Google Comes to Danbury on August 31

Google comes to WestConn

Instructional seminar free and open to the public DANBURY, Conn. - The Communication and Media Arts Departmentat Western Connecticut State University will host a seminar on Thursday, Aug. 31, to teach anyone how to work in Google programs to gather and analyze data.

Mike Reilley, a trainer who developed his data skills in a newsroom, will lead the seminar and provide guidance on how to use Google programs like Trends, Scholar and Sheets. Participants will build charts with Google Fusion Tables and maps with Carto.com as well as use Google Earth, Google Earth Timelapse and Google Earth Pro to build tours, verify photos and locations, and download historical imagery. Mobile reporting apps and other programs also will be discussed and demonstrated.

"Everyone should go to this seminar - it will help anyone who wants to improve their data literacy skills," said Dr. JC Barone, WCSU associate professor of Communication and Media Arts. "Anyone who gathers information or analyzes data should attend."

The seminar is free and open to the public. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Aug. 31 in Room 202 of the Student Center on the Midtown campus, 181 White St., Danbury. Participants may attend all four hours or come and go as they please. Register here for the Google session.

Reilley is a former Los Angeles Times reporter and copy editor. He also was one of the founding editors of ChicagoTribune.com and taught journalism for 13 years. He founded the journalism research site The Journalist's Toolbox, which is maintained by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Attendees will get the most out of the session if they download two programs to a laptop - Google Earth Pro at google.com/earth/resources and software for data scraping at tabula.technology. Participants should bring a laptop to the seminar. Additional apps that might be demonstrated can be found at here.

For more information, call the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.