Recent Publications Highlighting the Value of the Carpentries in Academic Libraries

The following three articles are highlighted in the new Library Carpentry Zotero collection.

How Library Carpentry helps us to transform our data and our training

Phil Reed, Data Specialist (Teaching, Learning and Students), The University of Manchester Library

There continues to be much discussion around more advanced digital skills in many aspects of library and information professional practice. Some particular issues highlighted for metadata and cataloguing work include the need for a competency framework, establishing what specific skills learners need, and maintaining a pool of instructors. In this journal article, Phil looks at the emergence of Library Carpentry workshops in the north of England, describing how the community could develop to meet the training and development needs of multiple fields in the sector. It includes a case study on a new lesson he has been involved in building about TEI XML, inspired by Manchester’s special collection, which may also serve as a way to encourage buy-in for The Carpentries from new institutions.

Open Science Skilling and Training Initiatives in Europe - Ireland

David Kane, Systems Librarian, Waterford Institute of Technology

In 2018, LIBER’s Digital Skills for Library Staff and Researchers Working Group undertook the “Open Science skilling and training initiatives in Europe” Project. Questionnaires were sent out in 28 European countries. These led to in-depth interviews with those responsible for key Open Science skilling initiatives in each country. The resulting interviews showed a rich and diverse response of European research libraries to the complex challenge of transitioning to an Open Research culture.

The Irish case study focused on the development of Library Carpentry through a national library skills network, called LIR. The Carpentries’ aim to foster the development of ‘foundational coding, and data science skills’ aligned closely with the LIR’s objective of helping academic libraries ‘explore and develop their digital capacity’.

The Irish case study, therefore, describes how LIR is developing Library Carpentry across the entire network of Irish research libraries. The case study captures how LIR made a rapid transition from an in-person to online delivery of the Library Carpentry lessons through Zoom, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Assessing the impact of introductory programming workshops on the computational reproducibility of biomedical workflows

Ariel Deardorff, Data Services Librarian, University of California, San Francisco Library

For several years librarians at UCSF Library have taught Software Carpentry workshops to campus researchers. In this research article, Ariel investigated the impact of these workshops on the reproducibility of research workflows, finding that researchers who participated in Software Carpentry training were able to integrate new practices, tools, or methods that helped make their work more reproducible and transparent. The findings from this project indicate that Software Carpentry workshops can be an excellent mechanism for libraries to provide crucial training in support of research reproducibility.

Find more articles in Zotero!

Want to read more about the impact of The Carpentries in libraries or share your own articles? Check out and contribute to our new Library Carpentry Zotero collection!