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Note: This "Cookbook" was used for the ResBaz 2016 event. See here for the 2017 ResBaz cookbook
Welcome to the Research Bazaaar (ResBaz) Cookbook!
ResBaz is a global movement that aims to equip researchers with the digital skills required to conduct cutting-edge research in the 21st century. Rather than relying solely on external assistance from IT professionals, our focus is on empowering researchers to help themselves. This is achieved through "community, conference and campaign," and this wiki contains tips, tricks and advice relevant to each of those areas.
If you'd like to chat in a more interactive fashion, jump on our Gitter channel, tweet us @ResBaz or email us a [email protected].
If you like what you see in this cookbook and are serious about starting a ResBaz community, get in contact via one of the channels listed above. We have funding to pay for one of our ResBazadors (people who are involved in coordinating a ResBaz community) to fly out and put on a half-day training workshop with your research support staff, so you can figure out how to kick-start the ResBaz you want at your institution!
There are so many different digital research tools out there today that it would be impossible for any institution to provide a central help desk. Instead, the ResBaz philosophy is to build communities of researchers around common tools so that they can help each other. If you're interested in building a community of researchers in your area, follow these links for tips and advice:
The first ever ResBaz conference was held in Melbourne, Australia on 16-18 February 2015. While a typical academic conference focuses on what delegates are researching, the ResBaz conference focused on how they conduct that research. It turns out that while researchers from different fields usually have little in common in terms of their research results (i.e. the stuff of regular conferences), they often have a lot in common with respect to the digital tools used to generate those results.
Consistent with the spirit of ResBaz, the conference focused on creating opportunities for researchers to share their digital skills. The formal classes on topics such as computer programming and computer aided design were taught by practicing researchers (as opposed to IT professionals), and the social activities had a very strong knowledge sharing component.
In 2016, the ResBaz conference is going global. During the week of Feb 1-7, ResBaz events will be held at university campuses around the world. Some of these events will be as large as the 3-day Melbourne extravaganza, while others will be as small as a single Software Carpentry workshop. If you're thinking of hosting (or helping at) a ResBaz 2016 event, please do get in touch!
The public facing ResBaz 2016 website can be found here and the following wiki pages also contain a bunch of helpful information:
- Is my event eligible to be an official ResBaz Conference?
- Host sites
- Organiser checklist
- Ideas for classes
- Ideas for social activities
Last but certainly not least, ResBaz is a campaign to raise awareness about the fact that researchers are crying out for training in the latest digital research skills. At the following pages we share advice on getting your institution to support the delivery of training opportunities for researchers: