Aligning LC curriculum offerings with the Carpentries official workshop request form

[emcaulay]

I made a pull request for some minor mostly copyediting-level edits to the Library Carpentry overview lesson. (#26)

And through that pull request, the discussants discovered that there seems to be some confusion about the supported curricula for Library Carpentry workshops.

Specifically, the overview states that there are 4 curricula that are all valid for a Library Carpentry workshop (as opposed to a Library Carpentry-based workshop). However, only one option is offered on The Carpentries "Request a Workshop" Form.

Please note that I am new to The Carpentries, so it is quite possible I am not understanding the way the information is being presented.

Nevertheless, @sharilaster @libcce and @arieldeardorff agree this topic should be discussed more broadly and outside of the narrow context of the pull request.

[ragamouf]

Thanks @emcaulay for bringing this up, and @arieldeardorff for looping me in. I noticed the omission this year when trying to get my head around the request for workshops process. I don't know why only 1 workshop is on the form, and I think all stable workshops should be listed on the form.

I understand that in the past, LC workshops have typically been custom built anyway, since libraries find 2-3 day workshops difficult to schedule for their staff. So this may have been a simple reflection to lower the barrier for organisations to request workshops. However, I don't see why all stable lessons can't be included on the request workshops form. We now have 6.

This paragraph from index.md indicates all stable lessons should be in the request form: "Recently, the Curriculum Advisory Committee (CAC) voted to expand the standard workshop offering to include two new curricula beyond the standard workshop (please see the Curricula table above). As more lessons reach the stable status, we will include the new curricula in The Carpentries workshop request form and LC lessons."

Also to clarify: it looks like the discussion on #26 reached consensus on usefully framing different types of LC workshops (standard, introduction, data analysis core, custom), but some rules around 3 out of 4 parts is now outdated with the over view lesson adding a 5th lesson into the core curriculum.

Pinging the LC curriculum subcommittee for comment @jt14den @laufers @PhilReedData

Goals for discussion: (let me know if these are correct, or add your suggestions/reframing)

1. Determine LC lessons to be listed on the carpentries request a workshop form
2. Clarify process for getting lessons into stable status and into the request form
3. Clarify language to express different types of LC workshops (with respect to 'core', 'parts', 'extended')

Happy to tease out all the issues here, and convene a zoom of the curriculum subcommittee if we think we need it by the end of August.

[PhilReedData]

Goal 1: If I have read #26 correctly, the table of curricula options is to stay as four rows, with the fourth labelled as 'Custom' (and referred in the paragraph before as 'mix and match'). So I suggest the workshop form has four matching choices, making effective use of the hover text to give the description. (Match the description in the hover text with the description in the table of curricula?)

Goal 2: As I recall, the discussion to bring Tidy Data to stable did not refer to an agreed, documented process. Where would we put a check list for this status change process, is there an equivalent for SWC, DC or central? The click list could include the communications and promotion required, not just the alert to change the workshop request form.

Goal 3: We settled on "part" previously in LC governance 15 but yes we need to take this further, we didn't think to communicate with the workshop request form. And of course, 'extended' or alternatives need refining.

I could meet for a Zoom this month if required.

[PhilReedData]

In case it helps, I shall also link to the blog post we wrote following CarpentryConnect 2019, Strengthening the Library Carpentry community. At the end of the post, it links to the issues raised to discuss set menus and parts.

[emcaulay]

@chennesy, since I've been working with you a lot lately, I'm wondering if you could review this topic and help me figure out how to request a change to the Carpentries workshop request form (looks like it is something that's part of the AMY application).