The UK's Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and the British Library (BL) are calling for registrations for the last 15 places to take part in an international discovery summit, slated for February 21-22 in London. Target participants include university librarians and archivists, library staff, museum curators and expert developers from across the globe. The summit will examine how 'open data (is) transforming the world's great collections at universities, galleries, libraries, archives and museums from being on the Internet, to being of the Internet?'
The aim is that by the end of the summit there will be an international action plan which will bring together collaborative next steps on the road to discovery. This two day summit is also open for online attendance. There is no need for registration, simply visit the JISC website to join in on the day.
Discovery of resources for research and education is an area of almost continual upheaval and this is seen to present many challenges. JISC and BL want to find out how open data can be used to make library, archive and museum collections easier for the public to find and use.
Effective resource discovery services are important for the student and research experience and for ensuring that valuable and unique collections are accessible as widely as possible. There are often barriers in place which prevent resources being openly discoverable, such as technical and licensing requirements. This summit, which will also be live streamed, invites attendees to share ideas and approaches to these challenges. It will compare and contrast endeavours that desire to meet the opportunities that open data presents.
The summit will showcase new initiatives on how open data is delivering a digital world that is 'live, local and social'. It will test boundaries and ask inconvenient questions about the relevance, benefits and impact of open data. And also explore open data from a developer's perspective to understand better how the data can be used in novel and innovative ways.
The two day programme includes presentations from Bill Thompson, Head of Partnership Development, Archive Development, BBC; Alastair Dunning, Programme Manager, European Library; Roly Keating, Chief Executive, British Library; Antonio Acuna, Head of Data.gov.uk, Cabinet Office; and Maura Marx, Secretariat Director, Digital Public Library of America.
