https://doi.org/10.25547/F5J7-RM94
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This observation was written by Brittany Amell, with thanks to Tyne Daile Sumner, Tully Barnett, and Ray Siemens for their contributions.
At a glance:
| Title | Recap of the 6th annual gathering of the Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship |
| Creator | Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship |
| Time Period / Date | December 2-3 2024 |
| Keywords | CAPOS, Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship |
Summary
The 6th annual gathering of the Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship (CAPOS), held from 2-3 December 2024 at Flinders University in Adelaide, brought together a vibrant group of scholars, policymakers, industry experts, and advocates to discuss topics related to digital commons, platforms and emerging knowledge frameworks in open scholarship. The theme, “Commons, Platforms and Emerging Knowledge Frameworks,” provided a dynamic forum for discussion and exchange on open digital scholarship as it currently exists, as well as future opportunities for international collaboration, policy development, interdisciplinary research, and creative exchange.
Keynotes
Hosted at the Flinders University Adelaide City Campus, the 6th annual gathering of the Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship (CAPOS) opened with a warm Welcome to Country address given by Patricia Agius and Harley Hall, who welcomed attendees to the lands of the Kaurna people upon which Adelaide is situated.
The theme, “Commons, Platforms and Emerging Knowledge Frameworks,” catalyzed much discussion and exchange on open digital scholarship and its relationship to the future. The conference featured keynotes from leaders in the fields of Indigenous data governance, open research infrastructure, and citizen science. Jenny Fewster (Australian Research Data Commons, HASS and Indigenous Research Data Commons) and Robert dhurwain McLellan (U Queensland, and Language Data Commons of Australia) kicked off discussions with a keynote that emphasized the importance of Indigenous research infrastructure to the future Australian and International research landscape (“CAREful FAIRness and principles for Indigenous Data Governance,” Fewster 2024). In the talk, Fewster and dhurwain McLellan noted how the “current state of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research data assets leaves them vulnerable to loss, limits data discovery and use, even by Traditional Owners, and results in the duplication and the over-researching of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.”
The Indigenous Research Data Commons (I RDC) is being developed in close collaboration with Indigenous communities to ensure policies and practices are culturally responsive, empowering, and inclusive. In addition to aligning with the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable), the I RDC also adheres to the CARE principles (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, Ethics), representing a dual commitment to ethical and accessible data stewardship.
FAIR and CARE were also recurring themes in the second keynote, “From Open Access to Open Research Infrastructure: CRKN’s evolving strategy to meet the needs of open digital scholarship,” delivered by Clare Appavoo (Canadian Research Knowledge Network, or CRKN). Apavoo introduced CRKN’s 25 year journey of advancing access to knowledge, along with its current efforts to transform the Canadiana collections into open, digital research infrastructure through the Digital Collections of the Future (DCoF) project, (Apavoo 2024). “We will embed FAIR, CARE, UNDRIP, and OCAP principles at the heart of our open research infrastructure,” Apavoo shared, highlighting a vision to modernize Canadiana that is guided by frameworks for equity, diversity, and inclusion. DCoF is positioned well to support world-class research into the historical forces shaping contemporary Canada.
Amanda Lawrence (RMIT & Australian Internet Observatory) opened the second day with a keynote that considered how Wikipedia—traditionally viewed as a platform for sharing content—has evolved into a key part of research and digital infrastructure, especially with Wikibase, Wikidata, and its evolving AI strategy.
Themed sessions and lightning talks
Over the course of the themed sessions and lightning talks, presenters explored topics that included building sustainable digital humanities databases, developing AI-aware bibliographic tools, embedding Bayesian statistical methods in humanistic inquiry, and the interoperability and wider uses of Australian cultural data. A particularly resonant theme throughout the two days was the imperative of maintaining and governing digital cultural data in ways that are inclusive, ethical, and durable.
The program spotlighted community-led platforms like the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), the Canadian Humanities and Social Sciences Commons (Jensen 2024), AusLit, AusStage, the Time-Layered Cultural Map (Pascoe 2024), and the ARDC-led Australian Creative Histories and Futures Project. The audience was also introduced to annotation and archival tools (McCrabb 2024), Bayesian statistics for open scholarship (Moody 2024), and a high school outreach initiative focused on sharing the digital humanities through open scholarship (Gencer 2024). We also heard about work coming out of the Electronic Textual Cultures Lab, an INKE partner, on a forthcoming publication (Open Scholarship Press) focused on platforms and their implications for open scholarship. The publication consists of an analytical introduction and an annotated bibliography with 100+ annotations (Amell, 2024).
CAPOS 2024 concluded with a reflection on collaboration and knowledge exchange across institutions and borders, and discussions about CAPOS 2025.
CAPOS 2025
The 7th annual gathering of CAPOS is set to coincide with DHA ‘25 between December 2 and 5 in Canberra, Australia. Read more about the events and the calls for presentations here (for CAPOS 2025) and here (for DHA ’25).
References
Amell, Brittany, Alan Colin-Arce, Graham Jensen, and Ray Siemens. 2024. “Platforms–Agents, Foes, or Allies of Scholarly Communication?” Presentation presented at the 6th Annual Gathering of the Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship, Adelaide, Australia, December 3. https://inke.ca/commons-platforms-and-emerging-knowledge-frameworks/abstracts/#Amell.
Apavoo, Clare. 2024. “From Open Access to Open Research Infrastructure: CRKN’s Evolving Strategy to Meet the Needs of Open Digital Scholarship.” Adelaide, Australia presented at the 6th Annual Gathering of the Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship, Adelaide, Australia, December 2. https://inke.ca/commons-platforms-and-emerging-knowledge-frameworks/abstracts/#Appavoo.
Fewster, Jenny, and Robert dhurwain McLellan. 2024. “CAREful FAIRness and Principles for Indigenous Data Governance.” Keynote presented at the 6th Annual Gathering of the Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship, Adelaide, Australia, December 2. https://inke.ca/commons-platforms-and-emerging-knowledge-frameworks/abstracts/#Fewster.
Gencer, Ridvan. 2024. “Introducing High School Students to Digital Humanities with Open Scholarship.” Presentation presented at the 6th Annual Gathering of the Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship, Adelaide, Australia, December 3. https://inke.ca/commons-platforms-and-emerging-knowledge-frameworks/abstracts/#Gencer.
Jensen, Graham. 2024. “Growth Platforms of a Different Kind: Not-for-Profit Digital Research Commons as Platforms for Building Community and Increasing Access to Knowledge.” Presentation presented at the 6th, Adelaide, Australia, December 2. https://inke.ca/commons-platforms-and-emerging-knowledge-frameworks/abstracts/#Jensen.
Lawrence, Amanda. 2024. “Citizen Science, Research Infrastructure and Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs).” Keynote presented at the 6th Annual Gathering of the Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship, Adelaide, Australia, December 3. https://inke.ca/commons-platforms-and-emerging-knowledge-frameworks/abstracts/#Lawrence.
McCrabb, Ian. 2024. “Glycerine – Image Annotation Platform.” Presentation presented at the 6th Annual Gathering of the Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship, Adelaide, Australia, December 3. https://inke.ca/commons-platforms-and-emerging-knowledge-frameworks/abstracts/#McCrabb2.
Moody, Alayne. 2024. “Bayesian Statistics for Open Scholarship in the Humanities.” Presentation presented at the 6th Annual Gathering of the Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship, Adelaide, Australia, December 3. https://inke.ca/commons-platforms-and-emerging-knowledge-frameworks/abstracts/#Moody.
Pascoe, Bill. 2024. “Public Web Scholarship: Institutions, Maintenance and Truth Telling.” Presentation presented at the 6th Annual Gathering of the Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship, Adelaide, Australia, December 3. https://inke.ca/commons-platforms-and-emerging-knowledge-frameworks/abstracts/#Pascoe.