 years of archives at GSU! 

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Posted in For Faculty, For Graduate Students, For Students, General News, Special Collections & Archives | 1 Comment

Dr. David B. Gracy II Graduate Research Assistantship for Special Collections & Archives

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Christina Zamon

In 2021, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Special Collections & Archives at Georgia State University. We want to honor the founding archivist, Dr. David B. Gracy, by creating a new endowment for the department in his name. This endowment would fund a permanent Graduate Research Assistant in the department.

A Georgia State student’s co-curricular endeavors, especially hands-on work experiences, make a significant contribution to career preparedness. In recent years, Georgia State has emphasized college-to-career competencies through the Quality Enhancement Plan approved by our accreditor. “The College to Career initiative develops curricular enhancements that help students become aware of career competencies, connect those competencies to the work they do in the major and demonstrate their proficiency of transferable skills.” Additionally, GSU has created CASA, the Center for the Advancement of Students and Alumni. CASA aims to help “make Ph.D. programs, medical school, and law school accessible to Georgia State students and alumni with interest and motivation to pursue these paths,” with a goal of increasing “diversity among leaders in academic and professional careers.”

The GSU Library builds on these initiatives by providing meaningful work experiences for GSU students. By providing professional experiences for current graduate students, the Library expands the pipeline from our diverse student body into the library and archival professions.

The Dr. David B. Gracy II Graduate Research Assistantship for Special Collections & Archives will provide funding for the archivist to hire one or more GSU graduate students. Special Collections & Archives will benefit as the graduate student (and potential future archivist) engages in tasks such as planning and executing outreach efforts, and promoting the collections, under the mentorship of experienced, professional archivists.

You can give your full amount or make a pledge to be paid off over time, securely online by clicking the button. You can also complete your gift by sending a check to the information below:

University Library
100 Decatur Street SE
Atlanta, GA 30302

Check payable to: GSU Foundation, Inc.
In memo line: Southern Labor Archive Fund (Gracy Endowment)

Lastly, we want to make sure you know how we are raising and holding the funds. Because we have not yet reached the endowment minimum of $25,000, we are holding all gifts in the Southern Labor Archive Fund. This allows us to easily transfer the money into the new endowment when we do reach the minimum threshold. We are tracking each gift toward creating the endowment, which ensures the funds will not be used for any other purpose. Though not anticipated, if the required minimum is not reached, we will use the gifts in Dr. Gracy’s honor to directly fund a GRA in Special Collections. If you have reservations about this, please contact libdev@gsu.edu.

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Posted in Special Collections & Archives | 7 Comments

Library Closed December 19 Through January 3. Enjoy Your Break!

Posted on December 14, 2020 by Bryan Sinclair

The University Library at all Georgia State University campuses will be closed from December 19 through January 3 for Winter Break, reopening on Monday, January 4, 2021. See the Library Hours page for specific location hours.

As always, library databases, e-journals, e-books, and other online resources remain available 24/7 from our website.

Have a restful, safe, and happy holiday!

Sledders in Piedmont Park, 1940
Sledders in Piedmont Park enjoying the snow, January 18, 1948. Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library, https://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/digital/collection/ajc/id/9577

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Posted in General News | 3 Comments

National Native American Heritage Month

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Allyson Stephens

November is National Native American Heritage Month! It’s time to celebrate the rich histories, diverse cultures and important contributions of our nation’s first people. There are currently 574 federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States, as well as countless tribes that are not federally recognized. Let us utilize this month to educate ourselves and each other about Native American history and culture and recognizing the effects and motivations of systemic and structural institutions that perpetuate racism- all while looking inward and outward to conduct social change for our Nation’s first, and often neglected, group of people.

The first step for change is through education, so the Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DIA) committee has created a list of resources below, including events from the Georgia State University Multicultural Center. We’ve also included pictures of the different displays and decorations that can be found in GSU’s Libraries. Please take some time to learn more about Native American heritage and history this month and check out the Native American Heritage month displays that can be found in the GSU Libraries.

Resources:

  • Atlanta library
  • Clarkston library
  • Decatur library
  • Dunwoody library
  • Newton library
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Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Georgia State University Library to Lead New Public Interest Data Literacy Initiative

Posted on November 12, 2020 by Shaumond Scott

University Library faculty Bryan Sinclair and Mandy Swygart-Hobaugh have been awarded a $150,000 grant from the New America Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) to expand programs that promote data literacy for the public good and encourage a more diverse pipeline of students pursuing careers in data science.

The Public Interest Data Literacy (PIDLit) initiative, led by Georgia State University Library, together with multiple campus partners, will expand programs promoting data literacy and career preparedness with a particular focus on reaching first-year students and underrepresented groups. The University Library provides support and training on a host of data analysis tools and methods and opportunities for students to network with the broader Atlanta community around real-world application of data science.

Georgia State’s College to Career initiative encourages curricular enhancements that help students become aware of career competencies, connect those competencies to the work they do in the major, and demonstrate their proficiency of transferable skills.

Georgia State’s Digital Learners to Leaders (DLL) initiative organizes student-led teams that create digital solutions to real-world challenges, growing students’ digital and problem-solving skills and increasing their career marketability.

“By conjoining these campus initiatives,” Sinclair said, “we seek to expand data literacy outreach to first-year students, fostering a career pipeline that is stronger and more diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, ability, gender, and socioeconomic status.” Sinclair is also a member of GSU’s Public Interest Technology working group which has one of its goals to advance PIT-related initiatives on GSU campuses.

The PIDLit initiative is bolstered by a strong partnership of colleagues from multiple programs and departments at Georgia State as well as data literacy specialists from Clemson University, North Carolina State University, University of Cincinnati, and other partners. Dean Sally Wallace of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies is the primary campus contact for PIT-UN at Georgia State, which was named to the network in January.

“We are excited to join the Georgia State University Library in preparing our students to lead our data-driven future forward,” said Wallace. “The stronger collaborations PIDLit will help build among our partner institutions will be essential in effectively teaching students to manage technological advances that will support society’s core values while minimizing the risks and unforeseen consequences they may impose.”

About the PIT-UN

The Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) is a partnership of colleges and universities convened by New America, the Ford Foundation, and the Hewlett Foundation. The network and challenge grants are funded through the support of the Ford Foundation, Hewlett Foundation,

Mastercard Impact Fund, with support from the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, The Raikes Foundation, Schmidt Futures, and The Siegel Family Endowment. PIT-UN is dedicated to building the nascent field of public interest technology through curriculum development, faculty research opportunities, and experiential learning programs, in order to inspire a new generation of civic-minded technologists and policy leaders.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 45 Comments