The Use of GitHub, an Open Source Code and Data Sharing Website, at Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Rowan Blaik, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Has another institution already solved a plant dataset issue you currently face? Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) has written several small, modular computer scripts for use in managing and verifying plant collections records and plant checklist data. Instead of only sharing finished datasets, BBG is trialling the sharing of the tools and methodologies used to compile the data itself, using the GitHub code sharing platform. BBG has not previously made code available under open source licenses, and doing so will allow others to collaborate and make improvements to the scripts for the benefit of all. As this trial in ongoing, we would appreciate contributions and feedback from the community. In this presentation we will discuss some of the challenges encountered so far and the procedures and formatting for sharing code online.