Please find below details of a programme of Open Research Conversations which are being hosted by the University of Sheffield this Spring.
These are all free, online events that are open to anyone who is interested in the open research agenda.
Opening the (e)Book on Open Educational Resources
Weds 18 January, 12.00-13.00
Open Educational Resources allow free and open access to materials like textbooks and teaching resources, enabling a potential revolution in access to learning and teaching materials. In this session, we’ll explore in detail the possibilities this creates for teachers, lecturers and students in higher education. Speakers will include Helen Moore and Maria Mawson from the University Library, and Dr Tom Howard, University Teacher in Robotics and Interim Academic Lead in Computing, Control and Electrical Engineering (CCEE) (Multidisciplinary Engineering Education).
Open Research and Public Engagement
Wednesday 8th February, 12.00-13.00
We’ll be joined by Colin Angus and Andy Tattersall from the School of Health and Related research and Kate O’Neill from the University Library for an exploration of the intersections between open research and public engagement. While Colin discusses his experiences of using social media to disseminate public health research, Andy and Kate will explore open access coverage of Wikipedia-cited research across the White Rose Universities. Our speakers will bring together different perspectives and experiences on the concepts and methodologies of open research and public engagement in order to examine the nature and degree of their overlap.
You’ve Got to Fight for Your (Copy)right: An exploration of New Policies on Rights Retention
Weds 15th February, 12.00-13.00
Historically, academic publishing has involved signing over copyright to a publisher or journal, restricting the future use of and access to that work by both authors and readers. Now the landscape is changing, with many universities, now including the University of Sheffield, adopting new policies on rights retention. This session offers an opportunity to explore these changes with copyright and licensing staff from the University Library.
Opening up Ethnography
Wednesday 8th March, 12.00-13.00
Ethnographic methods have historically been seen as challenging when it comes to ‘opening up’ research methods and materials to scrutiny and replication by other researchers. But is this really the case? In this webinar, Jamie Coates (School of East Asian Studies) and Jessica Bradley (School of Education) explore the challenges and opportunities of ethnographic research in the context of open research practices.
Open Access Monographs, White Rose University Press & the Sheffield Thesis Publishing Prize
Wednesday 26th April, 12.00-13.00
This Open Research Conversation will celebrate the inaugural University of Sheffield Thesis Publishing Prize, held in partnership with White Rose University Press. Applicants to the Publishing Prize submitted proposals for how they would turn their theses into an open access monograph, and five of these have been taken forward for consideration by White Rose University Press with all open access charges covered if commissioned, as well as receiving £250 in prize money. In this session, we will hear from Press Manager, Kate Petherbridge and showcase some of the prizewinning work. We will also highlight the Library’s Institutional Open Access Fund, created to support TUoS staff and PGRs in publishing monographs, book chapters and edited collections with open access publishers.
Reframing Research Data: Open Research Outputs in the Arts and Humanities
Wednesday 17 May, 12.00-13.00
When applied to the Arts and Humanities, the conceptual framework around open research can present particular challenges and may require or invite some degree of reinterpretation. Within this context, we’ll explore what the notion of data might mean within Arts and Humanities subjects and how researchers might address discipline-specific issues around the sharing of outputs and materials. We’ll hear from Caroline Curwen from the Department of Music about her data on synaesthesia, Charles West from the Department of History on sharing Medieval history datasets, and Isabella Magni from the Digital Humanities Institute, who will discuss her involvement with the HathiTrust Research Center, one of the largest and most prestigious open Arts & Humanities repositories in the USA.
Reproducibility and the Curriculum
Wednesday 28th June, 15.00-16.00
Reproducibility has gained significant attention in the context of research practice, yet the teaching of reproducible methods has received somewhat less consideration. In this webinar, Aneta Piekut (Sheffield Methods Institute) and Norm Medeiros and Richard Ball (Haverford College; Directors of Project TIER) share their experiences and perspectives on how to embed reproducible workflows, data management and transparent documentation in taught courses and programmes.
Research and Innovation Services 