Open and Reproducible Research Cloud Workflows: A Firsthand Experience for Librarians

The authors have taught this lesson and refined it based on feedback. We're now looking for instructors to test it in new contexts and communities.

About this Lesson

This lesson provides librarians with firsthand experience in open and reproducible research workflows using cloud computing. It aims to shift librarians' perspectives by engaging them directly in a reproducible research workflow using command-line tools and cloud resources.

Learning Objectives

Explain the concept and benefits of cloud computing in open research.
Log in to a remote computer using SSH and execute basic shell commands.
Use SCP to transfer files between local and remote computers.
Clone a public GitHub repository onto a remote computer.
Run R code to analyze data within a remote RStudio server session.
Identify opportunities for librarians to employ skills for open and reproducible research.

Keywords

reproducibilitycloudworkflowshellsshrstudio

Workshop History

Date	Location	Format	Instructor
8/15/2023	UCLA Data Science Center	Hybrid	Daniel Kerchner

Help Improve this Curriculum

This lesson is currently in the alpha phase. The authors are currently piloting this draft. You can help by reviewing the materials and reporting any bugs or areas for improvement.

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For more on how to run a pilot, visit The Carpentries Handbook.

Why Teach This?

Cloud computing is becoming essential for modern research. By teaching this lesson, you empower librarians to move beyond theory and gain hands-on confidence with the actual tools (SSH, RStudio Server) their researchers use daily.

Instructor Specs

Duration: 3h 08m
Level: Intermediate
License: CC-BY 4.0

Cite this Lesson

APA Format:

Kerchner, D. (2026). Open and Reproducible Research Cloud Workflows: A Firsthand Experience for Librarians. UCLA IMLS Open Science. https://ucla-imls-open-sci.info/lessons/open-and-reproducible-research-cloud-workflows-a-firsthand-experience-for-librarians

BibTeX:

Show BibTeX

@misc{open_and_reproducible_research_cloud_workflows_a_firsthand_experience_for_librarians_2026,
  author = {Daniel Kerchner},
  title = {Open and Reproducible Research Cloud Workflows: A Firsthand Experience for Librarians},
  year = {2026},
  publisher = {UCLA IMLS Open Science},
  url = {https://ucla-imls-open-sci.info/lessons/open-and-reproducible-research-cloud-workflows-a-firsthand-experience-for-librarians}
}

Resources

Lesson Website GitHub Repository

Repository Health

Last updated: May 2026
Contributors: 3 people
Open discussions: 1

What does this mean?

These signals come from the lesson's GitHub repository — the place where authors store and update the curriculum. Last updated tells you when the lesson materials were most recently changed. Contributors counts how many people have worked on it. Open discussions are questions, bug reports, or improvement suggestions that haven't been resolved yet — a higher number can mean active community interest or areas the lesson is still refining. Together they give a sense of whether the lesson is actively maintained.

Updated weekly from GitHub.