Activating Open Science Communities in Göttingen: From Policies to Real Meet-Ups
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7557/5.4544Keywords:
Open Science, policies, good practicesAbstract
Watch the VIDEO.
Over the last two decades several research institutions have created policies which target Open Access to publications and research data, and are now moving on to Open Science from a wider perspective. These policies formulate an ambition with references to reality. This reality might look good on paper however, the challenge is to make this vision work at the individual and research group level.
One way to bring these visions forward is to activate and grow a network of institutional Open Science practitioners and enthusiasts – by involving researchers, librarians, research managers/administrators and others, and creating opportunities for exchange and collaboration. In particular early career researchers will have very concrete ideas on what works for them, what is missing and what their challenges are when stepping into Open Science practices.
The University of Göttingen is committed to make research results accessible and reusable for academia and the wider society. Its revised OA policy dates from 2016 (the first version dates from 2005) and the research data policy from 2014 [1].These policies serve as a reference point for desired practices as well as existing and emerging service areas. However, often these policies may not play an explicit role in researchers’ day-to-day practices – some elements may already be part of “normal science” while others have not been fully implemented yet.
The presentation will focus on the practical vision and establishment of the Göttingen Open Science Meet-ups [2], as well as experiences and lessons learned from nearly two years of operation (at the time of the Munin conference). The initiative was launched in Autumn 2016 by a group of librarians. We will elaborate on how we reach out to and work with early career researchers, and what types of meetings are requested, e.g. informal technology-focused meetings (Hacky Hour Göttingen [3]). Moreover, we will provide some insight into how the sessions facilitate learning together and from each other (both in terms of topics as well as mind sets). From the library perspective there are also opportunities to link Open Science learning to service areas, in particular where new demands emerge, and to make existing services better known.
Last, but not least, the Open Science network facilitated by these meet-ups provides opportunities to better link institutional policies with researchers’ practices – in particular, through discussions on opportunities and how to overcome obstacles as well as how to increase benefits and incentives. To this end, although the meet-ups mainly aim at strengthening a bottom-up approach, they also provide opportunities to inspire next steps for Open Science from a leadership perspective and to lift emerging good practices to a higher level.
Metrics
References
Amtliche Mitteilungen der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, 6 December 2016. Available at: https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/562377.html
Open Science Göttingen, SUB Göttingen. Available at: https://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/en/electronic-publishing/open-science
Hacky Hour Göttingen, available at: https://hackyhour.github.io/Goettingen/
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).