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Introductory Information for DM Training Series

Welcome to ITEP's On-line Data Management Training Series! These courses have been developed to assist tribes who are currently collecting air monitoring data by enhancing their understanding of the requirements and processes associated with successfully managing air quality data. It may also be useful to tribes who are in the planning stages of an air monitoring program so that they have a better understanding of the entire data management process and the types of information they will have to be collecting and thus managing.

Time frame of completion:
Once registered, students will have up to 6 months to complete each course, however it is strongly recommended that students complete each course in less than one month in order to provide the best learning experience. In order to qualify for a Certificate of Completion, all course exercises and assignments must be submitted to the Instructor within the 6-month period. Students interested in course material for informational purposes only are also limited to a 6-month period; all usernames and passwords will become inactive after 6 months.

Pre-requisites/Course level:
These courses do not explicitly require other training or background, however the material covered in the courses IS ADVANCED, and assumes a moderate understanding of air quality/air monitoring terms, concepts, and processes. It is strongly recommended that participants have completed ITEP's Introduction to Tribal Air Quality, Air Quality Computations, and Air Pollution Technology courses (or equivalent training/experience) prior to starting these courses. If a participant has not had these courses, and cannot take them prior to starting, the self-instructional web-based course Orientation to Air Pollution Control (SI-422), offered by EPA's Air Pollution Training Institute, will provide an adequate background for the topics covered here. Go to www.epa.gov/air/oaqps/eog/course422/index.html to access information about the APTI course.

Course participants are also expected to have a working knowledge of the Internet for tasks such as navigating between web pages, downloading/opening files, emailing attachments, etc. A working knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel is also expected of those participating in these courses. Additional training modules can be found at www.gcflearnfree.org on the topics of Internet and Computer Basics as well as all Microsoft and Open Office applications. Courses are free to individuals who register (they do not send spam email or require identifying information beyond an email address).

System requirements:
Since this is a computer-based training program, participants will be expected to have the capacity to view webpages using an internet browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape, or Firefox are recommended). Most of the modules also require downloading, opening and saving files of the following type:

        Microsoft Word,

        Microsoft Excel,

        Microsoft Access (for Access-specific courses only),

        Adobe Acrobat PDF [Free Adobe Acrobat software],

and common text files. If your computer does not have the capability to open file types listed above, go to www.openoffice.org/ to download OpenOffice. It is the responsibility of the user to have or obtain the necessary software as well as system privileges (contact your IT administrator if you have problems) to complete these courses.

A note about MS Excel files:
Some of the files contain macros. Macros have been built into the spreadsheets to make them easier to use; they will not harm your computer, so when prompted to "Enable Macros" or "Disable Macros," please select "Enable Macros" to ensure the file functions correctly.

Navigating through the Data Management Training Series Courses
The course links for each course are outlined on the left-hand sidebar. When you click on the name of the course, all course modules and topics sections appear in outline format. A double chevron (>>) appears next to the active item. Some of the sections within the course have navigation buttons at the bottom of the page that allow you to proceed to the "Next" section. If you do not see a "Next" button, you can simply navigate to the next section using the links provided on the sidebar.

There are five courses in this series.

       1. Fundamentals of Air Data Management (DM1)

       2. Air Data Management Using Excel (DM2)

       3. Air Data Management for Continuous Methods using MS Access (DM3)

       4. Air Data Management for Laboratory and Monitor-Based Methods using MS Access (DM4)

       5. Downloading Air Data and Mapping with GIS (ArcView 8.3) (DM5)

As students work through the sequence of coursework provided in the Data Management Training Series, several tools have been provided to assist the learning experience.

• The "Announcements" page will be updated periodically with important information regarding the online training series.
  
  
• The "Staff" page lists points-of-contact for the online training courses, including email addresses and phone numbers.
  
  
• The "Communication" page has links to an online message board for students and instructors to post questions and answers related to data management topics. Also on this page are the final course evaluation forms required of all course participants.
  
  
• The "Resources" page contains comprehensive Glossary of air quality-related terms, as well as a link to the 40CFR Parts 53-58 which are federal guidelines specific to ambient air monitoring.
  
  

Each course is completed by passing a series of on-line exercises, and successful participants will be mailed a completion certificate.

There are five courses in this series (at this time, only two are currently available).