From: Kathleen Shearer <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 2 Dec 2015 08:57:02 -0500

Sorry for the cross posting

Please see the announcement below about a meeting last week in Rio de
Janeiro between COAR, LA Referencia and OpenAIRE to discuss further
alignment of these two major repository networks. The announcement will be
available in English, Spanish and Portuguese on the LA Referencia website:

http://lareferencia.redclara.net/rfr/

A major, important outcome was an agreement between the two networks that
they would adopt common metadata guidelines (OpenAIRE Guidelines) and
participate together in their further development over time. This will
ensure much greater interoperability between the content in the
repositories in these regions.

Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions.

Best, Kathleen

Kathleen Shearer
Executive Director, Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR)
[log in to unmask] - +1 514 992 9068
Skype: kathleen.shearer2 - twitter: @KathleeShearer


-----------

Communiqué


Rio de Janeiro, November 25 & 26, 2015


There is growing recognition worldwide that our substantial global
investments in research have much greater impact if they are widely shared
and openly available to everyone. LA Referencia, OpenAIRE and COAR reaffirm
their strong support for a shared vision of a global network of
repositories as fundamental infrastructure for providing sustainable and
open access to research outputs, ensuring that all researchers and citizens
have access to the results of publicly funded research.


On November 25 and 26, 2015 representatives from LA Referencia, OpenAIRE
and COAR met in Rio de Janeiro to discuss the adoption of common metadata
guidelines for repository networks and identify areas for further
collaboration. The meeting was hosted by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation
(Fiocruz), along with Ibict (Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência
e Tecnologia), and is part of the Aligning Repository Networks work being
lead by COAR.

OpenAIRE and LA Referencia represent two of the most advanced regional
networks of open access repositories in the world. Closer collaboration
between these two networks will enhance the usability and visibility of the
collective content in the networks and enable the development of value
added services across the two regions.


The three organizations therefore resolve to pursue their common vision
through the following activities:


   - LA Referencie and OpenAIRE will adopt common metadata practices, based
   on the current OpenAIRE guidelines and the vocabularies being developed in
   the context of COAR, for repository networks and develop these guidelines
   in collaboration.



   - COAR, LA Referencia, and OpenAIRE will explore ways to build capacity
   for managing repositories and repository networks in Latin America,
   particularly in terms of the implementation of best practices.



   - Under the auspices of COAR, LA Referencia, and OpenAIRE will continue
   to work with other national and regional networks to promote the vision of
   a global repository network and investigate common services in support of
   open access and open science.


------------------


*LA Referencia* is the network of open access repositories from eight Latin
American countries. It supports national open access strategies in Latin
America through shared standards and a single discovery platform. LA
Referencia harvests scholarly articles and theses & dissertations from
national nodes, which, in turn, harvest from repositories at universities
and research institutions. This initiative is based on technical and
organizational agreements between public science and technology
organizations (National Ministries and Science & Technology Departments)
with RedCLARA.


*OpenAIRE,* funded by the European Commission under H2020,  is the Open
Access Infrastructure for Research in Europe, based on  the network of open
access repositories.


*The Confederation of Open Access Repositories* (COAR) is an international
association with over 100 members and partners from around the world
representing libraries, universities, research institutions, government
funders and others. COAR brings together the repository community and major
repository networks in order build capacity, align policies and practices,
and act as a global voice for the repository community.

*Participants: *

Amaro, Bianca – Ibict, Brazil
Amórtegui, Miguel Ángel – RENATA, Colombia
Apollaro, Alberto – Mincyt, Argentina
Azrilevich, Paola - LA Referencia/Mincyt, Argentina
Cabezas, Alberto - LA Referencia, Chile
Granados, Diana – Colciencias, Colombia
Labbé, Carmen Gloria - COAR/RedCLARA, Chile
Matas, Lautaro - LA Referencia, Argentina
Merino, Sonia Elsy - Min. de Educación, El Salvador
Muñoz, Patricia – CONACYT, Chile
Rasseli, Luiz Alberto - LA Referencia, Brazil
Recavarren, Isabel – Concytec, Peru
Ribeiro, Washington - Ibict, Brazil
Rodrigues, Eloy - OpenAIRE/COAR/ Minho University, Portugal
Shearer, Kathleen – COAR, Canada
Siguencia, Josefina – CEDIA, Ecuador