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@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/