Welcome to the first ever course (that I know of) designed to train scientists in open science methods! This particular course is focused on open notebook science, and will teach you why you should incorporate it into your research. You will get hands-on experience with your own open notebook, powered by WordPress, and we will work together to get in the habit of working electronically and online. This course is also focused on the community experience.

We will all be working together to support each other and share our experiences. The open science movement is powerful because it allows us to communicate across space and time(-zones). As such, it is important that you have the support you need and we will give you that support. We have created a private community on Google+ where you can share anything you want and need. We will also be having a few group Hangout sessions where we can talk about our current struggles in science, with our notebooks, or with the class. You’ll be able to share what works for you, and most importantly EVERYONE will have a voice.

The class will be 2 weeks long and will be comprised of 4 modules. Each module will have a few assignments but overall the time commitment required will only be a few hours a week. We will be posting module information the day before the module begins, so you have time to look ahead and get caught up if you need. I’ve also compiled a mini “textbook” based on all my documentations of open notebook science, to give you some background reading for each module. The document is openly accessible, so feel free to use it as you see fit. You can find the document below, but I’ve also linked to it in Google+ so you can have it ready at any moment.

Open Notebook Science Text

For this class, the Open Science Federation has created a site that will house all of your notebooks called onsnetwork.org. This will make it easy for everyone to share their research and follow other members of the class. As a bonus it will be available to the world for anyone who wants to maintain their own open notebook. Each individual notebook is powered by WordPress.org (the open access and more powerful version of WordPress.com). The notebooks will have some really cool features, but I’ll get to that later. For now I want to offer a big THANK YOU to the folks over at the Open Science Federation for all the support!

With that said, here is a syllabus of what to expect from the course:

Syllabus

Module 1: What is Open Notebook Science, and why is it important?

June 17 – 19. This section is designed to introduce you to open notebook science and open access, but more importantly we will explain why you should use an open notebook. This module will be conversation heavy, so we will use the initial time to get setup on Google+ and get your open notebook going. We will then schedule some Google Hangouts toward the end of the module to discuss the details face-to-face.

Module 2: Starting your own open notebook.

June 20 – 23. With all the initial startup out of the way, you will get to dive head-first into your new open notebook. We will talk about the features of your notebook and how you can use it to your advantage. You will then get to start creating content to fill your notebook.

Module 3: Incorporating your notebook into your research.

June 24 – 26. Once you get the idea of notebooking and what content you want to include, you will start to get in the habit of maintaining a notebook. Here we will discuss the importance of organization and making open notebook science a sustainable part of your research workflow.

Module 4: Enhancing your notebook.

June 27 – 30. As you continue to update your notebook, we will introduce various tools that you can use to supplement your notebook and research. These tools can not only expand the capabilities of your notebook, but can even enhance your scientific reputation and career. We will also discuss the option of incorporating outreach into your notebook, which will increase it’s usability.

Are you ready? Well then, let’s get started!