During today's first episode of the Digital Preservation Masterclass: A Celebration of Good Practice, Innovation and Collaboration, the Study Group Bits and Bots for building digital skills showcased their fun approach to digital skills development. The group, which recently won the 2024 Digital Preservation Award in the Teaching and Communications category, is now preparing to welcome its second cohort of learners, and you can join!
The study group focuses on some general digital skills such as working with GitHub and using the command prompt, but also provides two learning tracks: Python or front-end development. You can choose to do either or try to tackle both. No previous experience in coding is required, all skill levels are welcome. The study group takes place over the course of a year with two breaks allowing for flexible studying/ catching up. There are regular check in meetings online catering for different time zones and a chance to learn new skills within a supportive network.
The study group has a twist. "We understand that learning new skills can be daunting and have therefore incorporated a fun element," says Francesca MacKenzie, one of the Bits and Bots organisers. "We learn by building games! At the end of each module participants will have completed a project, be it a new game or website."
Interested? Join a kick-off meeting!
If you’re curious about the group but unsure if it’s for you, you can join one of the kick-off meetings. Organisers Lotte Wijsman, Susanne van den Eijkel (National Archives of the Netherlands) and Francesca MacKenzie (National Archives UK) will provide you with a detailed overview of the program and answer any questions you have about joining.
Meeting Options:
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Tuesday, March 25th | 10:00-11:00 CET
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Thursday, March 27th | 17:00-18:00 CET
You can sign up via this Google form. You can also read the Bits and Bots blog which gives you more information about the group, the previous year and the plans for this year.
If you can't make the kick-off meetings and still want to join then get in touch with one of the organisers anyway, as there will still be time to sign up.