From: ARL Communications <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, Apr 2, 2014 at 10:58 AM

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Repository Infrastructure Initiatives Agree to Align Networks

by Judy Ruttenberg & Kathleen Shearer | [log in to unmask] or
[log in to unmask] | on April 02, 2014

Aligning Repository Networks meeting, image (c) COAR

In a meeting in Rome, Italy, on March 20-21, 2014, representatives
from several major regional repository networks came together to
develop a strategy to better align their activities. The meeting
convened delegates from Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Latin
America, and the United States, including representatives from AOASG
(Australian Open Access Support Group), CARL (Canadian Association of
Research Libraries), COAR (Confederation of Open Access Repositories),
LIBER (Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche), the National
Science Library of Chinese Academy of Sciences, OpenAIRE (Open Access
Infrastructure for Research in Europe), and SHARE (Shared Access
Research Ecosystem).

As research becomes increasingly global, it is critical to create
infrastructure that can connect across geographic boundaries. Recently
there have been significant efforts around the world to develop
repository networks. These networks represent an important layer
within the research infrastructure system: they provide access to the
products of research such as articles, data, and other content to
researchers and to the world. The networks are also becoming an
important source of information for governments, funding agencies, and
institutions about the impact of the research they support.

Regional repository networks have evolved within their specific local
contexts and currently differ in a number of ways. Aligning networks
will enable the exchange of data among them, greatly improve access to
content across regions, and allow society to extract maximum value
from the products of research. "This is a significant step forward for
all regions," said Norbert Lossau, vice-president of Göttingen
University, chair of the meeting, and COAR chairman. "This agreement
will enable us to identify global best practices and avoid regional
silos."

In Rome, delegates identified several key elements that will be
addressed immediately and agreed to work together on an ongoing basis
on other issues to further align their repositories. It was also
established that these activities will take place under the auspices
of COAR, an international alliance of repository initiatives.

For a list of meeting participants, see the March 25 COAR news
release, "Communiqué: Major Repository Infrastructure Initiatives
Agree to Align Their Networks."

https://www.coar-repositories.org/news-media/communique-major-repository-infrastructure-initiatives-agree-to-align-their-networks/

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