[Oer-community] Global List of OER Initiatives

[Caine, Abel]

To all,

UNESCO has just developed a new Directory function for the OER Community on the WSIS KC Platform.
http://www.wsis-community.org/pg/groups/14358/open-educational-resources-oer/

We're currently testing it and will then upload our (now dated) list of over 400 global OER Initiatives.
http://www.wsis-community.org/pg/file/read/17061/global-list-of-oer-initiatives

The OER Directory will (of course) be open for anyone to freely upload their initiative, and export the data to their own application. The Directory would feature strong search capability (by type, name, country, language, etc). We were considering linking our database to an OpenStreetMap for visualizing the data.

In the future, we'll have an API that allows another system to easily extract the data for display in their own application.

We are very shortly openly-licensing the entire WSIS KC Platform (CC BY) to legally allow user uploading/sharing.

We would greatly appreciate any volunteers to help us stress-test the Directory.

Regards,
Abel

Sent from my iPhone

On 21 nov. 2012, at 21:47, "Susan D'Antoni" <susandantoni at gmail.com<mailto:susandantoni at gmail.com>> wrote:

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<mailto: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<http://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<http://www.arl.org/sparc>
Director, Key Perspectives Ltd: www.keyperspectives.co.uk<http://www.keyperspectives.co.uk>
Convenor, Enabling Open Scholarship: www.openscholarship.org<http://www.openscholarship.org>
+44 (0)1392 879702<tel:%2B44%20%280%291392%20879702>
Skype: almaswan
http://bit.ly/aQXNEy




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