This course introduces librarians to the fundamentals of open science hardware (OSH) and equips them with the knowledge and tools to support researchers engaging with OSH as both developers and users.
In five lessons, learners explore what OSH is, how it is created and shared, how licensing and documentation shape its reusability, where to find or publish designs, and how to connect researchers with the wider OSH community.
Librarians will learn to critically assess project openness, navigate platforms, understand licensing strategies, and build confidence in referring researchers to peer communities. With practical examples, checklists, and challenges throughout, librarians will become informed guides and collaborators in the growing OSH ecosystem.
After taking this lesson, librarians will be able to:
- Explain what is open science hardware and which are its benefits in academia, providing concrete examples,
- Understand which are the main components of open science hardware projects,
- Compare available open hardware licenses and determine in which situations they are most appropriate,
- Identify sources of open science hardware designs online, indicating if they follow best practices,
- Connect researchers to the most relevant communities in open science hardware.
This lesson is aimed for librarians working at research and higher education institutions. Technical knowledge on software, hardware or engineering disciplines is not a requirement for taking this lesson.
Familiarity with open science practices is not a requirement but will definitely make things easier.
Have you detected a typo, broken link or outdated resource? Or maybe you would like to discuss any of the concepts introduced in the lesson? The best way to do this is to open a GitHub issue.
Please note that the lesson already contains more material than we can cover in a typical workshop, so we are usually not looking for more concepts or tools to add to them.
Before contributing, make sure you read the contribution guidelines.
If you would like to test this lesson contents with a group, even if it's a small one, I'd love to hear about it. Please contact me at [email protected]