ZB MED: Dec 12+13, 2018

ZB MED

Dec 12+13, 2018

9:00 - 16:30

Instructors: Silvia Di Giorgio, Konrad Förstner

Helpers: Eva Seidlmayer, Christian Kurrat, Muhammad Elhossary

General Information

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

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...

Library Carpentry introduces you to the fundamentals of computing and provides you with a platform for further self-directed learning. For more information on what we teach and why, please see our paper "Library Carpentry: software skills training for library professionals".

Who: The course is for librarians, archivists, and other information workers. You don't need to have any previous knowledge of the tools that will be presented at the workshop.

Where: Gleueler Straße 60, 50931 Köln. Get directions with OpenStreetMap or Google Maps.

When: Dec 12+13, 2018. Add to your Google Calendar.

Requirements: Participants must bring a laptop with a Mac, Linux, or Windows operating system (not a tablet, Chromebook, etc.) that they have administrative privileges on. They should have a few specific software packages installed (listed below). They are also required to abide by Library Carpentry's Code of Conduct.

Accessibility: We are committed to making this workshop accessible to everybody. The workshop organizers have checked that:

The room is wheelchair / scooter accessible.
Accessible restrooms are available.

Materials will be provided in advance of the workshop and large-print handouts are available if needed by notifying the organizers in advance. If we can help making learning easier for you (e.g. sign-language interpreters, lactation facilities) please get in touch (using contact details below) and we will attempt to provide them.

Contact: Please email foerstner@zbmed.de for more information.

Surveys

Please be sure to complete these surveys before and after the workshop.

Pre-workshop Survey

Post-workshop Survey

Schedule

Day 1

09:00	Shell Lessons for Libraries
10:30	Break
12:00	Lunch break
13:00	Programming with Python I
14:30	Break
16:00	Wrap-up
16:30	END

Day 2

09:00	Programming with Python II
10:30	Break
12:00	Lunch break
13:00	Git Intro for Librarians
14:30	Break
16:00	Wrap-up
16:30	END

We will use this collaborative document for chatting, taking notes, and sharing URLs and bits of code.

Syllabus

Introduction to Data

Intro to data
Jargon busting
Keyboard shortcuts
Plain text formats
Naming files
Regular expressions
Reference...

The Unix Shell

Files and directories
History and tab completion
Counting and sorting contents in files
Pipes and redirection
Mining or searching in files
Reference...

Programming with Python

Python Basics
Basic functions
Crunching tabular data with pandas

Version Control with Git

Creating a repository
Configuring git
Recording changes to files: add, commit, ...
Viewing state changes with status
Working on the web: clone, pull, push, ...
Where to host work, and why
Reference...

Setup

To participate in a Library Carpentry workshop, you will need access to the software described below. In addition, you will need an up-to-date web browser.

We maintain a list of common issues that occur during installation as a reference for instructors that may be useful on the Configuration Problems and Solutions wiki page.

The Bash Shell

Bash is a commonly-used shell that gives you the power to do simple tasks more quickly.

Windows

Video Tutorial

Download the Git for Windows installer.
Run the installer and follow the steps bellow:
1. Click on "Next".
2. Click on "Next".
3. Keep "Use Git from the Windows Command Prompt" selected and click on "Next". If you forgot to do this programs that you need for the workshop will not work properly. If this happens rerun the installer and select the appropriate option.
4. Click on "Next".
5. Keep "Checkout Windows-style, commit Unix-style line endings" selected and click on "Next".
6. Keep "Use Windows' default console window" selected and click on "Next".
7. Click on "Install".
8. Click on "Finish".
If your "HOME" environment variable is not set (or you don't know what this is):
1. Open command prompt (Open Start Menu then type cmd and press [Enter])
2. Type the following line into the command prompt window exactly as shown:
  setx HOME "%USERPROFILE%"
3. Press [Enter], you should see SUCCESS: Specified value was saved.
4. Quit command prompt by typing exit then pressing [Enter]

This will provide you with both Git and Bash in the Git Bash program.

macOS

The default shell in all versions of macOS is Bash, so no need to install anything. You access Bash from the Terminal (found in /Applications/Utilities). See the Git installation video tutorial for an example on how to open the Terminal. You may want to keep Terminal in your dock for this workshop.

Linux

The default shell is usually Bash, but if your machine is set up differently you can run it by opening a terminal and typing bash. There is no need to install anything.

Git

Git is a version control system that lets you track who made changes to what when and has options for easily updating a shared or public version of your code on github.com. You will need a supported web browser (current versions of Chrome, Firefox or Safari, or Internet Explorer version 9 or above).

You will need an account at github.com for parts of the Git lesson. Basic GitHub accounts are free. We encourage you to create a GitHub account if you don't have one already. Please consider what personal information you'd like to reveal. For example, you may want to review these instructions for keeping your email address private provided at GitHub.

Windows

Git should be installed on your computer as part of your Bash install (described above).

macOS

Video Tutorial

For OS X 10.9 and higher, install Git for Mac by downloading and running the most recent "mavericks" installer from this list. After installing Git, there will not be anything in your /Applications folder, as Git is a command line program. For older versions of OS X (10.5-10.8) use the most recent available installer labelled "snow-leopard" available here.

Linux

If Git is not already available on your machine you can try to install it via your distro's package manager. For Debian/Ubuntu run sudo apt-get install git and for Fedora run sudo dnf install git.

Text Editor

When you're writing code, it's nice to have a text editor that is optimized for writing code, with features like automatic color-coding of key words. The default text editor on macOS and Linux is usually set to Vim, which is not famous for being intuitive. If you accidentally find yourself stuck in it, try typing the escape key, followed by :q! (colon, lower-case 'q', exclamation mark), then hitting Return to return to the shell.

Windows

Video Tutorial

nano is a basic editor and the default that instructors use in the workshop. To install it, download the Library Carpentry Windows installer and double click on the file to run it. This installer requires an active internet connection.

Others editors that you can use are Notepad++ or Sublime Text. Be aware that you must add its installation directory to your system path. Please ask your instructor to help you do this.

macOS

nano is a basic editor and the default that instructors use in the workshop. See the Git installation video tutorial for an example on how to open nano. It should be pre-installed.

Others editors that you can use are Text Wrangler or Sublime Text.

Linux

nano is a basic editor and the default that instructors use in the workshop. It should be pre-installed.

Others editors that you can use are Gedit, Kate or Sublime Text.

Python

Python is a popular language for research computing, and great for general-purpose programming as well. Installing all of its research packages individually can be a bit difficult, so we recommend Anaconda, an all-in-one installer.

Regardless of how you choose to install it, please make sure you install Python version 3.x (e.g., 3.6 is fine).

We will teach Python using the Jupyter notebook, a programming environment that runs in a web browser. For this to work you will need a reasonably up-to-date browser. The current versions of the Chrome, Safari and Firefox browsers are all supported (some older browsers, including Internet Explorer version 9 and below, are not).

Windows

Video Tutorial

Open https://www.anaconda.com/download/#windows with your web browser.
Download the Python 3 installer for Windows.
Install Python 3 using all of the defaults for installation except make sure to check Make Anaconda the default Python.

macOS

Video Tutorial

Open https://www.anaconda.com/download/#macos with your web browser.
Download the Python 3 installer for OS X.
Install Python 3 using all of the defaults for installation.

Linux

Open https://www.anaconda.com/download/#linux with your web browser.
Download the Python 3 installer for Linux.
(The installation requires using the shell. If you aren't comfortable doing the installation yourself stop here and request help at the workshop.)
Open a terminal window.
Type
```
bash Anaconda3-
```
and then press tab. The name of the file you just downloaded should appear. If it does not, navigate to the folder where you downloaded the file, for example with:
```
cd Downloads
```
Then, try again.
Press enter. You will follow the text-only prompts. To move through the text, press the space key. Type yes and press enter to approve the license. Press enter to approve the default location for the files. Type yes and press enter to prepend Anaconda to your PATH (this makes the Anaconda distribution the default Python).
Close the terminal window.