I attended the Sydney Conference at Macquarie University last month. The focus was scholarly communication beyond paywalls – to reconceptualise the future of this communication process.
While there were a lot of librarians in attendance we were fortunate to have several researchers and publisher representatives along as well.
This was not a typical conference with papers being selected and presented. This was more like an unconference – albeit with a little structure.
The attendees split up into several threads to nut out issues, barriers, and ideas. We were provoked admirably by Penny Carnaby each day with challenges such as visualising a party to celebrate a momentous announcement – we had to figure out what the headline was!
I joined the Roles group and our first go looked a bit like this…
Like other groups we found it difficult to limit our focus to roles without considering other factors such as the format question, peer-review, barriers and data management which were the focus of other threads.
For example in our thread we had a darn* good go at scrapping peer-review in its current form and moving authority to the evidence being presented. This would make critical thinking and data review highly valued skills, and necessitate that the evidence be made available.
The chief protagonist in getting this conference off the ground was Jo-Anne Sparks who invited me to stretch my artistic muscles with sketch notes of the event. So I had a lovely time doodling and colouring in as well as throwing in my 2cents.
Created with flickr slideshow.
Explore the Storify Collection of everyone’s social media contributions.
Or check out #sydconf15 on Instagram and Twitter
There was also a musical parody encouraged by @JasonEnsor wherein the Roles thread group rewrote the words to a couple of well-known tunes, and accompanied by some ragged ukulele strumming by me sang…..
{time:3:53}
[C] [Em] [Am] [F] [C] [Em] [Am] [Am9] [F] [C] Ooh [Em] [F] [C] [F] [E7] [Am] [F]
*** SOMEWHERE OVER RAINBOW TUNE ***
[C] Somewhere [Em] over the rainbow [F]ten years from [C] now
[F] And the [C] dreams that you dreamt of [G] once in a symposi[Am]um [F]
[C] Somewhere [Em] over the rainbow [F] ideas [C] soar
[F] OPen [C] dreams that you dreamt of
[G] Dreams really can come [Am] true [F]
To [C] day we'll wish upon a star
And [G] wake up with the tipping point be[Am]hind [F] us
Where [C] paywalls melt like lemon drops
[G] High above the turbine tops that’s [Am] where you'll [F] find me
[C] Somewhere [Em] over the rainbow [F] research [C] counts
[F] Open [C] dreams that you dare to [G] dream really will come [Am] true [F]
*** WHAT WONDERFUL WORLD TUNE ***
I hear [C] some publishers [Em] cry and we [F] hear them [C] groan
[F] They earn much [C] more than [E7] we'll ever [Am] know
And I [F] think to myself [G] what a wonderful [Am] world [F]
Well I see [C] open [Em] access and I see [F] open [C] data
And the [F] brightness of [C] ideas [E7] flowing like [Am] wine
And I [F] think to myself [G] what a wonderful [C] world [F] [C]
The [G] impact of research still [C] flying high
Is [G] also on the faces of [C] funders passing by
I see [F] friends shaking [C] hands saying [F] how do you [C]do
[F] They're really [C] saying [Dm7] I value [G7] you
Well I see [C] papers are [Em] free and [F] books freed [C]too
[F] I'll watch them [C] shared for [E7] me and [Am] you
And I [F] think to myself [G] what a wonderful [Am] world [F]
*** BACK TO SOMEWHERE OVER RAINBOW TUNE ***
[C] Someday I'll write up my research
And [G] wake up where the barriers are be[Am]hind [F] me
Where [C] problems melt and agro drops
[G] Looking at new journal streams that's [Am] where you'll [F] find me
[C] Somewhere [Em] over the rainbow [F] research [C] counts
[F] Open [C] dreams that you dare to [G] dream really will come [Am] true [F]
[C] Oh Ay[Em] [F] Oh[C] Ay
[F] [E7] [Am] [F] [C]
*see what I did there?
While there were a lot of librarians in attendance we were fortunate to have several researchers and publisher representatives along as well.
This was not a typical conference with papers being selected and presented. This was more like an unconference – albeit with a little structure.
The attendees split up into several threads to nut out issues, barriers, and ideas. We were provoked admirably by Penny Carnaby each day with challenges such as visualising a party to celebrate a momentous announcement – we had to figure out what the headline was!
I joined the Roles group and our first go looked a bit like this…
2025 Press release Borderless & : Unbounded Global Information Treaty #sydconf15 #openaccess pic.twitter.com/gGpDdCkTGg
— Peta Hopkins (@petahopkins) July 23, 2015
Like other groups we found it difficult to limit our focus to roles without considering other factors such as the format question, peer-review, barriers and data management which were the focus of other threads.
For example in our thread we had a darn* good go at scrapping peer-review in its current form and moving authority to the evidence being presented. This would make critical thinking and data review highly valued skills, and necessitate that the evidence be made available.
The chief protagonist in getting this conference off the ground was Jo-Anne Sparks who invited me to stretch my artistic muscles with sketch notes of the event. So I had a lovely time doodling and colouring in as well as throwing in my 2cents.
Created with flickr slideshow.
Explore the Storify Collection of everyone’s social media contributions.
Or check out #sydconf15 on Instagram and Twitter
There was also a musical parody encouraged by @JasonEnsor wherein the Roles thread group rewrote the words to a couple of well-known tunes, and accompanied by some ragged ukulele strumming by me sang…..
Somewhere Over the Paywall – What a Wonderful World
{subtitle:Apologies to Judy and Louis}{time:3:53}
[C] [Em] [Am] [F] [C] [Em] [Am] [Am9] [F] [C] Ooh [Em] [F] [C] [F] [E7] [Am] [F]
*** SOMEWHERE OVER RAINBOW TUNE ***
[C] Somewhere [Em] over the rainbow [F]ten years from [C] now
[F] And the [C] dreams that you dreamt of [G] once in a symposi[Am]um [F]
[C] Somewhere [Em] over the rainbow [F] ideas [C] soar
[F] OPen [C] dreams that you dreamt of
[G] Dreams really can come [Am] true [F]
To [C] day we'll wish upon a star
And [G] wake up with the tipping point be[Am]hind [F] us
Where [C] paywalls melt like lemon drops
[G] High above the turbine tops that’s [Am] where you'll [F] find me
[C] Somewhere [Em] over the rainbow [F] research [C] counts
[F] Open [C] dreams that you dare to [G] dream really will come [Am] true [F]
*** WHAT WONDERFUL WORLD TUNE ***
I hear [C] some publishers [Em] cry and we [F] hear them [C] groan
[F] They earn much [C] more than [E7] we'll ever [Am] know
And I [F] think to myself [G] what a wonderful [Am] world [F]
Well I see [C] open [Em] access and I see [F] open [C] data
And the [F] brightness of [C] ideas [E7] flowing like [Am] wine
And I [F] think to myself [G] what a wonderful [C] world [F] [C]
The [G] impact of research still [C] flying high
Is [G] also on the faces of [C] funders passing by
I see [F] friends shaking [C] hands saying [F] how do you [C]do
[F] They're really [C] saying [Dm7] I value [G7] you
Well I see [C] papers are [Em] free and [F] books freed [C]too
[F] I'll watch them [C] shared for [E7] me and [Am] you
And I [F] think to myself [G] what a wonderful [Am] world [F]
*** BACK TO SOMEWHERE OVER RAINBOW TUNE ***
[C] Someday I'll write up my research
And [G] wake up where the barriers are be[Am]hind [F] me
Where [C] problems melt and agro drops
[G] Looking at new journal streams that's [Am] where you'll [F] find me
[C] Somewhere [Em] over the rainbow [F] research [C] counts
[F] Open [C] dreams that you dare to [G] dream really will come [Am] true [F]
[C] Oh Ay[Em] [F] Oh[C] Ay
[F] [E7] [Am] [F] [C]
*see what I did there?