[Oer-community] Global Open Access Map - lessons for OER?

Susan D'Antoni susandantoni at gmail.com
Wed Nov 21 13:44:40 MST 2012


Dear Colleagues,

If we are to consider the appropriate organization for creating a list of
all OER Institutional initiatives, Alma's message points to an approach
that might be appropriate for the OER community at large (not just our
group).

She spoke of "crowdsourcing" - using a form on the web page for submission
of information by individuals..

If we were to start to create a simple database (that could create a list
or a visual map) - aiming at a comprehensive list of institutional projects
for a start, could the information be collected and checked locally or
regionally, as one message suggested?

Best,

Susan



> On Wed, Nov 21, 2012 at 1:36 AM, Alma Swan <a.swan at talk21.com> wrote:
>
>>  Dear colleagues,
>>
>> Thank you, Susan, for introducing Leslie and myself. We are happy to tell
>> you a bit about our Open Access Map and how we conceived the project. The
>> map is at www.openaccessmap.org
>>
>> We wanted to create a visual representation of how Open Access is
>> progressing globally. A geographical map seemed the most appropriate way to
>> represent OA (though we will be adding a timeline when we get a bit more
>> funding). Our aim was to crowdsource the venture, so individuals can submit
>> the details of their own project, journal, repository, service, etc. We
>> have an editorial step, where Leslie or myself approves the submission:
>> often these need a bit of correction, checking or chasing up, so it is not
>> labour-free. I’m just saying that in case you envisage doing something
>> similar. The most common thing that needs completing is the georeference of
>> the submission: despite the submission page having boxes for latitude and
>> longitude, and a link to a service that provides these things for each
>> city/town in the world, many submitters leave this step out – and this
>> service they want to be represented on is a map! Ah well...
>>
>> As well as the public submissions, we draw data (daily) from a number of
>> registries, such as the Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR), the
>> Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR), ROARMAP ( list of OA
>> policies) and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).
>>
>> The data in the Map can be re-used by anyone to do research or build new
>> services. We think we’ve achieved a fairly complete representation of the
>> infrastructural elements that support progress on OA. We know, though, that
>> projects are not well-represented on the Map. This means that the record is
>> missing many of the temporary or transient initiatives that have been
>> important in forging progress.  This is a shame in the sense that the Map
>> is not able to provide a really complete picture of effort towards OA, but
>> that is an aspiration that is rather unrealistic anyway.
>>
>> Hope this is helpful in providing a snapshot of our little venture.
>>
>> Alma
>>
>> ------------------------------------
>> Alma Swan, BSc, PhD, MBA
>> Director of European Advocacy Programmes, SPARC: www.arl.org/sparc
>> Director, Key Perspectives Ltd: www.keyperspectives.co.uk
>> Convenor, Enabling Open Scholarship: www.openscholarship.org
>> +44 (0)1392 879702
>> Skype: almaswan
>> http://bit.ly/aQXNEy
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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