Review of Open Access Policy Dependencies

Knowledge Exchange analysed the extent to which OA policies are dependent on a number of non-commercial, compliance-enabling services used by researchers and institutions. This work offers clear evidence to policy makers on the importance of a number of non-commercial services to the successful implementation of OA policies. It also shows that many of these services are at risk and warrant further support in financial and/or governance terms. The summary report (available here) includes an analysis of a wide range of OA services and policies currently in use and presents: • an analysis of the common elements found in the current OA policies adopted by research funders and institutions • a set of case studies that illustrate the direct or indirect dependency of OA policies on key services • the views of stakeholders on the key services that enable compliance with OA policies • use cases, presented in accessible formats and language for a non-technical audience • a set of priorities for action if OA policies are to be successfully implemented

Sustainability of Open Access Services: Phase 4 Workshop report

Phase 4: Review of the conditions under which individual services and platforms can be sustained On Tuesday 1 October 2013, in Bristol, United Kingdom, Knowledge Exchange brought together a group of international Open Access Service providers to discuss the sustainability of their services. A number of recurring lessons learned were mentioned; Though project funding can be used to start up a service, it does not guarantee the continuation of a service and it can be hard to establish the service as a viable entity, standing on its own feet. Research funders should be aware that if they have policies or mandates for making research outputs available they will eventually also be responsible for on-going support for the underlying infrastructure. At present some services are used globally but the costs are only covered by a limited geographic spread, sometimes only a number of institutions or only one country. Finding other funding sources can be challenging. Various routes were mentioned including commercial partnerships, memberships, offering additional paid services or using a Freemium model. There is not one model that will fit all. As more services turn to library sponsorship to sustain them, one strategy might be to bundle the requests and approach a group of research and infrastructure funders or institutions (and others) with a package rather than each service going through the same resource consuming process of soliciting funding. This will also allow the community to identify gaps, dependencies and overlap in the services. The possibility of setting up an organisation to bundle the services was discussed and a number of risks were identified.

KEITS Training Services: Moving to Mobile - assessment with Blackberry devices

Work-based learning provider, KEITS has improved efficiencies and institutional effectiveness with the introduction of Blackberry mobile devices to all their assessors. They have saved time and money on paper and travel, diversified evidence capture and improved their overall engagement with learners.

Broadland Council Training Services – Winning your e-Learning Spurs with Xerte/Maxos

Broadland Council Training Services have reined in their reliance on traditional learning methods by introducing Xerte/Maxos to their equine-based students. Learners who were once deluged by stacks of paper and unable to utilise an internet connection in a horse yard are now able to access interactive learning exercises using Maxos: Xerte on a memory stick. Students are now more engaged and focused on their studies, teaching methods are much more diverse, and success rates have improved.

Cloud services for education agreements

Providing you with peace of mind and due diligence on around 40 pages of contractual terms and conditions on an ongoing basis for Google Apps for Education. JL

Cloud services for education agreements Office 365

Giving you peace of mind with amendments and due diligence on around 100 pages of contractual documents for Microsoft Office 365.JL

Shared services for RDM

Shared services for RDM presentation circulated at the Repository Fringe 2015.

Case study: Transforming the digital environment - resilient and robust systems and services

Case study on how City of Liverpool College is taking radical steps to transform their digital environment, their services and business processes to bridge the digital skills gap between college leavers and the expectations of employers.

Sustainability of Open Access Services - Phases 1 & 2

Although some services that support Open Access have developed a sustainable business model, many started as projects and continue to run on recurrent project funding or goodwill. If these are critical components of the evolving scholarly communication system the foundation of Open Access is vulnerable. Knowledge Exchange has commissioned this study as part of a larger programme of work to look at the issue of sustaining key services into the long term. This report focuses on phases one and two of the programme. Phase one was a scoping exercise, carried out mainly through a literature review and an extensive stakeholder interview exercise, to describe the services that are currently available or would be valuable in the future. It also investigated what roles stakeholders could play in this future scenario. Phase two was a stakeholder consultation and engagement exercise. The aim was to engage stakeholders with the work programme so that they could contribute their views, get involved with the work and have a voice in the thinking about future scenarios. The key services are presented for three future scenarios: ‘Gold’ Open Access, fully ‘Green’ Open Access and Green’ Open Access supplementing subscription access as ‘Gold’ OA grows. Three strategic areas are identified as having particular potential for future work. These are embedding business development expertise into service development; consideration of how to move money around the system to enable Open Access to be achieved optimally; and governance and coordination of the infrastructural foundation of Open Access. The report concludes with seven recommendations, both high-level and practical, for further work around these strategic areas.