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Workshop Title Slide

Introduction to SQL

Learn the fundamentals of Structured Query Language (SQL) through a hands-on introduction using SQLite Online, a free, browser-based environment that requires no software installation. This beginner-friendly workshop will introduce participants to the basic concepts of relational databases and provide practical experience writing and running SQL queries.

Participants will learn how to retrieve, filter, sort, and summarize data using SQL and will work through examples using a sample database. The workshop will also introduce concepts such as tables, fields, records, primary keys, and relationships between tables. By the end of the session, participants will have a foundation for using SQL to explore and analyze structured research data.

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Explain basic relational database concepts, including tables, records, fields, and keys.
  • Navigate and use SQLite Online to create and run SQL queries.
  • Write basic SQL queries using SELECT and FROM.
  • Filter and sort data using WHERE and ORDER BY.
  • Use SQL functions to summarize and aggregate data, including COUNT, SUM, AVG, MIN, and MAX.
  • Group and summarize data using GROUP BY.
  • Combine information from multiple tables using basic JOIN operations.
  • Apply SQL queries to explore and extract information from structured datasets.

Workshop Preparation

No previous SQL or programming experience is required. Participants should:

  • Bring a laptop with a reliable internet connection.
  • Have access to a modern web browser such as Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari.
  • Familiarize themselves with basic spreadsheet concepts such as rows, columns, and filtering data.
  • No software installation is required. We will use SQLite Online directly through a web browser.

Participants are encouraged to create an account on SQLite Online before the workshop if they wish to save their work, although an account is not required for the hands-on exercises.

Recommended for: Students, faculty, staff, and researchers who are new to SQL and want to develop foundational skills for working with structured or research data.

Facilitator Bio

John Fink is the Digital Scholarship Librarian at the Sherman Centre. John’s (he/they) talents lie in complex and innovative systems administration, project management and hardware infrastructure. He also has an interest in the maker/hacker element in digital scholarship, and is frequently spotted tinkering with esoteric hardware. If you are interested in having the Sherman Centre support your project, John is an excellent first contact.

Vivek Jadon (he/him) provides research support in the use of numeric research data. As part of his role, Vivek is McMaster University’s official representative for Statistics Canada’s Data Liberation Initiative (DLI) program and Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). Both of these programs provide researchers with vast archive of research data from various disciplines for high quality research and instruction. Vivek is also involved in building awareness and promoting RDM activities/services at McMaster.

Workshop Slides

Coming soon.