EIU Media Relations

University Newsletter

Booth CSI to offer 3D printing, podcasting and Digital Sandbox workshops this spring

The Center for Student Innovation at Booth Library is offering an opportunity for students, staff, and faculty to learn more about technology in a hands-on workshop series.

These workshops are free, and they will take place in the CSI on the first floor of Booth Library. Registration is recommended but not required.

Digital Sandbox

The Digital Sandbox series offers sessions on data wrangling, text analysis and spatial storytelling. These are taught at an introductory level and are intended for those who have little to no knowledge of the subject. These workshops are open to students, faculty and staff. Register for these workshops at https://www.eiu.edu/booth/csi/digitalsandbox.php.

• Feb. 9, 3:30 p.m., Introduction to Data Wrangling with OpenRefine: Preparing data for analysis in any given project often requires more time and labor than the analysis itself. OpenRefine is a free application that can help you clean and normalize your data, transform it from one format to another, and even automate complicated tasks like data validation. In this workshop, we’ll explore some of the basic operations used in OpenRefine to help us work with “messy” data.
• March 9, 3:30 p.m., Introduction to Text Analysis with Lexos: Text mining and analysis offer ways of using computers to help process and “read” large amounts of text. In this workshop, we’ll learn how to perform a number of basic operations related to text analysis, such as calculating word frequencies and other statistics, using the free and cloud-based tool Lexos. This workshop will also survey some of the potential benefits and challenges of incorporating text mining and analysis into different types of projects.
• April 13, 3:30 p.m., Spatial Storytelling with Esri ArcGIS StoryMaps: Esri ArcGIS StoryMaps allows you to easily combine GIS data with effective visuals to create powerful interactive and informative presentations. If your information can be visualized spatially, as a map, it can also be turned into a StoryMap. In this workshop, we'll build a basic StoryMap and discuss possible uses in the classroom as well as for digital presentation of research.
  
  

CSI Technology Workshops

3D printers, podcasting stations, VR equipment -- the Center for Student Innovation has lots of stuff and we want you to use it! But how do you get started?

The CSI regularly hosts workshops to introduce you to the technology we have available for your use. The workshops listed below will give you everything you need to know to get started with specific technologies in the CSI. Sign up for these workshops at https://www.eiu.edu/booth/csi/equipment_workshops.php.

• 3D Printing 101: Interested in 3D printing? This one-hour workshop will walk you through the basic process of taking a 3D model from a digital file to a printed 3D object. After this workshop, you will be able to reserve time with the CSI's 3D printers to print items for educational or personal use (with assistance from CSI staff). No previous experience required. Dates for Spring 2023: Feb. 23, 6 p.m.; March 23, noon; April 11, 6 p.m.

• Podcasting 101: The CSI's Podcating Studio includes two podcast stations and four microphones capable of producing high-quality digital audio for many different applications. This one-hour workshop will give you everything you need to know to start using the podcasting equipment independently. After this workshop, you will be able to reserve time in the podcasting studio to work on projects for educational or personal use. No previous experience required. Dates for Spring 2023: Feb. 28, noon; March 28, 6 p.m.