On September 10, 2020, COAR hosted a 2-hour forum highlighting the role of open science and open repositories in the context of COVID-19. The forum showcased several collaborative initiatives from around the world aiming to improve the discovery of, and access to, COVID-19 research outputs.

Participants learned about three projects from different regions, followed by an interactive session in which participants shared information about their activities using the mentimeter platform. 

A recording and presentations are now available! COAR will be providing other opportunities for information sharing in the coming months.

Key Takeaways

1. COVID-19 has led to an increase in awareness of open science

2. Many participants are engaged in COVID-19 related activities, including:

    • recruiting COVID-19 resources into repositories
    • improving discovery of COVID-19 related content
    • supporting text and data mining
    • advocating for open science
    • delivering resources for online learning

3. Challenges for participants include:

    • copyright, embargoes and licenses attached to resources
    • metadata and data curation
    • infrastructure
    • connectivity

4. COAR can help through activities such as:

    • community building
    • advocacy
    • defining best practices
    • supporting information sharing

 

COVID-19 and Repositories Initiatives

OpenVirus is a joint UK-India, open repository-based project to extract multidisciplinary semantic knowledge about viral epidemics (including COVID-19) through analysing tens of thousands or articles we can find clues to predict/prevent/mitigate viral epidemics.

OpenAIRE COVID-19 Gateway is a portal that provides access to publications, research data, projects and software that may be relevant to the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19). The OpenAIRE COVID-19 Gateway aggregates COVID-19 related records, links them and provides a single access point for discovery and navigation.

Canadian COVID-19 Open Repository Initiative is a collaborative project led by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries to identify and make as many Canadian research outputs related to COVID-19 available through major discovery systems including the OpenAIRE COVID-10 Gateway.

COAR Recommendations for COVID-19 Resources in Repositories A common and coordinated approach across repositories will ensure that resources are discoverable and widely available. Please see the COAR recommendations for COVID-19 resources in repositories

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Slides