Sunday, November 11, 2018

CFP: Open Repositories 2019: All the user needs @OpenRepos - Hamburg, Germany (June 2019)

CALL FOR PROPOSALS OPEN REPOSITORIES 2019 CONFERENCE (also available online at http://or2019.net/cfp)

The 14th International Conference on Open Repositories, OR2019, will be held June 10-13th, 2019 in Hamburg, Germany. The organisers are pleased to invite you to contribute to the program. This year’s conference theme is:

ALL THE USER NEEDS

Repository services are developed and maintained for the benefit of their users. In a global digital research environment this requires interoperable services designed around user needs. In order to create the backbone of a successful open science environment, repositories need to move beyond stand-
alone systems and articulate an exciting vision for the future of research globally. This requires us to combine a realistic understanding of the potential of technology with an assessment of the policy environment and an engagement with the needs of our users. Researchers and other content providers need our help to make their work visible and to make an impact on society. Easy, straightforward access to and reusability of information are driving forces for repositories, open access, open data and open cultural heritage.

Not all of our users are human. In addition to people we are now working with increasingly smart machines to organise and discover knowledge. To make this cooperation as seamless and effective as possible, we need interfaces that are easy to understand and easy to use. In light of recent research on artificial intelligence, we may need to reinterpret our prior ideas of the core competencies and skills required for the repository mission to succeed.

INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE

OR2019 will provide an opportunity to explore and reflect on the ways repositories interact with their users. We hope that this discussion will give the participants new insights and new inspiration, which will help them to play a key role in developing, supporting and sharing an open agenda and open tools for research and scholarship.

We welcome proposals on the overall user-centered theme, but also on other theoretical, practical, organisational or administrative topics related to digital repositories. We are particularly interested in the following themes:

1. Understanding user needs and user experience

* User research and engagement
* User experience design for repository services
* Better user experience through data and workflow integration
* Improving repository user interfaces

2. Discovery, use and impact

* Increasing content visibility in search engines and discovery systems
* Open access discovery, research data discovery
* Tools for researchers, interfaces for machines
* The role of aggregation services
* Measuring use and impact

3. Repositories - evolution or revolution?

* Beyond the repository: using repository platforms for purposes not originally intended
* Convergence with other types of systems (e.g. current research information systems, digital asset management systems, journal publishing platforms, library service platforms)
* Interoperability vs integration: will repositories survive as stand-alone systems?
* The developing role of repositories in the scholarly communications and research information systems ecosystem (e.g. the Next Generation Repositories vision)
* New models for scholarly sharing (e.g. blockchain)
* Data mining, artificial intelligence and machine learning

4. Supporting open scholarship and cultural heritage

* Providing access to different types of materials (e.g. research data, scholarly articles, pre prints and overlay journals, open access monographs, theses and dissertations, educational resources, archival and cultural heritage materials, audiovisual materials, software, interactive publications and emerging formats)
* Workflows and support services for the repository users
* Training, communication and outreach
* Long-term access and preservation
* Repositories as digital humanities and open science platforms
* Working with large and complex data sets

5. Open and sustainable

* Service and business models that meet user needs
* Local systems vs repository as a service
* The expanding role of service providers in the repository landscape, pros and cons?
* Sustainability of the open source community model
* Securing long-term funding for open infrastructures
* Open business models and open governance for open infrastructures

6. Policies, licensing and the law

* Impact of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and copyright laws
* Publisher policies, embargoes and rights retention
* Licenses, use and re-use of content
* ‘Closed’ material in ‘open’ repositories
* Compliance and impact of funder policies (e.g. Plan S) on repositories

7. How can metadata and standards help our users?

* Development and standardisation of repository metadata
* Data models and entities
* Linked open data and repositories
* Persistent identifiers (e.g. DOI, Handle, URN, ORCID, ISNI)
* Open citations
* International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF)

8. Repositories and global knowledge

* Integration with other open knowledge resources (e.g. Wikimedia and Wikidata)
* National vs global solutions
* Repository systems and language barriers
* Repositories in the global south
* User needs in developing countries

SUBMISSION PROCESS

Accepted proposals in all categories will be made available through the conference’s website. Later, the presentations and associated materials will be made available in an open repository. Some conference sessions may be live streamed or recorded, then made publicly available.

A selection of the best proposals may be expanded into formal papers after the conference and published in the OR2019 proceedings (open access, no article processing charge) in cooperation with a scholarly publisher. However, this is not mandatory.

# Presentations #

Presentation proposals are expected to be two to four pages. Successful submissions in past years have typically described work relevant to a wide audience and applicable beyond a single software system.

Presentations are 30 minutes long including discussion.

# Panels #

Panel proposals are expected to be two to four pages. Successful submissions in past years have typically described work relevant to a wide audience and applicable beyond a single software system. All panels are expected to include at least some degree of diversity in viewpoints and personal background of the panelists.

Panels can be 60 or 90 minutes long. Panels may take an entire session or may be combined with another submission.

# 24×7 Presentations #

Proposals for 24×7 presentations should be one to two pages. 24×7 presentations are 7 minute presentations comprising no more than 24 slides. Successful 24x7 presentations have a clear focus on one or a few ideas and a narrower focus than a 30 minute presentation. Rants or raves are also welcome, as long as they are on topic.

Presentations will be grouped into blocks based on conference themes, with each block followed by a moderated question and answer session involving the audience and all block presenters.

# Posters #

We invite one-page proposals for posters that showcase current work. OR2019 will feature physical posters only. Instructions for preparing the posters will be distributed to authors of accepted poster proposals prior to the conference. The organisers will offer a poster printing service to the poster presenters. Poster presenters will be expected to give a one-minute teaser at a Minute Madness session to encourage visitors to their poster during the poster reception.

# Developer Track: Top Tips, Cunning Code and Imaginative Innovation #

Each year a significant proportion of the delegates at Open Repositories are software developers who work on repository software or related services. OR2019 will feature a Developer Track that will provide a focus for showcasing work and exchanging ideas.

We invite members of the technical community to share the features, systems, tools and best practices that are important to you (see below for submission templates).

The 15-20 minute presentations can be as informal as you like, but we encourage live demonstrations, tours of code repositories, examples of cool features, and the unique viewpoints that so many members of our community possess. Proposals should be one to two pages, including a title, a brief outline of what will be shared with the community, and technologies covered. Developers are also encouraged to contribute to the other tracks.

# Ideas Challenge #

OR2019 will also again include the Ideas Challenge. Taking part in this competition provides an opportunity to take an active role in repository innovation, in collaboration with your peers and in pursuit of prizes. The Ideas Challenge is open to all conference attendees. Further details and guidance on the Ideas Challenge will be forthcoming closer to the conference.

# Workshops and tutorials #

The first day of Open Repositories will be dedicated to workshops and tutorials. One to two-page proposals addressing theoretical or practical issues around digital repositories and other related platforms are welcomed. Please address the following in your proposal:

* The subject of the event and what knowledge you intend to convey
* Length of session (90 minutes, 3 hours or a whole day)
* A brief statement on the learning outcomes from the session
* The target audience for your session and how many attendees you plan to accommodate
* How you plan to engage the audience in the session
* Technology and facility requirements
* Any other supplies or support required
* Anything else you believe is pertinent to carrying out the session

SUBMISSION TEMPLATES

The OR2019 proposal templates help you prepare an effective submission. Templates for different submission types are available at the conference web site (http://or2019.net/cfp). Templates are available in Microsoft Word, Open Document Format and Plain Text. Submission in PDF format is preferred.

SUBMISSION SYSTEM

https://www.conftool.net/or2019

The system will be open for submissions starting from November 19, 2018.

REVIEW PROCESS

All submissions will be peer reviewed and evaluated according to the criteria outlined in the call for proposals, including quality of content, significance, originality, and thematic fit.

Please note, the program committee may consider submissions for other tracks and formats, as appropriate.

CODE OF CONDUCT

The OR2019 Code of Conduct and Anti-Harassment Policy are available at http://or2019.net/coc/ and http://or2019.net/ahp/.

SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME

OR2019 will again run a Scholarship Programme which will enable us to provide support for a small number of full registered places (including the poster reception and conference dinner) for the conference in Hamburg. The programme is open to librarians, repository managers, developers and researchers in digital libraries and related fields. Applicants submitting a proposal for the conference will be given priority consideration for funding. Full details and an application form will shortly be available on the conference website.

KEY DATES

9 January 2019: Deadline for submissions
16 January 2019: Deadline for Scholarship Programme applications
6 February 2019: Submitters notified of acceptance of workshop proposals
13 February 2019: Registration opens
4 March 2019: Scholarship Programme winners notified
4 March 2019: Submitters notified of acceptance of full presentation, 24x7, poster and developer track proposals
15 April 2019: Close of Early Bird registration
10-13 June 2019: OR2019 conference

CONTACT INFORMATION
Program Co-Chairs

Jyrki Ilva, National Library of Finland
Jessica Lindholm, Chalmers University of Technology
Torsten Reimer, British Library
Contact: or19-program-chairs@googlegroups.com

Local Hosts

Website and Social Media
Conference website:  http://or2019.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ORConference/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/OpenRepos
Hashtag: #OpenRepo2019