In 2023, we hosted a series of Tools Trials that focused on the online tools community managers use to support scientific open-source communities – whether that’s by coordinating conference planning, collaborating on creating new resources together, or building out new technical documentation. Over the course of the series, GitHub came up over and again as a preferred platform for many, and there were a number of different ways of using the platform to build community (not just to collaborate on code!).
Today, we’re sharing a collection of outputs from these calls: A new tip sheet that lays out the features of GitHub that make it a useful tool for community managers, and six case studies that showcase some of its potential applications:
- Using GitHub to manage session proposals for CarpentryCon
- Using GitHub to plan community calls for rOpenSci
- Using GitHub to maintain a static website (CarpentryCon) or blog (Data Umbrella)
- Using GitHub teams to manage contributor access to Rosetta
- Using Read the Docs to collaboratively create documentation in GitHub for Zarr
- Using bots in GitHub to support The Turing Way community
Using GitHub to support community engagement
GitHub is a version control platform for storing, collaborating on, and tracking projects. It is primarily used for software development, but can also be used for other collaborative work. In many STEM communities, especially those that formed around a shared software tool or that champion open-source or open science principles, a majority of members already have a GitHub account and are very familiar with how the platform works. GitHub also has many built-in features that make it an attractive choice for community engagement, including the ability to comment on issues and pull requests (our introductory GitHub tip sheet includes a brief glossary of terms).
For those less familiar with GitHub, it can feel intimidating to consider using it as a community platform. If this is you, the tip sheet and case studies we’ve created are intended to demonstrate that while there will be an initial learning curve, there are ways that you might consider using GitHub in your community. But if you’re already GitHub-fluent, perhaps these resources will inspire you to expand or evolve your engagement strategy!
Introducing our new resources
We’ve created seven new resources that offer a high-level overview of GitHub and it’s application in community management work. They were created in collaboration with the individuals who participated in our Tools Trials series, and each case study includes a link to watch the related presentation on YouTube, as well as a few considerations for adopting the tool in your own community management.
Overview tip sheet
In this tip sheet, we’ve curated some basic information about GitHub and how you can get started on the platform as a scientific community manager.
CSCCE Tech Tip Sheet: Using GitHub for community management
by Katie Pratt, Alex Kalderimis, Yanina Bellini Saibene, Danny Garside, Julia Koehler Leman, Maneesha Sane, Anne Lee Steele, Sanket Verma, Emily Lescak, Alycia Crall, and Lou Woodley
GitHub case studies
We’ve also created several case studies describing how different communities are using GitHub, including some of the platform integrations that make their work possible.
CSCCE Tech Case Study: Using GitHub to manage session proposals for CarpentryCon
by Katie Pratt, Emily Lescak, Maneesha Sane, Alycia Crall, and Lou Woodley
In this case study, we summarize how The Carpentries uses GitHub to organize their flagship conference, CarpentryCon.
CSCCE Tech Case Study: Using GitHub to plan community calls for rOpenSci
by Yanina Bellini Saibene, Katie Pratt, Emily Lescak, Alycia Crall, and Lou Woodley
In this case study, we summarize how rOpenSci uses GitHub to organize their community calls. This is a very similar case study to the way The Carpentries uses GitHub to crowdsource and manage session proposals for their conference, CarpentryCon.
CSCCE Tech Case Study: Using GitHub to maintain a static website (CarpentryCon) or blog (Data Umbrella)
by Reshama Shaikh, Katie Pratt, Maneesha Sane, Emily Lescak, Alycia Crall, and Lou Woodley
In this case study, we summarize how two organizations, The Carpentries and Data Umbrella, make use of GitHub as a platform to host website materials on which their members can collaborate.
CSCCE Tech Case Study: Using GitHub teams to manage contributor access to Rosetta
by Julia Koehler Leman, Katie Pratt, Emily Lescak, Alycia Crall, and Lou Woodley
In this case study, we summarize how the Rosetta project uses GitHub teams to manage contributions to their open-source code base.
CSCCE Tech Case Study: Using Read the Docs to collaboratively create documentation in GitHub for Zarr
by Sanket Verma, Katie Pratt, Emily Lescak, Alycia Crall, and Lou Woodley
In this case study, we summarize how the Zarr community uses GitHub and Read the Docs to create documentation.
CSCCE Tech Case Study: Using bots in GitHub to support The Turing Way community
by Danny Garside, Anne Lee Steele, Katie Pratt, Emily Lescak, Alycia Crall, and Lou Woodley
In this case study, we summarize three ways that The Turing Way makes use of bots to automate actions in GitHub.
You can find all of these resources and more on a new page of the CSCCE website that curates materials related to using GitHub for community management.
About CSCCE Tools Trials
CSCCE Tools Trials are 60-90 minute Zoom meetings at which we collectively investigate how to address one or more use-cases with a specific virtual platform. Generally, we begin each session with an overview of the tool and the ways it can be used to support community building, and then two or three community managers who use the tool offer a demo of how they use it.
Explore past Tools Trials on the CSCCE blog.
If you have a suggestion of a tool we should take a look at, or a platform like GitHub with a range of community engagement use cases, let us know!
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Thank you to all of the people who worked with staff at CSCCE to deliver the tools trials and create this series of resources: Yanina Bellini Saibene, Danny Garside, Alex Kalderimis, Julia Koehler Leman, Maneesha Sane, Anne Lee Steele, and Sanket Verma.
Interested in further discussions about open-source community-building?
We recently announced Birdaro, a new project to support scientific open source projects as they scale and work towards long-term sustainability. Part of this work will involve developing resources and training that focus on building community in open-source communities. If you’d like to stay connected to this work, please sign up for the Birdaro mailing list, and if you think we should collaborate, please email info@birdaro.org.