'OA in the REF' workshop : Building bridges

Fresh from the excitement of Repository Fringe 2015 the Jisc Pathfinder Lessons in Open Access Compliance (LOCH) partners and representatives from HEIs all over the UK met in Edinburgh on 5th August to learn from the experiences of project partners and each other.

Queensferry Crossing - north cable tower © Copyright M J Richardson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Sarah Fahmy, Jisc Open Access Good Practice Manager, welcomed delegates and discussed the challenges Open Access poses for HEIs - absolute costs, administrative costs, system interoperability, the problem of low awareness, publisher and funder policy confusion and the international dimension.

Project partners presented their institution's Open Access challenges and solutions. Anna Krzak gave a fascinating talk on the devolved model of support at Edinburgh's College of Medicine. The following workshop explored models of support that can help researchers navigate Open Access policies. Common themes emerged included the importance of establishing a dialog with researchers and other stakeholders in Schools and Units, making sense and sense-making and resourcing. 

The programme outputs from all projects are available from the Open Access Good Practice blog and the presentations and notes are available from Edinburgh Research Archive (ERA):

Storify run-down of the event
Notes from the workshop session
Presentations

Sarah Fahmy Jisc
Linda Kerr Heriot Watt
Jackie Proven St Andrews
Dominic Tate Edinburgh
Anna Krzak Edinburgh Open Access Administrator in CMVM
Rowena Rouse Oxford Brookes