Federally funded project developing 14+ open science lessons for library professionals, training librarians as open science educators.
Role: Principal Investigator Grant: Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), $237,000 Focus: Open science curriculum development, librarians as educators, Carpentries integration
Overview
Open science mandates from funders (NIH, NSF, others) are outpacing librarians’ ability to support them. Researchers need help with data management plans, preprint workflows, open licensing, and reproducible research practices — and they’re increasingly turning to libraries.
The IMLS project funds the development of a structured, modular curriculum that equips library professionals to teach open science.
What we built
Fourteen-plus lessons covering:
- Open access and preprints
- Data management plans and compliance
- Research data repositories
- Open source software sustainability and licensing
- Reproducible research workflows and documentation
Each lesson follows Carpentries pedagogical design: short episodes, live coding or hands-on exercises, formative assessment, and instructor notes.
How it works
This is a “train the trainers” model. Librarians learn the material, learn the pedagogy, and deliver workshops to their local research communities.
One trained librarian can reach dozens of researchers. The curriculum is designed to be reused, adapted, and maintained by a distributed community — not dependent on a single institution.
Outcomes
- 14+ lessons funded, piloted, and iterated
- Lessons designed for integration into the Carpentries curriculum ecosystem
- Governance pathway through Library Carpentry Advisory Group
- Sustainability plan for ongoing lesson maintenance post-grant
Collaborators
- Library Carpentry Advisory Group (lesson governance)
- Pilot institutions across the UC system and beyond