Dr Sara King1, Ms Nica Tsakmakis2
1AARNet, Adelaide, Australia, 2Australian Catholic University, Banyo, Australia
In 2021 a group from the Council of Australian University Libraries (CAUL) Digital Dexterity Champions network commenced a project using static web technology (in this case GitBook) with the aim of creating a collectively written and produced Open Educational Resource (OER) that attempts to tackle the many (and ever-changing) digital skills that the academic community needs.
These ‘not-quite-technical skills’ are those needed to teach, to manage data responsibly, to continue to create solutions through research outcomes and to thrive in the 21st century. What librarians know, however, is that many in the academic community do not have these skills and either avoid learning them, come up with unsustainable workarounds or turn up at the library hoping for help. But do the librarians themselves have these skills?
This paper will update the eResearch community on the progress of the project in 2022; from creating the chapter structure to crowd-sourcing content, learning (and forgetting) about Git, GitHub and GitBooks and how to sustain an online community across Australia and New Zealand in the wake of Covid-19.
Biography:
Dr Sara King is the Training and Engagement Lead for AARNet. She is focused on outreach within the research sector, developing communities of interest around training, outreach and skills development in eResearch. She is passionate about helping others develop the infrastructure and digital literacies required for working in a data-driven world, translating technology so it is accessible to everyone.
Nica Tsakmakis is Acting Senior Library Coordinator at the Australian Catholic University (Brisbane Campus) and Co-convenor CAUL Digital Dexterity Champions Community of Practice. She is a certified Library Carpentries instructor and has just completed developing a new Arts unit about literature in a digital world. Nica trained as a rare book librarian and was shocked to learn how excited she was about digital literacy and how she can help inform others about it.