Learner Profiles
Priya, Research Data Librarian
Priya has worked as a research data librarian for two years. She fields questions from graduate students and faculty about data management plans and has some familiarity with version control, but she has never formally studied research methods or statistics. She wants this lesson to help her have more confident conversations with researchers about why reproducibility matters, not just point them to tools.
Priya’s prior knowledge: comfortable with data management concepts and basic Git; no background in research methodology or statistics; has not previously encountered terms like “active citation” or “code capsule.”
Marcus, Liaison Librarian
Marcus supports the humanities and social sciences departments at a mid-sized university library. He has taught a few Software Carpentry workshops but has not worked directly with quantitative researchers on reproducibility. He is taking this lesson to prepare for a possible new “open and reproducible research” workshop series at his library, and wants to know realistically what his library could and couldn’t offer without hiring new staff.
Marcus’s prior knowledge: general familiarity with open access and open data; no background in the technical tools covered in the Tools for Reproducible Research Workflows episode; interested in the scope/capacity question raised in the Role of the Libraries episode.
Deshawn, Reference and Instruction Librarian
Deshawn has been a reference and instruction librarian for six years, mostly teaching one-shot information literacy sessions. He has never used Git, has not taken a Carpentries workshop as a learner or instructor, and does not write code. A colleague asked him to help staff a new “open science” service point, and he signed up for this lesson to figure out whether he actually has anything useful to offer researchers on reproducibility, or whether that’s a job for someone more technical.
Deshawn’s prior knowledge: comfortable with library reference and instruction concepts; no version control, scripting, or statistics background at all; may need the more technical tool descriptions (Git, environment management, code capsules) explained from a genuine beginner’s level, not just a refresher.