The Open Repositories Steering Committee (ORSC) seeks Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from organizations interested in hosting the 2027 Open Repositories (OR2027) Annual Conference. 

The OR conference location rotates between Europe, North America, and other regions of the world. For OR2027, we are particularly interested in hosting the conference in a location outside of Europe and North America. While preference will be given to EOIs from potential hosts in these other regions, we welcome and will consider all EOIs.

Host expectations

Candidate host institutions must have the ability to host a four-day conference with up to 500 attendees. This includes appropriate access to conference facilities, lodging, and transportation, as well as the ability to manage a range of supporting services (food service, technology services, social events, registration and online payments, etc). 

Candidate host institutions must have the financial means to support the costs of producing the conference, which will ideally be recovered through attendee registration fees and sponsorships.

Hosts can consist of a single institution or multiple institutions collaborating to host the conference.

For additional details, see the Open Repositories Conference Handbook .

How to submit an EOI

To submit an EOI for hosting OR2027, please complete the OR2027 Expression of Interest form by 8 Aug 2025.

Review process

The Open Repositories Steering Committee will review EOIs and one or more institutions will be invited to submit a detailed proposal. Invitations to submit a detailed proposal will be issued by the XX XXX 2025. Details about the timeline, format and information required in the full proposals will be included in the invitation email. Institutions whose EOI was not successful will also be notified at this time.

Questions

If you have any questions about Open Repositories host responsibilities or the EOI process, please contact ORSC chair Torsten Reimer, reimer@uchicago.edu .

Open Repositories 2025 will be held 15-18 June 2025 in Chicago, IL, USA, on the University of Chicago campus. Planning is well underway, and we look forward to seeing many new and returning attendees!

Calls for proposals, sponsors and fellowship applications are now open. See below for deadlines and links to additional details

Call for proposals (due 18 Dec 13 Jan 2025)

The Open Repositories program committee is now accepting proposals for posters, workshops, lightning talks, papers, and panels to be presented at OR2025. The theme for the conference is: Twenty Years of Progress, a Future of Possibilities. We particularly welcome proposals aligned to the overall theme, but also on other administrative, organizational, or practical topics related to digital repositories.

Please see 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.

Note: As of 11 Dec 2024, the submission deadline has been extended from 18 Dec 2024 to 13 Jan 2025.

Call for sponsors (ongoing)

Sponsorship opportunities are now available.

OR2025 is an excellent place for companies and organizations that deal with digital asset management, digital storage, research information systems, scholarly publications, open access and open data to be seen and interact with participants. The event gives access to a large audience of potential customers and partners as well as insights into what is hot in the area from a user perspective.

We expect approximately 350-400 attendees from all over the world. These will include directors of digital initiatives, technical staff and developers, librarians, and repository managers as well as applied researchers in digital libraries and similar fields.

See the Call for Sponsors page for more information or contact or2025localhosts@gmail.com

Call for fellowship applications (due 22 Jan 2025)

Nominations are open for new ORSC members (2024-2027)

The Open Repositories Steering Committee (ORSC) is pleased to announce that it is seeking nominations for new standing members.

ORSC manages the annual Open Repositories conference and typically consists of 12 standing members, as well as the chairs of the host and program committees for the annual conferences. Standing members serve a 3-year term with the option to renew for a second term. This year there are 2 open slots for new members who will begin their terms in Sep 2024.

We invite nominations (including self-nominations) through July 31, 2024.

To nominate yourself or someone else, complete the nomination form by 31 July 2024: https://forms.gle/CvtVLjqg7Xodtak57

ORSC membership criteria

Some type of experience with the Open Repositories conference is necessary to join the ORSC. Well-qualified candidates have:

• Participated in at least 1 previous OR conference as an attendee
• Participated in the program or host committee of at least 1 previous OR conference
• Extensive experience with repositories and the international repository community

ORSC member responsibilities

ORSC members are expected to actively participate in a range of activities throughout the year, as well as those specifically related to the conference (typically held in early June).

Member responsibilities include:

• Regular attendance at monthly ORSC meetings (online, currently alternating between 3:30p UTC and 5:30p UTC)
• Regular attendance at OR, if possible. We note that for some potential members this can be difficult due to cost, travel, and schedules; the ORSC cannot provide funding for members to attend.
• Reviewing conference proposals and submissions (Jan-Feb each year)
• Serving on ad hoc or standing committees (e.g. Fellowships, Code of Conduct, Finance, etc.)
• Serving specific conference roles such as session moderators or track chairs.
• Sharing OR news and announcements (e.g. Calls for Papers, Expressions of Interest) via mailing lists and social media
• Reviewing conference host bids.
• Selecting new standing members for the ORSC
• Timely participation in all discussions, in-person and online

Potential nominees should review the conference handbook for more information about the role of the ORSC: https://wiki.lyrasis.org/display/or11/Open+Repositories+Conference+Handbook. See https://wiki.lyrasis.org/display/or11/Membership+Policy for our membership policy. Current members are listed at https://www.openrepositories.org/steering-committee/.

Submitting a nomination

Nominations should be submitted via the nomination form: https://forms.gle/CvtVLjqg7Xodtak57 . When submitting a nomination, the following information is required:

1. Personal information: name, email, institution affiliation, and a brief description of the nominee’s role at their institution
2. OR experience information: description of participation in OR conferences within the past 4 years
3. Statement of interest: why the nominee wants to join the Steering Committee.
4. Statement of qualifications: what specific experiences the nominee would bring to the Steering Committee

Timeline

• The nomination deadline is July 31, 2024. 
• The OR Steering Committee will elect new members in August 2024
• Successful new members will be expected to join the ORSC in September 2024 for a three-year period.

Any questions

If you have questions about the ORSC, please feel free to contact the Chair, Torsten Reimer, at reimer@uchicago.edu or the Vice-Chair, Liz Krznarich at liz.krznarich@datacite.org

Nominations are open for new members (2023-2026)

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 have two open slots for standing members, and we are inviting nominations, including self-nominations. The nomination deadline is July 30th 2023.

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, Repositories, Communications 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 2023. 
• The OR Steering Committee will elect new members in August 2023.
• Successful new members will be expected to join the ORSC in September 2023 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.

Expressions of Interest to host Open Repositories 2025

The Open Repositories Steering Committee seeks Expressions of Interest (EoI) from candidate host organisations for the 2025 Open Repositories (OR2025) Annual Conference. Preference is for proposals from the Americas (Central, North and South), though proposals from all geographic areas will be given consideration.

Important dates

The Open Repositories Steering Committee is accepting Expressions of Interest (EoIs) to host the OR2025 conference, to be submitted by until July 5th, 2023. Shortlisted sites will be notified by 16th August 2023 and invited to submit a full proposal.

Background

Candidate institutions must have the ability to host at least a four-day conference with up to 500 attendees (OR2016 held in Dublin, Ireland drew about 500 people and OR2017 held in Brisbane, Australia drew around 330). This includes appropriate access to conference facilities, lodging, and transportation, as well as the ability to manage a range of supporting services (food services, internet services, and conference social events; management of registration and online payments; etc.). The candidate institutions and their local arrangements committee must have the means to support the costs of producing the conference through attendee registration and independent fundraising. Fuller guidance is provided in the Open Repositories Conference Handbook on the Open Repositories wiki.

Expressions of Interest Guidelines

Organisations interested in proposing to host the OR2025 conference should follow the steps listed below:

1. Expressions of Interest (EoIs) must be received by July 5th, 2023. Please direct these EoIs and any enquiries to the OR Steering Committee Vice-Chair, Torsten Reimer at reimer@uchicago.edu
2. As noted above, the Open Repositories wiki has a set of pages at Open Repositories Conference Handbook which offer guidelines for organising an Open Repositories conference. Candidate institutions should pay particular attention to the pages listed at “Preparing a bid” before submitting an EoI.
3. The EoI should be brief (about 2 pages), and must include:
   1. the name of the institution (or institutions in the case of a joint bid)
   2. an email address as a first point of contact
   3. the proposed location for the conference venue

1. 1. 1. with a description of the local amenities available to delegates,
      2. its proximity to a reasonably well-served airport and
      3. its suitability for hosting OR in a way that is inclusive and welcoming for members of a diverse international community

A template for the EoI is available.

1. The Open Repositories Steering Committee will review proposals and may seek advice from additional reviewers.  Following the review, one or more institutions will be invited to submit a detailed proposal.
2. Invitations to submit a detailed proposal will be issued by the August 16th, 2023.  The invitations sent out will provide a timeline for submitting a formal proposal and details of additional information available to the shortlisted sites for help in the preparation of their bid. Institutions whose EoI was not successful at this time will also be notified.
3. The Open Repositories Steering Committee Chair and Vice-Chair will be happy to answer specific queries whilst proposals are being prepared.

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