Sharing in an Open environment

One of my duties in UCL Library Services is to represent this university in LERU, the League of European Research Universities. In that capacity, I am a member of the European Commission’s High Level Expert Group on an exciting new initiative – the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).

11 October saw the publication of our first Report, which can be found here. The  Recommendations provide a solid starting point for further reflection and engagement of scientific user communities, research funders and Member States in the making of this global initiative. This is important for UCL Library Services because research data management  and support for open access to publications are a big new agenda in how we can support our users.

EOSC aims to accelerate and support the current transition to more effective Open Science and Open Innovation in the Digital Single Market. It should enable trusted access to services, systems and the re-use of shared scientific data across disciplinary, social and geographical borders. The term cloud is understood by the EOSC High Level Expert Group as a metaphor to help convey both seamlessness and the idea of a commons based on existing and emerging elements in the Member States, with light-weight international guidance and governance and a large degree of freedom regarding practical implementation. The EOSC is indeed a European infrastructure, but it should be globally interoperable and accessible. It includes the required human expertise, resources, standards, and best practices as well as underpinning technical infrastructures. An important aspect of the EOSC is systematic and professional data management and long-term stewardship of scientific data assets and services in Europe and globally. However, data stewardship is not a goal in itself and the final realm of the EOSC is the frontier of science and innovation in Europe [Realising the European Open Science Cloud. First Report of the Commission’s High Level Expert Group on the European Open Science Cloud, p. 6].

Now the Report is published, the Expert Group is following up with how we make this Cloud a reality. Exciting and challenging times.

Paul Ayris

Director of UCL Library Services

OAI9 took place in the University of Geneva on 17-19 June 2015. The CERN Workshop on Innovations in Scholarly Communication takes place every 2 years and is a magnet for all those in Europe (and from further afield) who are interested in new modes of communication for scholarly outputs.

Scholarly Communication issues are global issues. No institution on its own has an answer to the myriad of challenges which new technologies and new forms of research, teaching and learning outputs pose. Working in a European context is an excellent way to seek solutions in the brave new world we have entered.

The Workshop attracted 229 attenders from Europe and further afield and the Programme for this innovative Workshop can be seen here. There were 7 main sessions:

• Keynote from Michael Nielsen on Beyond Open Access
• Technical Session, led by Herbert Van De Sompel
• Barriers and Impact, led by David Prosser and Melissa Hagemann
• Open Science Workflows, led by Neil Jacobs
• Quality Assurance, led by Frank Scholze
• The Institution as Publisher, led by Paul Ayris
• Digital Curation and the preservation of large and complex digital objects, led by Gilles Falquet

There were also 6 Tutorials, poster sessions with over 20 posters, and 6 Breakout Groups. The social Programme involved the now-traditional Drinks Sharing event, where attenders are invited to bring a bottle of their local wine/beer/spirits to share. The formal Workshop Reception took place in the iconic setting of Musée Ariana, the Swiss Museum of Ceramics and Glass.

The Workshop sessions themselves took place in 2 stunning new research buildings – the Graduate Institute and Campus Biotech (pictured here).

UCL was well represented at the Workshop. Jaimee Biggins from UCL Press presented in one of the Tutorials on the opening day on the role of the Institution as Publisher. Speaking personally, I chaired the OAI9 Programme Committee, the plenary session on the Institution as Publisher and also led a Breakout Group with 25 attenders on the same theme. The innovative Open Access Business model of UCL Press received nothing but praise from attenders and the download figures – over 3000 for our 3 launch titles in June alone – was widely seen as a sign of success by Workshop attenders.

All the plenary sessions have been filmed and these videos are available online linked to the Programme. Accompanying powerpoints are also available here too – very useful for my CPD after the Workshop and for placing UCL’s scholarly communication developments in a European context. OAI9 awaits feedback from the Evaluation Forms, but the Programme and Local Organising Committees are already planning OAI10 in Geneva in June 2017!

Paul Ayis

Director of UCL Library Services

CEO, UCL Press