The Repository Fringe modestly claims to be the “UK repository community’s unmissable gathering” and happened on 1 & 2 August 2016.
This was my third visit to the RepoFringe conference which is organised by the Digital Curation Centre, Edina and the University in Edinburgh. Why do I think it is a conference worth attending?
- RepoFringe covers a wide range of repository related topics including “Making a Difference with Data” (http://rfringe16.blogs.edina.ac.uk/sample-page/using-data-to-make-a-difference-in-the-world/)
- A concise 2 day conference which is less disruptive to your work than a full week.
- The crowd is friendly and mixed: repository managers, Open Access folks, Research Data Managers… from all over Britain and beyond (Finnish contingent!)
- It’s well organised and the sponsors actually add to the experience.
- It’s in Edinburgh! I like Edinburgh.
Below are some highlights that I attended this year.
The Keynote by Martin Poulter: “Your OERs will outlive you: Open Education in the long term”
This keynote was a surprise. How is Wikipedia driving an agenda of Open Educational Resources? Wikipedia? Really? Of course we all use Wikipedia but how does it fit into research flows, connects with journals and repositories?
Martin made a strong case for a web-of-knowledge approach where research outputs, Wikipedia and many other sources are connected, updated regularly and sustainably referenced. Wikidata and Wikisource are important “sister projects” in this context.
The Pure User Group was led by Anna Clements from the University of St Andrews. Anna made us working hard identifying strengths & weaknesses of Pure as a repository. Our discussions will inform a further workshop at the Pure International Conference from 10-11 October in Berlin.
In the next session Valerie McCutcheon from the University of Glasgow updated us on “The Possibilities are Endless’ ‘More Research. Better Information. The Consortia Advancing Standards in Research Administration Information“. In May 2016, the CASRAI-UK chapter held their first meeting in London which had a great response. One of the tasks CASRAI is working on is agreeing on a common terminology that will facilitate interoperability and reduce duplication. A very necessary piece of work.
At any good conference the networking is as important as the programme. And RepoFringe did not disappoint. Nice lunches in the cafeteria and a Drinks Reception in the wonderful afternoon sun made RepoFringe 2016 not only a worthwhile conference but a fun experience!
