Science librarians and the future of open science

Abstract

The concept of "Open Science" is becoming more common and accepted for many reasons, including ethical and reproducibility concerns, as well as cost. "Open" is making its way into every part of the Research Lifecycle. Before researchers begin, they must consult the literature, which is increasingly under pressure to become more accessible through various Open Access initiatives, which impact authors and readers alike. They also look to improve their data anal. skills through workshops such as those offered by the Carpentries, which offer training using Open programming languages such as Python and R. New data journals coming online desire to be Open Access to attract submissions and increase their visibility and impact. During their experimentation, researchers are adopting electronic lab notebooks that provide the ability to share data in a more open manner than previously possible. The depositing of data in Open Access data repositories is also becoming more desirable to facilitate reuse (as well as increasingly being mandated by funders and journals). Finally, to share their findings, researchers are adopting Open tools such as R Markdown and Zotero are available. Graduate theses at Caltech are made openly available by default unless exceptions are requested. Librarians are increasingly assisting campus researchers with bibliometrics and Open Access policy requirements. This talk will discuss the Caltech Library's "Open By Default" strategy and the pos. impact librarians have at every stage of the research lifecycle.