Since the launch of COAR in 2009, a major strategic priority for the organization has been the alignment of repository networks across the world. In 2015 these efforts were expanded through the support of the European Commission-funded OpenAIRE2020 and OpenAIRE Advance project.

COAR’s Alignment Activities

Capacity Building

• COAR Community Framework for Best Practices in Repositories
• Participation in online and in-person training events worldwide

Metadata / Vocabularies

• Metadata use cases
• 3 COAR controlled vocabularies

Network Interoperability

• Service integration between OpenAIRE and LA Referencia
• Technology transfer of RDM platform from Japan to Africa
• Collaboration between Africa and Latin America
• Repository Aggregators Working Group

Innovation

• COAR Next Generation Repositories Initiative
• COAR Notify Project

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The aim of these efforts is to develop a global knowledge commons that provides seamless access to research outputs for the research community and all of society.

Who is involved in these efforts?

• COAR has over 140 individual institutional members from 50 countries on all 5 continents
• COAR has relationships with repository networks and communities of practice in Africa, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Russia, Asia, China, Japan
• COAR has strategic partnerships with africaXiv, LIBER, Research Data Alliance, SPARC, SPARC Europe
• COAR engages regularly with the open source repository platforms