Open communities
Open communities play a big role in advancing research, helping research feel less lonely and reducing the amount of time we all spend being stuck spend reinventing the wheel. This is a brief (incomplete) introduction to the idea of open communities. We will explore: What are open communities? Why engage with them? How to engage with them? And also how Twitter as a legit tool for coding and science. Originally focusing on R communities, we are adding more examples beyond.
Slides that have been presented during Champions Program Cohort Calls:
- Open Communities, which we go through in a Cohort Call
- Discovering Community Tools, which teams review during a Seaside Chat
What are open communities?
Open communities are groups of people openly creating, sharing, teaching, collaborating. They are united around a shared interest: coding language, topic, discipline, etc.
They have a culture of shared & continued learning, prioritize diversity, equity, inclusion.
They have online and in-person activities.
Here are some examples of communities. Read more & direct links: https://rstudio-conf-2020.github.io/r-for-excel/collaborating.html#r-communities
Some #rstats communities with in-person and online events and channels
There are strategies for learning with both online and local communities.
Why engage with open communities?
- Skillshare (teach & learn)
- Coding, software, workflows
- Collaboration, leadership, DEIJ
- Meet allies, grow friendships, career opportunities
- Help improve science & scientific culture
- Increase visibility & value of coding, data, collaboration skills
- Drive change: modern ways to contribute to science. Formally incentivize and teach! Include in promotion/tenure (we shouldn’t really have to teach ourselves on our own time and not be credited), create jobs
- Carry on & forward your experience from Openscapes
How to get started?
Google your interests/needs. When you Google, include what you want to do PLUS r, rstats; python.
Start by listening and learning. Be deliberate: curate who you follow.
Like and share when you’re comfortable.
Then, contribute – your ideas, your blogs, your papers, your code… Contributors are welcome in open communities! And know too that the R packages ggplot & knitr were created by students (Wickham & Xie) (see McBain 2019).
Finally, Twitter is a legit tool for science. It’s a good way to learn what you need to learn and broadening your horizons while building community. Some places to start: #rstats, #rstatsES, #rspatial, #pydata, #BlackAndSTEM, #MeTooSTEM
Seaside Chats are a great way to start exploring together.
Open community examples
Government peer-learning groups
Campus coding clubs
- EcoDataScience at UC Santa Barbara
- BioData Club at OHSU
- The Bio-Data Club at Moffitt