Open Repositories

OR2023 Fellowships Announcement

January 5, 2023 /

The Open Repositories Steering Committee is pleased to support four additional fellowships to attend Open Repositories June 12-15, 2023 in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

In order to support attendance for colleagues, fellowships will cover airfare, hotel, transportation, registration, and food costs in order to attend Open Repositories 2023.

Although all applications will be considered, preference will be given to applicants living and working on the African continent and those applicants impacted by the war in Ukraine.

Please complete this application form for consideration for the fellowships. The deadline for application is February 1, 2023. Applicants will be notified by February 15, 2023.

More details are available on the Open Repositories 2023 website.

OR2023 Call for Proposals

November 14, 2022 /

The 18th International Open Repositories Conference (OR2023) will be held from 12-15 June 2023 at the Lord Charles Hotel, Somerset West, close to Stellenbosch, South Africa.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to the programme. The theme for the conference is Repositories unlocked for discovery and interoperability. 

OR2023 provides an opportunity to explore and reflect on the ways repositories enable discoverability and interoperability of information and data within the structured web of data. How can we better utilize repositories for machine interoperability? How can we develop the capacity of institutions to implement sustainable open repositories to improve data equity worldwide? In doing so the OR2023 conference will focus on the practices of the international repositories community to develop and implement the standards, frameworks, architectures, and methodologies for open repositories to serve as knowledge representation databases for the structured web of data.

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

1.     Unbiased discovery of knowledge: Open repositories facilitating the unbiased discovery of indigenous knowledge.

2.     Sustainable development: Linking open repositories content to the UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

3.     Linked data: Integration with other open knowledge resources (e.g. Wikimedia and Wikidata).

4.     Trust in the machine: Integrating repository content with the semantic web of data using the Resource Description Framework (RDF) knowledge representation language.

5.      Knowledge Organization Systems (KOS): Taxonomies and ontologies in open repositories to enhance the discoverability of data.

6.      Integrating content: Novel or complex formats, data types and sources.

7.      Repositioning repositories: Next-gen repositories, the Pubfair framework and new models.

Please visit the Call for Proposals page to learn more about the sub-themes and submission categories of the conference, including a full list of submission templates and key dates for submission deadlines and approvals.

The deadline for submissions is 15 January 2023.

We look forward to the vibrant conversations and learning opportunities of the conference.

Please see the registration fees on the Registration page (registration will open in March 2023).

Programme Co-Chairs:

  • Ilkay Holt, British Library
  • Mimi Seyffert-Wirth, Stellenbosch University
  • Wouter Klapwijk, Stellenbosch University

Contact: or23-program-chairs@googlegroups.com

For the Open Repositories Steering Committee:

Claire Knowles and Torsten Reimer

OR2023 Announcement

October 12, 2022 /

It is with pleasure that we invite you to the 18th Open Repositories Conference (OR 2023). The conference will be held from 12-15 June 2023 at the Lord Charles Hotel, Somerset West, close to Stellenbosch, South Africa.

The theme for the conference will be Repositories unlocked for machine and humankind.

More information on the theme and the Call for Papers will be made available in forthcoming announcements.

Registration fees (registration will open in 2023):
Early bird: R5 800 (Before 21 April 2023)
Regular: R6 300 (21 April until 2 June 2023)

Looking forward to welcoming you in June 2023!

For the Host Organising Committee:
Ellen Tise, Mimi Seyffert-Wirth, Marié Roux

For the Open Repositories Steering Committee:
Claire Knowles and Torsten Reimer

Follow us:
#OpenRepos2023

Call for new Steering Committee Members

June 2, 2022 /

Nominations are open for new members

The Open Repositories Steering Committee (ORSC) is pleased to announce that we are opening nominations for standing members to join the OR Steering Committee.

ORSC manages the annual Open Repositories conference and consists of 12 standing members (who serve three-year terms) as well as the chairs of the host and program committees for the annual conferences.

We are inviting nominations, including self-nominations. The nomination deadline is July 30th 2022.

Information about potential nominees

Nominees should have participated in at least one previous OR conference, ideally have been a member of a program or host committee for an OR conference, and have extensive experience with repositories and the international repository community. 

Some type of experience with the Open Repositories conference is necessary to join the ORSC.

ORSC members are expected to take part in a range of activities throughout the year, as well as those specifically related to the conference.

There is more information about the ORSC and expectations of members in our membership policy.

Examples of member activities include:

  • Regular attendance at OR if at all possible. We note that for some potential members this can be difficult due to cost, travel, and schedules; the OR SC cannot provide funding for members to attend.
  • Participating in the majority of the monthly committee meetings, including the in-person meeting that takes place at the conference every year.
  • Participation in ad hoc or standing committees (e.g. Scholarship, Code of Conduct, Finance, etc.).
  • Serving specific conference roles such as Program Chair or Poster Chair.
  • Reflecting OR news and announcements (e.g. Calls for Papers, Expressions of Interest) via mailing lists and through social media.
  • Timely participation in all discussions, in-person and online.
  • Reviewing conference proposals and submissions.
  • Reviewing conference host bids.
  • Selecting new standing members for the ORSC.

We strongly recommend that potential nominees refer to the conference handbook for more information about the role of the ORSC.

Submitting a nomination

When submitting a nomination (and self-nominations are welcome) you will be asked to submit the following information:

  1. Personal information: name, email, institution affiliation, and a brief description of the nominee’s role.
  2. An indication that your nominee has attended at least one OR in the previous four years.
  3. Statement of interest, e.g. why the nominee wants to join the Steering Committee.
  4. Statement of qualifications, e.g. what specific experiences the nominee would bring to the Steering Committee.

Link to the nomination form.

Timeline

  • The nomination deadline is July 30th 2022. 
  • The OR Steering Committee will elect new members in August 2022.
  • Successful new members will be expected to join the ORSC in September 2022 for a three-year period.

Any questions

If you have questions about the OR Steering Committee, please feel free to contact any of the current standing members or to reach out to the Chair, Claire Knowles and Vice-Chair, Torsten Reimer.

Statement on the invasion of Ukraine

March 5, 2022 /

Open Repositories has always been about bringing together people from across the world to support each other, develop solutions that benefit all and enable an open exchange of ideas based on democratic values. Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion does not only cause untold suffering to the people of Ukraine, it is aimed at destroying the values we as a community hold dear.

It has also affected us directly, with Ukrainian members of our community being attacked alongside other civilians in Ukraine. Iryna Kuchma, a long-standing member of OR and former program co-chair, has shared tweets about missile attacks. Our thoughts are with her, all members of our community and everyone under attack. Iryna has called to the community to make donations to help civilians who are suffering, and we are joining her in this call. If you can afford it, please give to a reputable charity including the Disasters Emergency Committee  Ukraine Appeal and UNICEF.

OR2022 Dates and Call for Proposals

January 19, 2022 /

We are pleased to announce the dates, theme, and venue for Open Repositories 2022. It will be held 6th – 9th June at the Auraria Campus in Downtown Denver, Colorado, USA.  The theme for this year’s conference is Building Trust Together: Integrating, Collaborating & Sharing.

The local hosts and Open Repositories Steering Committee have not taken the decision to host a physical conference lightly. We are mindful of the on-going Covid-19 pandemic and will be monitoring the ongoing situation and regulations. We are considering how we can build on the successes of the virtual conferences we have held in the last two years that have enabled us to grow the open repositories family. We are intending to have some online elements to Open Repositories 2022, however they will not be in the form of a hybrid conference and the call for proposals is for the physical conference in Denver.

Thank you for your continued support of the Open Repositories community.

Claire Knowles. Open Repositories Steering Committee Chair and Torsten Reimer, Open Repositories Steering Committee Vice-Chair

Call for new Steering Committee members

June 15, 2021 /

Nominations are open for new members

The Open Repositories Steering Committee (ORSC) is pleased to announce that we are opening nominations for standing members to join the OR Steering Committee.

ORSC manages the annual Open Repositories conference and consists of a maximum of 12 standing members (who serve three-year terms) as well as the chairs of the host and program committees for the annual conferences.

We have two open slots for standing members, and we are inviting nominations, including self-nominations. The nomination deadline is July 30th 2021.

Information about potential nominees

Nominees should have participated in at least one previous OR conference, ideally have been a member of a program or host committee for an OR conference, and have extensive experience with repositories and the international repository community. 

Some type of experience with the Open Repositories conference is necessary to join the ORSC.

ORSC members are expected to take part in a range of activities throughout the year, as well as those specifically related to the conference.

There is more information about the ORSC and expectations of members in our membership policy.

Examples of member activities include:

  • Regular attendance at OR if at all possible. We note that for some potential members this can be difficult due to cost, travel, and schedules; the OR SC cannot provide funding for members to attend.
  • Participating in the majority of the monthly committee meetings, including the in-person meeting that takes place at the conference every year.
  • Participation in ad hoc or standing committees (e.g. Scholarship, Code of Conduct, Finance, etc.).
  • Serving specific conference roles such as Program Chair or Poster Chair.
  • Reflecting OR news and announcements (e.g. Calls for Papers, Expressions of Interest) via mailing lists and through social media.
  • Timely participation in all discussions, in-person and online.
  • Reviewing conference proposals and submissions.
  • Reviewing conference host bids.
  • Selecting new standing members for the ORSC.

We strongly recommend that potential nominees refer to the conference handbook for more information about the role of the ORSC.

Submitting a nomination

When submitting a nomination (and self-nominations are welcome) you will be asked to submit the following information:

  1. Personal information: name, email, institution affiliation, and a brief description of the nominee’s role.
  2. An indication that your nominee has attended at least one OR in the previous four years.
  3. Statement of interest, e.g. why the nominee wants to join the Steering Committee.
  4. Statement of qualifications, e.g. what specific experiences the nominee would bring to the Steering Committee.

Link to the nomination form.

Timeline

  • The nomination deadline is July 30th 2021. 
  • The OR Steering Committee will elect new members in August 2021.
  • Successful new members will be expected to join the ORSC in September 2021 for a three-year period.

Any questions

If you have questions about the OR Steering Committee, please feel free to contact any of the current standing members or to reach out to the Chair, Claire Knowles and Vice-Chair, Torsten Reimer.

Open Repositories 2021 will be virtual only

October 19, 2020 /

The Open Repositories Steering Committee and the Stellenbosch University hosts have decided to postpone the in-person conference planned for summer 2021 in Stellenbosch, South Africa, and to hold a completely virtual conference instead. The uncertainty around the continuing pandemic, travel restrictions, and the budget crises many of our institutions are in have all contributed to this decision. For many of us the true value of Open Repositories is the international conversations and community that it fosters; we felt strongly that, even if conditions improve, an in-person conference or a hybrid virtual/in-person would not be successful given the likely poor attendance.

The program committee will be working to reshape the conference into a virtual one including reaching out to those who had their 2020 OR proposals accepted and deferred. We appreciate your patience as we do this work.

We want to reaffirm our plan to hold an Open Repositories conference in South Africa. After working with both our Stellenbosch and our Denver hosts (who were slated to host the 2022 OR), we have decided to continue to plan for Denver for 2022 and to plan for Stellenbosch in 2023. Our deepest thanks go to both hosts – Stellenbosch University Libraries and the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries – for their flexibility and commitment to Open Repositories.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me as Chair or Claire Knowles as Vice-Chair of the OR Steering Committee if you have questions.

Open Repositories Steering Committee New Membership Policy and Process

June 3, 2019 /

The Open Repositories Steering Committee (ORSC) manages the annual Open Repositories conference. In 2019 we are changing the process for recruitment and elections of new committee members in order to enable more active engagement with the Steering Committee and conference planning. See https://wiki.duraspace.org/display/or11/Membership+Policy for the new policy.

The ORSC consists of a maximum of 12 standing members who serve three-year terms as well as the chairs of the host and program committees for the annual conferences. Members should ideally have participated in previous conferences and have extensive experience with repositories and the international repository community.

ORSC members are expected to take part in a range of activities throughout the year, as well as those specifically related to the conference. Examples of member activities include:

  • Regular attendance at OR if at all possible. We note that for some potential members this can be difficult due to cost, travel, and schedules.
  • Participating in the majority of the monthly committee meetings, including the in-person meeting that takes place at the conference every year
  • Participation in ad hoc or standing committees (e.g. Scholarship, Code of Conduct, proposal writing, Finance, etc.)
  • Serving specific conference roles such as Programme Chair or Poster Chair
  • Reflecting OR news and announcements (e.g. Calls for Papers, Expressions of Interest) via mailing lists and through social media
  • Timely participation in all discussions, in-person and online
  • Reviewing conference proposals and submissions
  • Reviewing conference host bids
  • Adding and reviewing ORSC membership

In 2019 the ORSC has three open slots for standing members, and we are inviting nominations, including self-nominations. The call for nominations opens on June 11 at the OR2019 conference in Hamburg. The nomination deadline will be July 31st. An information session for those interested in the ORSC is on Wednesday, June 12 at the conference. If you are unable to make this session, please reach out to a current standing member to learn more (see  https://www.openrepositories.org/steering-committee/ for a list of members).

The nomination form is now available here: https://forms.gle/7vZX2VR3KSDUuvBg7

When submitting a nomination you will be asked to submit the following information:

  1. Personal information: name, email, institution affiliation, and a brief description of your role.
  2. An indication that you, or your nominee, has attended at least one OR in the previous four years.
  3. Statement of interest, e.g. why the nominee wants to join the Steering Committee.
  4. Statement of qualifications, e.g. what specific experiences the nominee would bring to the Steering Committee.

The OR Steering Committee will elect new members in August. Successful new members will be expected to join the ORSC in September for a three-year period.

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