Library Instruction

Fondren Library provides learning opportunities in many areas, from searching the research literature to creating multimedia presentations, using data, archival research and more. Use the list below to contact the library department that fits your needs.

Library Instruction Departments

Digital Media Commons (DMC): Develop skills for producing multimedia projects.

GIS/Data Center (GDC): Learn to use geographic information systems (GIS) and to work with geographic data.

Kelley Center: Access government information, statistical data, maps and microforms; learn to search patent and trademark databases.

Reference/Collection Development: Schedule "library sessions" with Subject Librarians; learn effective research techniques.

Research Data Services: Learn to find, manage, analyze, visualize, share, and preserve research data.

User Experience (UX): Learn about UX methodologies, equipment and software, and take fast 15-30 minute classes.

Woodson Research Center—Primary Sources: Learn more about Archives, Rare Books, and Digital Humanities tools.

Contact: Jane Zhao: janezhao@rice.edu or 713-338-3696

The DMC offers a variety of instruction including customized training for interested Rice classes and groups, regular training to all Rice affiliates, walk-in or scheduled consultations, and online guides and video tutorials. These hands-on trainings and detailed training materials cover how to use and create digital resources such as digital video and audio, graphics and animations, posters, websites, and data visualization. Topics of classes include:

• Managing your citations with Zotero/EndNote
• Fundamentals of data visualization with Tableau
• Making an academic poster with PowerPoint
• Video editing with iMovie/Final Cut Pro/Premiere
• Creating whiteboard animation videos
• Making a short video from start to finish
• Audio recording and editing with Audacity/Garage Band
• Authoring a Website with CampusPress
• Photo editing in Photoshop
• Creating a digital illustration in Adobe Photoshop
• Creating a promotional Flyer in Adobe Illustrator
• Creating a portfolio in Adobe InDesign
• Creating motion graphics in Adobe After Effects
• Creating 3D models and animations in Blender

Contact: Kim Ricker: kr7@rice.edu or 713-348-5691

The GIS/Data Center offers customized instruction for interested Rice classes and a series of twenty-two short courses available to all Rice affiliates. These courses introduce geographic information systems (GIS); teach software-specific tasks for analysis and visualization of geographic data; and introduce the use of demographic data in GIS, like that from the U.S. census. Topics of classes include:

• Learning the fundamentals of GIS
• Discovering GIS concepts and applications in a wide variety of disciplines
• Using software tools for analysis
• Exploring and accessing data resource
• Creating GIS data
• Identifying underlying foundational information about data, such as the projection and how to choose the appropriate one
• Making decisions on how to format data for importing and exporting
• Manipulating data
• Lining up images, such as aerial photographs, site plans and diagrams, with other spatial data in ArcGIS (georeferencing)
• Evaluating geographic patterns and identifying statistically significant spatial clusters (hot spots) and outliers in the data

Contact: Anna Xiong: axiong@rice.edu or 713-348-6212

Serving as a federal depository library for the 7th Congressional District of Texas and as a Patent and Trademark Resource Center, Fondren Library’s Kelley Center for Government Information, Data and Geospatial Services provides free and effective public access to government information as well as short courses devoted to data of several types: government census and survey data, print and digitized maps, and data used in political and social research. In addition, the Kelley Center offers Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) classes which teach area inventors and entrepreneurs how to search the free patents and trademarks databases from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Topics of classes include:

• Finding and analyzing social sciences data
• Finding and archiving research data with the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
• Providing student resources for political and social research
• Integrating maps and concepts of spatial thinking into humanities and social sciences research and inquiry
• Customizing census data retrieval from IPUMS (www.ipums.org)
• Understanding the United States Patent Classification and Cooperative Patent Classification
• Searching strategies for patent and trademark
• Understanding Trademark’s Design Search Code and ID manual
• Checking patent and trademark application status

Contact: Joe Goetz: jeg3@rice.edu or 713-348-3892

Subject Librarians with expertise in their areas teach classes and individuals to find and use library resources for research in a specific discipline. They also consult with individual students and researchers, and with instructors on making the most of library resources in their assignments. See the list of subject specialists at http://library.rice.edu/librarians and our list of research guides at http://libguides.rice.edu/. Topics of classes include:

• Finding and using the best sources of information for a project
• Evaluating information sources in the library and online
• Managing citations

Contact: Sean Smith: mrsmith@rice.edu or 713-348-6211

Research Data Services offers training and consultation to help students and researchers learn how to find, manage, analyze, visualize, share, and preserve data. 

In addition to teaching regular workshops through the Data@Rice series, the team works with classes and research groups to offer customized training and consultation. Topics of classes include:

• Finding, accessing, and citing data
• Research data management
• Cleaning, analyzing, and visualizing data using open-source tools (e.g., OpenRefine, Python, R, and SQL)
• Sharing and preserving data 
• Remote and secure computing resources

Contact: Debra Kolah and Amanda Thomas: fondrenux@rice.edu

The User Experience (UX) Office offers classes and consultations in many areas related to UX, along with short, 15-30 minute classes identified as areas of need from UX research. Topics of classes include:

• Preparing study proposals for Institutional Review Board (IRB) review
• Setting Up Google Scholar Profiles
• Keeping current with Google Alerts
• Analyzing citations using Scopus
• Accessing and searching e-books at Fondren
• Assessing the usability of your website, service or space

Contact: Norie Guthrie: slg4@rice.edu or 713-348-2563

The Woodson Research Center works with faculty to select relevant collections that can enrich student understanding of a topic. Archivists at the Woodson teach in-class workshops and work one-on-one with students. Topics of classes include:

• Determining the differences between primary and secondary sources
• Teaching how to use our finding aids, leading to more independent research
• Extracting information from primary sources
• Relating primary source archival examples to larger cultural themes
• Understanding how primary sources can be used to create digital humanities projects

Course offerings:

• Understanding and Using Archives
• Primary Sources and Digital Humanities Tools
• Rare Books
• Houston Architecture