The Perils of Having an Inquiring Mind
Jun. 21st, 2014 12:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
days_unfoldingFor my final project in my Data Analysis class, I created network diagrams of the subject headings and user-defined tags for a set of books. (See the picture.)
However, I didn't think that I really understood what the diagrams were good for, so I dug a little deeper, and encountered math that I didn't understand. However, I really do want to understand this stuff because I want to do a full-scale project using the subject headings for a particular call number in the WorldCat database (which is a database that indicates holdings from libraries all over the world).
So I was poking around Coursera, and found a couple classes on Network Analysis. I found one class on network analysis that doesn't require calculus, in which I promptly enrolled. However the other class, which I'd dearly love to take, requires "statistics, light calculus, and probability theory". Oy. Back in the dark ages at the U of I, I took one undergraduate class and two graduate classes in statistics and loved it, and I had already planned to review statistics this summer, so that's okay. At the U of I, I did take three semesters of calculus, so I must have learned something, but damned if I remember any of it. I also took a class at the U of I in mathematical modeling using one of those newfangled personal computers (a Commodore 64!) that included something having to do with probabilities, but don't remember any of it either. So I guess that I'm reviewing math this summer. Do I know how to have a hot time or what?
Anyone have a fave Calculus or Probability Theory textbook? I'm eyeing Precalculus for Dummies and Calculus for Dummies. (Actually, they really do have great reviews on Amazon.com.) Any pointers on learning calculus? Maybe I should see if a community college has classes because I'll probably need help.
I also looked for programs on statistics, and Penn State has a graduate certificate and Master's degree in Statistics....Someone please stop me! Anyway, I need to review statistics and calculus first....
However, I didn't think that I really understood what the diagrams were good for, so I dug a little deeper, and encountered math that I didn't understand. However, I really do want to understand this stuff because I want to do a full-scale project using the subject headings for a particular call number in the WorldCat database (which is a database that indicates holdings from libraries all over the world).
So I was poking around Coursera, and found a couple classes on Network Analysis. I found one class on network analysis that doesn't require calculus, in which I promptly enrolled. However the other class, which I'd dearly love to take, requires "statistics, light calculus, and probability theory". Oy. Back in the dark ages at the U of I, I took one undergraduate class and two graduate classes in statistics and loved it, and I had already planned to review statistics this summer, so that's okay. At the U of I, I did take three semesters of calculus, so I must have learned something, but damned if I remember any of it. I also took a class at the U of I in mathematical modeling using one of those newfangled personal computers (a Commodore 64!) that included something having to do with probabilities, but don't remember any of it either. So I guess that I'm reviewing math this summer. Do I know how to have a hot time or what?
Anyone have a fave Calculus or Probability Theory textbook? I'm eyeing Precalculus for Dummies and Calculus for Dummies. (Actually, they really do have great reviews on Amazon.com.) Any pointers on learning calculus? Maybe I should see if a community college has classes because I'll probably need help.
I also looked for programs on statistics, and Penn State has a graduate certificate and Master's degree in Statistics....Someone please stop me! Anyway, I need to review statistics and calculus first....
