#XQuery Summer Institute ##Housekeeping Notes
###Allergy & Dietary Restrictions
- Campus Dining Services has requested that we alert them to allergy and dietary restrictions our participants may have. If you have allergies to soy, egg, shell fish, wheat, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, fish, milk, sulfites, or anything else, please let me know by noon on Monday, May 19 so that I can pass that information along.
- Also, if you require vegetarian, vegan or kosher meals, please let me know that too.
###Check-In
- Check-in for the Institute will take place on Sunday, June 8 at Lewis House (1410 25th Avenue South) in the Highland Quadrangle on the Vanderbilt Campus. Our formal check-in time runs from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. However, the desk in Lewis House will be staffed until midnight on Sunday evening. If you happen to arrive after midnight due to delays, please call (615) 343-8699 for assistance.
###Check-Out
- Check-out will take place between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Friday, June 20th. I’m afraid that our contract does not allow us to extend the length of individual stays.
- If you are planning to stay in Nashville on Friday night, I’d recommend selecting a hotel in the Midtown area—for example, the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University (2555 West End Ave, Nashville, TN 37203).
###Classroom
- We'll be meeting for all our Institute sessions in Room 418a of the Central Library. It's a fifteen minute walk so plan accordingly.
- I'll plan to be outside Lewis House at 7:30 a.m. on Monday morning if you'd like to walk over to breakfast in Rand and then to our classroom together.
###International Visitors
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Vanderbilt University requires us to complete a Foreign National Visitor Form at least ten days prior to the Institute. If you are not a United States citizen or a permanent resident, would you please send me your citizenship information early next week (by Wednesday, May 21st at the latest)?
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If you are not a United States citizen or permanent resident, you will need to fill out this form to receive your reimbursement. Please enter “XQuery Summer Institute” under “Purpose of visit to Vanderbilt,” “Vanderbilt University Library” under “Vanderbilt Department you will visit,” and "Clifford Anderson" under “Department Contact Name.”
###Laptops & Software
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If you plan to bring your own laptop, great. If not, we will make a laptop available to you during our Institute sessions. If you plan to use a loaner laptop, would you please let me know? We would like to know how many laptops to set up with eXist prior to the beginning of the Institute.
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We also have a classroom license for the oXygen XML Editor in case you do not already have your own personal license. We will provide you with the license key when you arrive.
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Our Institute will be platform agnostic so both Macs and PCs are fine.
###Meals
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The syllabus is now updated with our meal schedule. In short, our meals will take place in one of two cafeterias on the Vanderbilt campus during the weekdays of the institute. You will receive a meal card with your check-in package. Breakfast will be served in Rand Dining Hall at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, June 9. So definitely plan to have breakfast before our first session.
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There are no meals scheduled for dinner on Friday, June 13; lunch on Saturday, June 14; dinner on Saturday, June 14; breakfast on Sunday, June 15; or lunch on Sunday, June 15. We will reimburse you an amount corresponding to the cafeteria prices for those meals. So take the opportunity to have Sunday breakfast at the Loveless Cafe!
###Parking
- If you plan to bring a car to campus or to rent a car while you are here, would you please let me know? The Office of Conferences will issue you a permit for your two weeks on campus. The cost is $50. This charge will be deducted directly from your reimbursement so there is no need to pay in advance.
###Readings
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The primary text for our Institute is Priscilla Walmsley’s XQuery (O’Reilly, 2007). We recommend that all participants borrow or buy a copy. We’ll also have a copy on reserve in our library.
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We had planned to assign Ron Hitchen’s Getting Started with XQuery (Pragmatic Press, 2008). Unfortunately, it seems to have gone out of print so we will not be using that text for our Institute.
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We’ll also be referring to Joe Fawcett, Danny Ayers, Liam R. E. Quin’s Beginning XML, 5th Edition (Wiley, 2012) from time to time in the course. If you’re already well-versed in the XML ecosystem, you probably won’t need to read this book. If not, we’ll have a digital version on our library network that you can access as needed during the Institute.
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I should mention that Erik Siegel and Adam Retter are currently writing a book titled eXist: A NoSQL Document Database and Application Platform (O’Reilly, 2014). The book is available as a “rough cut,” which means that it’s still being written. We won’t use this text during the Institute, but it contains very helpful information about key topics such as indexing and security in eXist. You may want to consider this as “additional reading” after our time together this summer.
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Instructors may also assign short readings to accompany their sessions. Please check the curriculum as we draw closer to the Institute for more details. We’ll make sure copies of these shorter readings are available to you during the Institute.
###Reimbursements
- Please remember to keep your receipts. For the reimbursement of meals, our financial office requires itemized receipts. We will do our best to process your reimbursements as quickly as possible after the Institute.
###Residence
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You’ll be staying at Mayfield Place, which is also in the Highland Quadrangle.
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Laundry facilities will be available in a nearby residence hall.
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You will have free access to the Vanderbilt Recreation and Wellness Center during your stay.
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All our events will take place within easy walking distance so you will not need a car to get around campus.
###Transportation from the Airport
- There are several options for transportation from the airport. My recommendation would be to take a cab from the airport to Lewis House (1410 25th Avenue South), where you will check in for the Mayfield Lodges. The cost of the taxi should be approximately $27. Please keep the receipt if you would like the cost to be reimbursed with your other travel expenses.