From: Kathleen Shearer <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2015 07:39:05 -0400

(Please excuse the cross-posting)

Major repository networks agree to collaborate on data exchange,
technological development, and metadata

July 16, 2015 -- On July 9 and 10, three major regional open access
repository networks and aggregators (OpenAire, LA Referencia, and SHARE),
along with the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) and Center
for Open Science (COS) met in Charlottesville, Virginia to discuss
synergies and potential areas of collaboration.

Open access repositories are being adopted around the world to support and
promote open science, a trend which maximizes our investments in research
by making research outputs freely available to the world. Many of these
repositories are connected via regional aggregators, which form
sustainable, distributed repository networks that provide access to and
preservation of the valuable content created through research and
scholarship.

However, research is international, with researchers collaborating across
regions and continents to solve the world’s most critical problems such as
climate change, health, economics, and so on.  The aim of this meeting was
to ensure that regional repository networks are complementary, more
integrated, and working together to create a seamless global network.

The meeting was very productive and revealed that the objectives,
technologies and use cases for all three networks are highly aligned and
that there is a strong willingness to work together. In particular, a
number of specific areas were identified in which the networks commit to
collaborate on:

Regular data exchange: Exchange data and develop agreements around
jurisdictional harvesting and aggregation leading to greater coverage and
efficiencies across regions.

Common metadata and vocabularies: Work towards consensus about key metadata
elements and common vocabularies to express funders and institutional
affiliations, open access status, and project IDs. This will contribute to
the COAR-CASRAI work already underway aimed at developing common metadata
elements and will support repository managers in better exposing their
collections.

Common technological services: Assess the feasibility of adopting common
broker/router technologies and other services.

Ongoing dialogue: Meet regularly to share approaches and perspectives about
technical and strategic challenges.


Over the next several weeks, the groups will develop a more detailed plan
for achieving specific outcomes.

A list of meeting participants is available here.

For more information about the meeting, please contact:

Kathleen Shearer, Executive Director, COAR
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