What sources of information, experience and models of thinking do we need to bring together in the discussions about software sustainability? Which communities do we need to connect (to)?
How do you help build intermediate software engineering skills and help people go beyond the basics?
The SSI and many institutions offer researchers training in the basics of programming and data analysis, but what’s the best way to build on those skills to enable people to build better, more sustainable software?
Communities of practice (CoP) are a specific type of community focused on enabling social learning i.e. through their interactions with one another (their “practice”), members advance their knowledge and develop new skills. Understandably, these are increasingly important across the STEM ecosystem, and this post describes six key considerations for convenors or community managers looking to successfully nurture their own CoP.
Matthew Bluteau, Sarah Jaffa, Colin Sauze, Sam Haynes and Callum Rollo discuss different types of coding clubs, how to select which is best for your target community, and suggestions for environment and community structure to support these activities.
Matthew Bluteau, Sarah Jaffa, Colin Sauze, Sam Haynes and Callum Rollo discuss different types of coding clubs, how to select which is best for your target community, and suggestions for environment and community structure to support these activities.
Jonathan Frawley, Emily Lewis, Stephen Haddad and Carlos Martinez discuss common problems, suggest individual approaches and propose possible solutions for sharing knowledge and data.
Alex Clarke, Jez Cope, Dave Horsfall, Emma Karoune, Alice Minotto and Martin O’Reilly look at how working life has been affected by the pandemic and considerations for employers going forward.
Malvika Sharan, Andrew Brown, Warrick Ball and Ben Krikler explore what project ownership means in an open source world.
How should courses be designed and pitched to appeal to their target audience whilst effectively teaching the skills they may not be aware of or think that they need (but experience tells us benefit learners in the long-term)? Furthermore after a course, what should be the next steps to support the uptake of those skills?
How can we better recognise the value of software (by thinking about impact from the start and resisting ‘secret’ software)? Should funders be the default option for software support (depends on the circumstances), and what other options exist (several)? Should all research software be maintained (probably not)?