Jez Cope
SSI fellow
British Library
Interests
I help people use technology to do better research and do research better; my current focus is on research data and software and helping the people who make and use those to get the most out of them. I am a strong advocate for open science (in the older sense of “science” encompassing all systematic study, as in the German “Wissenschaft”) and open culture in general. I’m also interested in developing infrastructure and practices to archive and preserve research software for the future. I love teaching people new things and learning new things to use and teach.
I like understanding how the world fits together and using that understanding to make things. Ask me about mechanical keyboards or bread baking! While I don’t get much chance to do programming at work, I like to keep my skills sharp with programming challenges like Advent of Code, and have a tendency to dive deeply into technologies (e.g. git, Ansible) and languages (e.g. Rust, Haskell) that pique my interest.
I also love traditional music and social dance, mainly of the British Isles and Europe, and can occasionally be found Morris dancing or playing the accordion in public.
My work
I’m currently employed as Data Services Lead in the Research Services Department at the British Library, where I am responsible for evolving and delivering the Library’s vision for data: “that data are as integrated into our collections, research and services as text is today.” That wide-ranging role includes changing cultures, making policy, building infrastructure, internal & external training, and much more. I’m also responsible for management of the British Library’s DataCite consortium in the UK, which provides DOI (digital object identifier) services to UK institutions.
I have over 8 years of experience developing and delivering research data management services and strategies at research-intensive higher education institutions in the UK; previous roles include research data management at University of Sheffield, Imperial College London and University of Bath. I graduated from Imperial College London with an MSci in Joint Mathematics & Computing.
I’ve been been involved in the Carpentries community, especially Library Carpentry, for a number of years, teaching software & data skills to researchers and GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives & Museums) professionals. I have helped, taught or organised some of the first Library Carpentry workshops in the UK, and was part of the CarpentryCon Manchester 2019 Task Force.
I’m a member of the DataCite Community Engagement Steering Group, the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) Workforce Development Committee and the Physical Science Data Service (PSDS) Management Advisory Panel. I’ve previously served on the Jisc UK Research Data Shared Service Expert Advisory Group and the Library Carpentry Governance Group.
Online Presence
Check out contributions by and mentions of Jez Cope on www.software.ac.uk