This week, Oct. 24 to Oct. 30, is International Open Access Week, and the University Libraries and the Open Science Interest Group, a student group, are co-hosting events on campus. This year’s theme “Open in Action” is about taking concrete steps to open up research and scholarship to students, researchers and the general public.
Please join us for the following open discussions and workshops about opening up scholarly work. You can RSVP online, but it is not necessary. Hope to see you there!
"Increasing Openness and Transparency in Academic Research"
Monday, Oct. 24, 3 to 4 p.m., UMC 247
Presenter: John Lurquin
Reproducibility in science is continuing to receive a lot of attention with more and more highly-cited findings failing to replicate. Although there are several reasons why a finding might not replicate, most of the focus has been on the lack of openness and transparency in research and how this degrades the validity of reported findings. This talk will discuss how certain interventions aimed at increasing transparency in research are becoming standard practice among scientific communities, funding agencies, journals and hiring/promotion committees. An open discussion on how these practices might be adopted at the university level will follow. What barriers to transparency exist in your discipline? What types of resources are needed to make the detailed reporting of research easier? Snacks and refreshments will be provided.
"Open the World of Data with Web APIs"
Wednesday, Oct. 26, noon to 1 p.m., Norlin Library E113
Presenters: Phil White and Andrew Johnson
All are welcome at this introductory workshop on APIs. An Application Program Interface (API), in simple terms, is an interface between applications that allows one to access information or data on the web that might otherwise be difficult or time consuming to collect. For example, a web API can be used to access data.gov, quickly download data from Twitter or geolocate address information. This workshop will explain how web APIs work and how to use them to access data. There will also be a demonstration of easy-to-use tools to get started with APIs. No programming experience necessary.
"Implementing Open Research Practices with the Open Science Framework"
Thursday, Oct. 27, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., UMC 247
Presenters: Andrew Johnson and Laura Michaelson
The Open Science Framework (OSF) is a free and open-source tool that allows one to manage all the components of a research project (files, data, protocols, references, etc.) from one simple web interface. Most importantly, it integrates easily with the tools you already use in your everyday workflows (e.g. Google Drive, Dropbox, GitHub, Zotero). This workshop will explore the many features of the OSF, including its project-management and collaboration capabilities, with an eye toward implementing open and transparent research practices. Learn how to leverage the OSF to enhance your research workflows! Snacks and refreshments will be provided.
