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Open Science and Data Management: Introducing Graduate Students to Research Workflows in a Local Context
  • Samantha Teplitzky,
  • Anna Sackmann,
  • Susan Powell
Samantha Teplitzky
University of California Berkeley

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Anna Sackmann
University of California Berkeley
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Susan Powell
University of California Berkeley
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Abstract

The Engineering & Physical Sciences Division of the UC Berkeley Library partners with researchers to support the entire research life cycle. Since 2016, the division’s Science Data Librarian has offered Research Data Management training that covers data management, storage, documentation, and sharing. Based on this established work, division librarians piloted a series of open science workshops in 2019. The Earth & Planetary Sciences (EPS) Department was chosen as the target department for this work. Librarians began by replacing their traditional orientation session, focused on library procedures and resources, with an approach that highlighted local support for open research workflows. Scheduled throughout the fall semester of 2019, the sessions focus on trending methods and workflow tools relevant to students as they launch their research including: Introduction to Research Workflows and Literature Searching Dynamic data management, publishing and citation Citation Management Collaborative writing in LaTeX with Overleaf Jupyter Notebooks best practices Approaches to Github and reproducible code Publishing and authorship trends in the Earth Sciences The workshops draw together expertise from the EPS department and around campus, offering students a scaffolded introduction to local resources. Unlike a bootcamp or one-time workshop model, students learn material over the course of several months giving them the opportunity to attempt, adapt and develop new methods. The workshops also fill a need expressed by earlier graduate cohorts–domain specific sessions that take place within their building–making this an effective approach for reaching students and introducing foundational research methods. Trainers benefit by encountering a cohesive audience and creating content that will can be applied to other disciplines. Pilots such as this build communities of practice, test methodologies and provide an opportunity to scale trainings to a broader audience.