The international scholarly content supply chain takes center stage every February in London at the Researcher to Reader Conference, a premier forum for discussion among content authors, publishers, librarians, and technology providers which ranges from content creation, discovery and use, through to archiving and preservation.
CCC colleagues Jake Kelleher, Vice President of Business Development, and Jennifer Goodrich, Director of Product Management, share their take on “can’t-miss” sessions at this year’s conference:
JEN GOODRICH:
- Workshop E – Open Access Communications (Mon 26 Feb, 10:20 AM)
How can publishers, funders, research organizations and other stakeholders co-operate to communicate with each another and researchers more efficiently?
This workshop, led by front-line industry experts Valerie McCutcheon, Research Information Manager, University of Glasgow; Catriona MacCallum, Director of Open Science, Hindawi Publishing; and Liz Ferguson, Vice President, Publishing Development, Wiley, is vitally important to the scholarly publishing ecosystem in this moment, making it one of my top “can’t miss” events. The question of sustainability for OA business models is in many ways predicated on the effectiveness with which authors, institutions, funders, and publishers align, and real solutions will only come about if these parties tackle challenges and obstacles together in forums such as this.
- Workshop D – Metadata Lifecycles (Mon 26 Feb, 10:20 AM)
Why should researchers and readers care about metadata quality?
My second pick is also a workshop, led by open data authorities Ginny Hendricks, Director of Member & Community Outreach at Crossref and founder of Metadata2020, and Ross Mounce, Open Access Grants Manager at Arcadia Fund. Beyond being an operational issue for publishers, rich, connected, and reusable metadata holds the promise of improving scholarly pursuits and advancing science for researchers and readers. When genuinely backed by all stakeholders, it can facilitate easy content discovery, bridge gaps between communities, and eliminate duplication of effort and research. Researchers and readers ought to learn as much as they can about metadata and ways to support it.
JAKE KELLEHER:
- Constants in a Changing World (Tues 27 Feb, 9:30 AM)
How learned societies can survive and thrive in an open future.
My first “must-attend” event is an expert panel discussion led by founder and director of Research Consulting and R2R Chair, Rob Johnson, alongside Catherine Cotton, CEO of the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEBS); Sally Hardy, Chief Executive of the Regional Studies Association, and Caroline Sutton, Director of Editorial Development at Taylor & Francis. In contrast to their larger counterparts, society publishers face unique challenges in terms of adapting to and offering value in an increasingly open landscape, while simultaneously pursuing their mission-driven activities in their field. When done right, however, OA can add to, rather than subtract from, the model of traditional society journal publishing. This panel is likely to have terrific advice on how to bring that vision to fruition.
- From Open Access Dream to Administrative Nightmare (Mon 26 Feb, 3:30 PM)
The ever-increasing burden of open access policy on libraries and researchers
As part of the “Open Access & Open Science in Institutions” stream, this presentation from Elizabeth Gadd, Research Policy Manager at Loughborough University, and Yvonne Budden, Head of Scholarly Communications at the University of Warwick, promises to be really enlightening for funders, publishers, and technology providers, as these institution-based stakeholders elaborate on their current OA pain points. It’s incredibly important to discuss, evaluate, and appreciate the outcomes (good and bad) of OA mandates now that they have been operationalized. If the open model is to be successful in the long run, the needs of all players in the scholarly publishing ecosystem must be heard and accommodated with the assistance of new solutions, technology-based or otherwise.
Interested in meeting up with Jen or Jake at Researcher2Reader?
Send a note to publishers@copyright.com and we’ll get in touch to set up an appointment!