[Air-L] Free Online Training for the Public Comment Analysis Toolkit (PCAT) on Thursday, February 4, 2010 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM EST

[Stuart Shulman]

Please register for Free Online Training for the Public Comment Analysis
Toolkit (PCAT) on Thursday, February 4, 2010 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM EST at:

https://student.gototraining.com/6gy79/register/6676687926493271808

The Public Comment Analysis Toolkit (PCAT) is Web-based, university-hosted
software engineered for the specific task of reviewing public comments
submitted via the U.S. Federal Docket Management System. However, PCAT is
version 2.0 of the Coding Analysis Toolkit (CAT), therefore it is also
useful for sorting all kinds of CAT-style 'text' datasets. If you have
digitized text (not just public comments), you can form a team of peers,
create a project, upload data, discover important themes and issues,
classify text passages, and organize your analysis with a collaborative
bookmark and memo system. Some reasons to try PCAT are:

* The system is fast, secure and scalable.
* This is currently a free service in beta testing
* It is based on award-winning CAT research software.
* It extends principles of efficiency, accuracy, reliability, validity,
usability, and transparency.
* It leverages a novel new approach to integrating credentials and
distributed work flow.
* It is equally useful to public and private actors and accessible to all.
* It allows you to show or share your work with anyone on the system.
* Auto-loading text deals a blow to the tyranny of carpel tunnel causing
mouse-clicks.
* It is very easy to learn and you can't break it.

For more information:
http://pcat-help.qdap.net/doku.php?id=home_page

Or just visit:
http://pcat.qdap.net

You must register in advance to participate in the training. I will cover
the basic operations of the system and take your questions about how to
manage a project from cradle to grave.

-- 
Dr. Stuart W. Shulman
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Massachusetts Amherst
200 Hicks Way
Amherst, MA 01003

http://people.umass.edu/stu/
stu at polsci.umass.edu
413-545-5375

Editor, Journal of Information Technology and Politics
http://www.jitp.net

Director, QDAP-UMass
http://www.umass.edu/qdap/