Dr Paul Ayris, President of LIBER, reflects on the merits, challenges and problems with making data open, as discussed in two recent meetings in London and Brussels. “Maximising the use of public data – should research and publicly acquired data be made more accessible?” This was the title of a dinner debate which I…
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Submissions are now open for the 2014 iConference: an annual gathering of a scholars and researchers from around the world who share a common concern about critical information issues. The conference will run from March 4-7th in Berlin, Germany and will focus on the theme ‘Breaking Down Walls: Culture-Context-Computing’. It will look at how today’s forms…
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After more than a week of intense debate, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) formally adopted a ‘Treaty to Improve Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or otherwise Print Disabled’. The treaty was finalised in late June. It addresses a so-called “book famine” for print-disabled people by clearning the way…
DetailsThe future role of libraries was examined from many different angles at LIBER’s 42nd annual conference in Munich. Trends in research data management, current EU projects and crowdsourcing were some of the many topics discussed during the 3-day meeting, held at the end of June. “A university is just a group of buildings gathered around…
DetailsThrough a series of presentations, the participants were introduced to the work of Europeana Newspapers and learned about best-practice techniques related to the refinement and enrichment of digital newspapers. The workshop was based around three types of activities: Presentations of the project’s activities, aimed at sharing best-practice techniques. Buzz Groups, where participants could discuss the…
DetailsThe European Commission is developing an Open Data Pilot. This pilot will look at research data generated in projects funded under the Horizon 2020 framework, with the aim of stimulating the data-sharing culture among researchers and facilitating both the re-use of information and data-driven science. As organisations with a strong interest in Open Data, OpenAIRE,…
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The Europeana Newspapers Project will be sharing best practices at the second workshop that is coming up on September 16th and will focus on Aggregation and Presentation of historical newspapers. The workshop will be a part of The European Library’s conference “Promoting innovation in Europe” This workshop is particularly aimed at: Cultural heritage professionals (e.g.…
DetailsAn EC public consultation on open research data was recently held in Brussels on July 2nd. The LIBER office was represented by Executive Director, Izaskun Lacunza, and Projects Manager, Susan Reilly (also representing the ReCODE* project). Paul Ayris, LIBER President, made a five minute intervention on the role of libraries in opening up research data.…
DetailsLibrary users, researchers, funders and executive boards are just some of the many audiences with whom libraries currently have to communicate. At LIBER’s 42nd annual conference in Munich, the Advocacy & Communications Steering Committee explored the issue of communication through a workshop entitled The Interactive Library: Communicating Effectively With Your Stakeholders. The first presentation came from…
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The European Commission is developing an Open Data Pilot, which aims to stimulate the data-sharing culture among researchers and the re-use of information. Paul Ayris, President of LIBER, attended a key meeting about the pilot in Brussels. In this statement, he explains the relevance of this Open Data Pilot for research libraries. I recently attended…
DetailsThe National Documentation Centre, in conjunction with MedOANet Project, is pleased to announce the 2013 International Open Access Conference @ EKT, the third in a series of international conferences on Open Access organized by the National Documentation Centre since 2008. The event will take place at the National Documentation Centre / National Hellenic Research Foundation…
DetailsTechniques for refining and assessing the quality of digitised historical newspapers were the main topic of discussion at a recent Europeana Newspapers workshop at the University Library “Svetozar Markovic” in Belgrade, Serbia. In the first Europeana Newspapers Workshop participants discussed challenges that arise when making digitised historical newspapers fully searchable. Newspapers were not meant to last, but…
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