About Academic Computing Services

Mission Statement (2009):

Academic Computing Services provides leadership and expertise in instructional technologies for Vassar College. ACS works with Vassar faculty, students and other college constituencies towards the purposeful integration of digital technologies and new media into the college curriculum.

Academic Computing Services is committed to:
– Consulting with faculty members about instructional technology needs
– Collaborating with faculty members on curricular design and scholarly work
– Providing instruction on the use of technologies for teaching and learning
– Managing the design, production and assessment of long term academic projects
– Exploring and promoting best practices for teaching with technology
– Advocating for faculty needs within Computing and Information Services

Vision Statement: the long-term impact of accomplishing our mission (2011):

Building on Vassar’s tradition of teaching and learning in an intimate setting, as well as its important focus on interdisciplinary connections, learning technologies will increasingly enhance the rich academic experience of the college community.

We envision a future in which the process of curricular development at Vassar takes place as a collaboration among faculty, educational technologists, librarians, and pedagogy specialists. As learning technologies become widespread, the effort of identifying, implementing, and assessing the purposeful use of these tools will require the involvement of all participants. This approach will help create a campus culture of sharing and cooperation.

Digital technologies are transforming the nature of scholarly work in a fundamental way. Recognizing this, educational technologists will focus on developing a high level of digital literacy in our academic community, particularly the ability to create, share and evaluate information using learning technologies.

By fostering the use of tools and practices that suit the liberal arts paradigm, Vassar will become a model for the integration of technology and education.

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Recent Posts

Technology Workshops Spring 2025

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We are please to announce our schedule of workshops for the upcoming semester. If you have suggested programming or other feedback, please email dissco@vassar.edu

Summary of Events
01/23 1:30 pm Intro to Excel & Data Literacy
01/31 11:00 am Stay Organized & Save Time with Zotero Citation Manager
02/04 11:00 am Overleaf Latex Series Part 1: Creating & Editing Equations
02/10 12:30 pm Intro to RISO Printing
02/12 3:00 pm Intro to the Vassar College Libraries Digital Library
02/14 1:00 pm Intro to Locating Data: Social Sciences Edition
02/19 3:00 pm Poster Design for Academia
02/20 10:00 am Intro to Illustrator for Laser Cutting
02/25 9:00 am Intro to Drone Mapping (with GEOG 226)
02/25 10:30 am Intro to ArcGIS Online and Story Maps Part 1 (with ENST 125)
02/26 3:30 pm Stay Organized & Save Time with Zotero Citation Manager
02/28 1:00 pm AI Tools for Your Literature Search
03/03 3:00 pm Intro to Omeka
03/04 10:00 am Overleaf Latex Series Part 2: Creating & Editing Figures
03/05 3:00 pm Intro to Audio Recording and Campus Resources
03/07 11:00 am Campus Resources for Building Websites
03/25 10:00 am Overleaf Latex Series Part 3: References & Zotero Integration
03/25 10:30am Intro to ArcGIS Online and Story Maps Part 2 (with ENST 125)
03/27 10:00am Terminate your Fear of the Terminal
03/27 3:30 pm Introduction to Airtable
03/31 3:00 pm Intro to Scalar
04/08 2:30 pm Using InDesign for Academic Publishing
04/16 3:30 pm Intro to Generative Visual AI
04/23 3:00 pm Fun with AI Transcription and Text Analysis Tools

Intro to Excel and Data Literacyfour pillars of media literacy engage analyze reason understand

January 23, 2025, 1:30 – 3 PM, BLS 101 (Laybourn Visualization “SciVis” Lab)

The first step of making sense of data is often organizing it into a spreadsheet. Once entered and organized, spreadsheets can be used to sort, filter, analyze, and visualize patterns and trends that might not be apparent from our own limited observations. Using contemporary datasets in environmental and earth science as examples, participants will learn how to create and navigate spreadsheets in Excel, sort and filter data, write formulas to perform calculations, summarize and format data into tables for a report, and generate graphs from data. Contact Neil Curri to register or for questions (necurri@vassar.edu / x7708). 

zotero iconStay Organized & Save Time with Zotero Citation Manager

Friday, January 31, 2025, 11:00 – 11:45 am, Main Library, Electronic Classroom Rm. 160

Looking to save time formatting your bibliography? Overwhelmed by unorganized PDFs? Zotero is a free citation manager that helps you organize references, annotate pdfs, and generate in-text citations and bibliographies. Zotero is most useful when used during the research process – finding sources, building your Zotero library, and using Zotero’s citation tools all work together to facilitate your research and writing. During this workshop, you will learn how to:

  • Create a Zotero library
  • Organize and share references
  • Generate bibliographies in your preferred citation style
  • Format in-text citations and reference lists in Word and Google Docs

Led by Elizabeth Salmon, Social Science Librarian. Registration appreciated but not required.

Overleaf Latex Series Part 1: Creating & Editing Equationslatex icon

Tuesday, February 4, 2025, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm, Laybourne Visualization Laboratory, BLS 101

 Interested in using LaTeX language to draft documents? LaTeX is very useful for generating documents that include equations, figures, and citations, especially if they are referenced within the text. One environment for using LaTeX is Overleaf, which is like the “Google Docs” of LaTeX. Come join Part 1 of the Overleaf workshop series to learn the basics of generating equations within LaTeX to generate professional looking PDF documents. Either bring your laptop or use one of the computers in the SciVis lab to participate in hands-on examples during the workshop! Having an account set up on Overleaf beforehand would be ideal (and it is free!). https://www.overleaf.com/login 

Led by Susannah Zhang, Academic Computing Consultant for the Natural Sciences

Intro to RISO Printingriso icon

Monday, February 10, 2025, 12:30 – 1:30 Main Library, Electronic Classroom Rm. 160

The Fabulous Innovation Lab has an amazing and popular new RISO printer. Come to this workshop and learn how to use Illustrator & Photoshop to prep digital files for RISO printing and to learn more about RISO printing in general. Led by Academic Computing Services

digital library screenshotIntro to the Vassar College Libraries Digital Library

Wedneday, February 12, 2025,  3:00-4:00 PM, Zoom

The Digital Library includes photos, audiovisual materials, manuscripts, and much more! Did you know it now also provides access to Finding Aids, Vassar Scholarship, and a Herbarium? Join us for a tour of the system followed by a Q&A. The tour will include tips on how to find what you need for your research and how to submit your work to the Vassar Scholarship repository. Led by Nicole Scalessa of Digital Scholarship and Technology Services. 

Register Online: https://libcal.vassar.edu/event/14050723 

If you cannot attend the specified date we can discuss this topic by appointment: https://calendar.app.google/fTatyJxU7g5EPBGv5 

Introduction to Locating Data: Social Sciences Editionsocial explorer icon

Friday, February 14, 2025, 1:00 – 2:00pm, Zoom

Where do you find trustworthy data and statistics for your research? Who owns data, and who uses data? This workshop provides an introduction to the data landscape with a focus on research in the social sciences. During this workshop we will access data using Social Explorer, a data mapping tool that includes U.S. census data back to 1790, the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) data archive, and more. 

Register to receive Zoom details. Presented by Elizabeth Salmon, Social Science Librarian, as part of International Love Data Week, “Whose Data is It, Anyway?”

illustrator environment pencil imacPoster Design for Academia

Wednesday, February 19, 2025, 3:00 – 4:00 Main Library, Electronic Classroom Rm. 160

Need a poster for an academic conference? Want to print a giant poster for your event? Come to this hands-on workshop, learn basic design and how to use Illustrator, Powerpoint or Google Slides to make a poster. Led by Nicole Scalessa and Baynard Bailey. Please rsvp to babailey@vassar.edu (suggested but not required).

Intro to Illustrator for Laser Cutting laser cutting cardboard or thin wood

Thursday, February 20, 2025, 10;00 -11:00 am, Main Library, Electronic Classroom Rm. 160

Prepping materials for laser cutting and making has never been easier! Please join us for this introductory workshop where we’ll learn how to use Adobe Illustrator to create and prep designs to be cut out of cardboard, wood, metal or other materials. Led by Academic Computing Services.

Phantom IV Pro v2 flyingIntro to Drone Mapping
Tuesday, February 25, 2025, 9:00 – 10:15 AM, Archery Field (intersection of Kenyon Hall Dr. and Sunset Lake Dr.) Map
(Inclement weather date: Thursday, February 27, 2025)

Drone mapping is the process of creating high-resolution, spatially-accurate images and data for applications from urban planning to agricultural crop monitoring to ecological research and monitoring. In this workshop, you will learn the basics of drone operation and safety, how to plan for and capture images of a survey area, and about processing the imagery in photogrammetry software to create an orthomosaic image (and digital surface/elevation models) of the survey area. To register or for questions contact Neil Curri (necurri@vassar.edu / x7708).

arc gis icon and screenshotsIntro to ArcGIS Online and Story Maps, Part 1 (with ENST 125)

February 25, 2025, 10:30 am – 11:45 am, Main Library, Electronic Classroom Rm. 160

Learn how to find geographic data and make maps using ArcGIS Online, a cloud-based geospatial mapping platform. Maps can be private, or shared with a group of collaborators, or shared publicly. Participants will also learn how to create digital essays using ArcGIS StoryMaps, which integrates maps created in ArcGIS Online with text, images, videos, and other media. Users can share their stories with others, and use them to create awareness, influence opinions, or affect change. This workshop (Part 1) covers ArcGIS Online and finding maps and data sources related to your topic, with a focus on environmental and climate justice topics. Please email Neil Curri (necurri@vassar.edu) to register or if you have any questions. 

Stay Organized & Save Time with Zotero Citation Managerzotero icon

February 26, 2025, 3:30 – 4:15pm, Main Library, Electronic Classroom Rm. 160

Looking to save time formatting your bibliography? Overwhelmed by unorganized PDFs? Zotero is a free citation manager that helps you organize references, annotate pdfs, and generate in-text citations and bibliographies. Zotero is most useful when used during the research process – finding sources, building your Zotero library, and using Zotero’s citation tools all work together to facilitate your research and writing. During this workshop, you will learn how to:

  • Create a Zotero library
  • Organize and share references
  • Generate bibliographies in your preferred citation style
  • Format in-text citations and reference lists in Word and Google Docs

Led by Elizabeth Salmon, Social Science Librarian. Registration appreciated but not required.

AI Tools for Your Literature Search 

Friday, February 28, 2025, 1:00 – 2:00 pm, Main Library Electronic Classroom Rm. 160

research rabbit icon wiremeshAs part of our DiSSco AI series, join us to experiment with AI tools that support the discovery and exploration of academic research. This workshop will review a few tools like Research Rabbit, as well as a quick introduction to evaluating AI discovery tools, and an overview of how and when to use AI tools to supplement your research process. Led by Elizabeth Salmon, Social Science Librarian. Registration appreciated but not required.

Intro to Omekaomeka logo

Monday, March 3, 2025, 3:00- 4:00 PM on Zoom

Omeka is a free, open-source content management system for online digital collections that allows users to publish and exhibit scholarly collections and cultural heritage objects. The Vassar College Digital Scholarship Services Collaboration (DiSSCo) provides a web hosting resource called vassarspaces.net. This service, a Domain of One’s Own (DoOO) product, provides the flexibility for anyone in our academic community to build websites on a variety of platforms, including Omeka. Led by Nicole Scalessa of Digital Scholarship and Technology Services.

Register Online: https://libcal.vassar.edu/event/14050897 

If you cannot attend the specified date we can discuss this topic by appointment: https://calendar.app.google/fTatyJxU7g5EPBGv5 

latex iconOverleaf Latex Series Part 2: Creating & Editing Figures

Tuesday, March 4, 2025, 10:00 – 11:00am, Laybourne Visualization Laboratory (SciVis), BLS 101Interested in using LaTeX language to draft documents? LaTeX is very useful for generating documents that include equations, figures, and citations, especially if they are referenced within the text. One environment for using LaTeX is Overleaf, which is like the “Google Docs” of LaTeX. Come join Part 2 of the Overleaf workshop series to learn the basics of formatting figures within LaTeX to generate professional looking PDF documents. Either bring your laptop or use one of the computers in the SciVis lab to participate in hands-on examples during the workshop! Having an account set up on Overleaf beforehand would be ideal (and it is free!). https://www.overleaf.com/login 

Led by Susannah Zhang, Academic Computing Consultant for the Natural Sciences

Intro to Audio Recording and Campus Resources

NEW AUDIO STUDIO

In the summer of 2024, the exploring transfer students were some of the first to try out the new setup.

Wednesday 3:00 March 5, 11:00 – 11:45 am, Main Library Electronic Classroom, 160

Planning to record voice or music and you have never done it before? Interested in podcasting? Perhaps you have an interview you need to edit and share? We’ll review free and cross-platform tools and review resources for audio production. We’ll conclude by visiting the audio nook and the studio in the basement of Chicago Hall. Led by Baynard Bailey of Academic Computing Services.

crane building a web page free image from pixabayCampus Resources for Building Websites 

Friday, March 7, 2025  3:00-4:00 pm Main Library, Electronic Classroom Rm. 160

Need a website? We will review the options you have available to you as a member of the Vassar Community. We’ll also highlight our cloud resource : vassarspaces.net – where we empower users to become sys admins and install their own apps (WordPress, Scalar, Omeka and more!). Led by Baynard Bailey of Academic Computing Services and Nicole Scalessa of Digital Scholarship and Technology Services. 

Register: https://libcal.vassar.edu/event/14051353 

Overleaf Latex Series Part 3: References & Zotero Integration

Tuesday, March 25, 2025, 10:00 – 11:00am, Laybourne Visualization Laboratory (SciVis), BLS 10

latex iconInterested in using LaTeX language to draft documents? LaTeX is very useful for generating documents that include equations, figures, and citations, especially if they are referenced within the text. One environment for using LaTeX is Overleaf, which is like the “Google Docs” of LaTeX. Come join Part 3 of the Overleaf workshop series to learn the basics of citations within LaTeX using BibTeX to generate professional looking PDF documents. How to use your Zotero citations with BibTeX will also be covered. Either bring your laptop or use one of the computers in the SciVis lab to participate in hands-on examples during the workshop! Having an account set up on Overleaf beforehand would be ideal (and it is free!). https://www.overleaf.com/login Additionally, having a Zotero account, https://www.zotero.org, beforehand would also be helpful, but not required.

Co-led by: Susannah Zhang, Academic Computing Consultant for the Natural Sciences

      Elizabeth Salmon, Social Science Librarian

arc gis icon and screenshotsIntro to ArcGIS Online and Story Maps, Part 2 (with ENST 125)

March 25, 2025, 10:30 am – 11:45 am, Main Library, Electronic Classroom Rm. 160

Learn how to find geographic data and make maps using ArcGIS Online, a cloud-based geospatial mapping platform. Maps can be private, or shared with a group of collaborators, or shared publicly. Participants will also learn how to create digital essays using ArcGIS StoryMaps, which integrates maps created in ArcGIS Online with text, images, videos, and other media. Users can share their stories with others, and use them to create awareness, influence opinions, or affect change. This workshop (Part 2) covers features and functions in Story Maps to integrate your ArcGIS Online maps and other media in your story, with a focus on environmental and climate justice topics. Please email Neil Curri (necurri@vassar.edu) to register or if you have any questions. 

Terminate your Fear of the Terminal terminal prompt

Thursday, March 27, 2025, 10:00 – 11:00am, Laybourne Visualization Laboratory (SciVis), BLS 101

Want to finally get comfortable in the terminal? Not only is the terminal another way of using a PC; it’s a powerful tool that is designed to work more around your thinking! In this workshop we’re going to help curious terminal users of almost any background and skill set. We can go over basic commands like SSH, CP, SCP, and how to see files and executables in a different way. We’ll cover how to get logged into systems, find files and get them to the right places, using your apps, and start building new workflow logic!

Learn it once, use it everywhere: The fundamentals you learn here will be valuable for a long time. They are portable around the Mac Terminal, increasingly usable in Windows, and every Linux distro. Even Git, AWS, and Android use some of the style! Either bring your laptop or use one of the computers in the SciVis lab to participate in hands-on examples during the workshop!

Co-led by: Jesse Hayward, Systems Administrator for High Performance Computing

     Susannah Zhang, Academic Computing Consultant for the Natural Sciences

airtable icon Introduction to Airtable

Thursday, March 27, 2025, 3:30 – 4:30 pm, BLS 101 (Laybourne Visualization “SciVis” Lab)

This workshop provides a comprehensive introduction to Airtable, a platform that combines the functionality of spreadsheets and databases. Participants will learn the basics of creating and customizing tables, using views to filter and sort information, and linking records. The session will also cover Airtable’s collaboration features and automation capabilities, making it a valuable tool for academic projects, administrative tasks, and team management. (Note: Vassar College does not have an institutional license available for Airtable. Features explored in this workshop will be on the free tier. Departments and offices, after consultation with CIS, may purchase individual subscriptions.)

Led by Julian Aguilar of Academic Computing Services. Registration appreciated but not required. Capacity: 15

Intro to Scalarscalar logo

Monday, March 31, 2025, 3:00-4:00 PM on Zoom

Scalar is an open source, web-based publishing software from the University of Southern California’s Alliance for Networking Visual Culture that allows you to create networked, multi-media online publications.This workshop will begin with the basics of installation along with creating accounts, projects, and content path. It will also cover the management and inclusion of media, such as images and video. Led by Nicole Scalessa of Digital Scholarship and Technology Services. 

Register Online: https://libcal.vassar.edu/event/14050897 

If you cannot attend the specified date we can discuss this topic by appointment: https://calendar.app.google/fTatyJxU7g5EPBGv5 

Capital I Lowercase D adobe indesign logoUsing InDesign for Academic Publishing

Tuesday, April 8, 2025, 2:30 – 3:30 pm, BLS 238 (Conference Room)

This workshop introduces Adobe InDesign, a powerful tool for print design. Participants will learn best practices for structuring documents, such as setting up consistent formatting, managing tables of contents, and preparing files for print or digital distribution. Whether you’re publishing a scholarly publication or a creative project, this workshop will provide the knowledge to facilitate your engagement with publishing design teams to bring your ideas to life.

Led by Julian Aguilar of Academic Computing Services. Registration appreciated but not required. Capacity: 15

Intro to Generative Visual AI hal from 2001

Wednesday, April 16, 2025, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm  Library Electronic Classroom, Rm. 160

Part of our DiSSCo AI workshop series, in this workshop we’ll explore easy to use free tools out there for generating memes and artwork. Come to try these tools and and discuss the latest AI trends. Led by Baynard Bailey of Academic Computing Services. 

Dallas communicating with Mother in AlienFun with AI Transcription and Text Analysis Tools

Wednesday, April 23, 2025 3:00-4:00 PM Location: Library Electronic Classroom.

In this hands-on workshop we will create an audio transcription from an MP3 using MACWhisper and then apply a variety of text analysis tools on the output. 

Register Online: https://libcal.vassar.edu/event/14051325 

If you cannot attend the specified date we can discuss this topic by appointment: https://calendar.app.google/fTatyJxU7g5EPBGv5

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