Bits and Bytes

Snacking on Bits and Bytes: 

Learning on all things Data

From September 2020 to June 2021, the Map & Data Library offered an online webinar series featuring presentations and demonstrations on data-related topics and tools, such as web archives, visualization, GIS and statistics. Each presentation, including a question and answer period, was one hour long. 

Archived Talks:

Canadian Census Discovery Portal

September 22, 2020, 2:00pm, presented by Leanne Trimble
This talk introduces the Canadian Census Discovery Portal project, an initiative that aims to inventory all census data released in what is now Canada (from the first census in 1665 New France to the present day), and make the inventory available through an open, bilingual, searchable portal. The project will bring together existing census data, some of which is "hidden" to many Canadians, and make it more accessible, usable, and ensure its availability for the long term. This talk is being held on this date in celebration of Endangered Data Week,  an event which aims to foster an environment of data consciousness and promote care for endangered collections.
Link to Slides
Link to Recording

Working with Web Archive Data

September 29, 2020, 2:00pm, presented by Nich Worby
Web archives, like the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, have existed for almost as long as the World Wide Web. This presentation will introduce tapping into this rich but complex data source. Participants will get an overview of major web archive sources, the WARC file format, methods of accessing web archived data, as well as a demonstration of tools for analytical tasks like extracting network graphs of links, extracting images, and filtering web page text for further analysis.
Link to Slides
Link to Recording

Digital Humanities Tools: the Digital Scholar Lab

October 8, 2020, 10:00am, presented by Nick Field
Note: this talk demonstrates an older version of the Digital Scholar Lab. For newer tutorials and videos, see this guide to getting started with the Digital Scholar Lab.
This talk introduces the Gale Digital Scholar Lab, a platform that allows users to discover and create collections of digitized texts from the Gale Historical Collections, run a variety of statistical analyses on them, and visualize the resulting data. Participants will get an overview of text mining and how to use the Digital Scholar Lab, including uploading and downloading texts and visualizations.
Link to Slides
Link to Hands-on Tutorial
Link to Recording

Getting Started with Python in ArcGIS Pro

November 17, 2020, 2:00pm, presented by Gerald Romme
This talk illustrates how to get started using Python in ArcGIS Pro and as a stand alone program to automate geoprocessing tools through the ArcPy site package.
Link to Slides
Link to Recording

Introduction to Dataverse for Sharing Data

December 1, 2020, 2:00pm, presented by Dylanne Dearborn and Misia Robins
Please note that Dataverse is now Borealis, the Canadian Dataverse Repository.
Dataverse is a repository for research data. This webinar will provide an introduction to Dataverse and provide participants with an overview of how to log on to Dataverse, add a dataset, restrict access to files, and give collaborators permission to edit datasets.
Link to Recording

Getting Started with R in RStudio

December 8, 2020, 2:00pm, presented by Nadia Muhe
This session will demonstrate how to get started with R in R Studio. It will also give an overview of resources available to continue learning R.
Link to Slides
Link to Code
Link to Self-Paced R and RStudio Course
Link to Recording

Using Lidar Data in ArcGIS Pro

February 25, 2021, 2:00pm, presented by Gerald Romme
In ArcGIS Pro explore the use of Lidar Point Cloud data to create Digital Elevation Models (DEM) and Digital Surface Models (DSM) from LAS data. Classify unclassified lidar data, colorize an LAS dataset, visualize it as a scene layer, and view the data in ArcGIS Online.
Link to Recording
Link to Handout

Introduction to Web APIs

April 1, 2021, 2:00pm, presented by Leslie Barnes
APIs (Application Programing Interfaces) are a major way to access data from both free and licensed sources. Come to this session to learn: what is an API? Which APIs do you have access to, as a researcher or student at the University of Toronto? How do you request a key in order to access these APIs? And, when is using an API a good idea?
Link to Recording
Link to Handout

Constellate: A New Platform to Learn Text Analysis

June 28, 2021, 3:00pm, presented by Nick Field
Constellate is a new platform for text analysis. Users can create datasets of thousands of items from JSTOR and other collections, and then filter, clean, analyze, and visualize them. For advanced users, or those wishing to learn Python, the platform also offers customizable Python scripts along with hands-on tutorials. This session will introduce users to Constellate, show how to create a dataset and visualizations, and then will touch on some of the advanced options.
Link to Slides
Link to Recording
Please note that Constellate login instructions have changed slightly since this video was recorded.