How the Research Bazaar (#ResBaz) has grown
6 March 2018 1 Comment
Dejan Jotanovic was one of the founding members of The Research Bazaar, and formerly the Digital Spaces Manager at Research Platforms (ResPlat) Services at The University of Melbourne.
Dejan has spent his last year living in Brooklyn, New York as a freelance writer drinking awful American coffee.
Prior to this he has completed a Master of Public Policy & Management at The University of Melbourne, with key interests in inequality, social and science policy.
Under the ResBaz bedouin tent at The University of Melbourne 1. Photo from Dejan Jotanovic.
Under the ResBaz bedouin tent at The University of Melbourne 2. Photo from Dejan Jotanovic.
In late 2015, I wrote for The Research Whisperer about an exciting and revolutionary way of teaching digital research skills to researchers across the globe.
We called the project The Research Bazaar (ResBaz), a nod to the ancient Istanbul marketplace where crowds would exchange prized items, listen to bards speak folklore, and ultimately, create a rich and diverse community. In place of clothing, jewels and food (though we always made sure to feed our hungry researchers), ResBaz operated as an exchange of ideas and digital methodology.
Birthed at The University of Melbourne, the ResBaz team offered year-round workshops in number of digital tools (like Python, R, MATLAB, data visualisation, archiving, mining, and 3D Printing).
These workshops operated with core pedagogy principles in mind. This translated to:
- What is the most effective, dynamic and efficient way of teaching these skills?
- How do we make researchers retain knowledge in an ever-expanding laboratory or library?
Workshops were designed to be interactive and challenge-based, giving researchers hands-on experience with their digital tool of choice.
Another way to ensure knowledge retention is to build community. All ResBaz workshops were taught by fellow researchers who understand the ins and outs (read: struggles) of the academy. Trainers would organise social events and drop-in sessions outside of the workshop to refresh their newly attained digital skill-sets. This was also key in battling another insidious tenant that plagued our research community: loneliness. Read more of this post
