We're very lucky at Sheffield to have a vibrant and growing RSE group
(http://rse.shef.ac.uk/), but we are also engaging with this from the
library perspective too. We collaborate closely with the RSE group, and
make sure that we always mention the advantages of preserved, citable
software when evangelising about research data and vice versa.
We're currently putting in place a programme of Software and Data
Carpentry training as a collaborative effort, and indeed we now have two
trained Carpentry instructors within the library. We're also trying to
cross-fertilise by bringing some of these skills to librarians through
the Library Carpentry initiative (https://librarycarpentry.github.io).
Our long-term plan with SC & DC is to have a pool of experienced
instructors but encourage departments to host their own workshops at
need, calling on the instructor pool as required. In order to get that
started, we'll be doing one or two a year centrally to prime the pump.
I hope that helps!
Jez
Robert Darby writes:
> Dear colleagues
>
> I have been exploring the idea of helping to establish and sustain a local network of researchers and research students writing code and developing their own research software, to facilitate sharing of support, knowledge and expertise, organise meetings and workshops, etc. (I think as a University we're a long way yet from employing dedicated Research Software Engineers.)
>
> I've some reports of support need and some researchers I have spoken to are interested in the idea of a local group/network. But I know researchers will draw on existing offline and online software support at point of need, and may be less inclined to commit time to a group without a clear pay-off. Would a local research software users' group meet a real demand, and be sustainable? How do we make it deliver value to those who would benefit, and prevent any initial interest fizzling out?
>
> If anyone has sought to develop a local group along these lines, I'd be interested to hear about their experiences - challenges, successes, failures...
>
> I was thinking of putting out a survey of our researchers to gather evidence of need and appetite, but would want to make sure I ask the right questions (I'm no programmer myself), e.g. which disciplines have most need, where discipline-specific knowledge/skills are requisite, what programming languages are in most use/most need support, how a group could be useful, etc. Has anybody else undertaken a survey along these lines? I'd be very interested if anyone has materials they would be willing to share.
>
> Thank you
>
> Robert
>
> Dr Robert Darby | Research Data Manager | Research and Enterprise | University of Reading | Whiteknights House 201 | PO Box 217 | Reading RG6 6AH
> | T: +44 (0)118 378 6161 | E: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> | [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> Twitter: @robert_darby17
> http://www.reading.ac.uk/reas-ResearchDataManagement.aspx
> Opening Research at Reading Blog: http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/open-research/
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