Parallel Session 8 – Upskilling for the Future II
Moderator: TBC
Location: Room 2024
8.1) Empowering Researchers for the Future: Upskilling through the EOSC EU Node Training Platform
Presenter: Maja Dolinar, OpenAIRE AMKE, Slovenia
The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) EU Node plays a pivotal role in advancing Open Science by providing researchers, researcher support staff, and librarians with the tools and resources to manage, access, and share data in alignment with FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). As Open Science continues to grow in importance, the need for upskilling researchers and support personnel to navigate and utilize these resources effectively is paramount. This presentation focuses on the EOSC EU Node Training Platform, a key resource that supports this upskilling through comprehensive tutorials, guides, and self-paced courses.
The EOSC EU Node platform is designed to facilitate multi-disciplinary, multi-national collaboration by providing easy access to data, software, and services from across the EOSC ecosystem. With a wide variety of services aimed at enhancing the research workflow, from data management to analysis, the training platform ensures that users at different levels can fully engage with the available resources. In this presentation, we will explore the structure of the EOSC EU Node Training Platform, hosted on OpenPlato, a Learning Management System (LMS) designed for delivering asynchronous and synchronous training. This platform supports diverse learning activities tailored to the needs of users, researchers, and institutional contributors.
The training materials available on the platform are categorized to cater to a broad range of users, from introductory tutorials for new users to advanced training modules for contributors and institutional facilitators. These materials are designed to develop proficiency in essential components of the EOSC, such as the efficient utilization of the Resource and Tools Hub, the integration of FAIR data practices, and the implementation and execution of research workflows. These workflows can subsequently be discovered and republished within the same platform. In addition to tutorials, guides, and self-paced courses, the platform includes badges and certificates to acknowledge the successful completion of learning paths, helping to enhance professional recognition within the research community.
This presentation will also delve into the strategic importance of providing such a platform to ensure the future success of the EOSC ecosystem. By addressing the skills gap among researchers and support staff, the training platform not only aids in the adoption of the EOSC services but also empowers stakeholders to contribute meaningfully to the Open Science community. Additionally, we will present the ongoing development of learning materials, which are continuously refined based on user feedback and evolving needs, ensuring they remain relevant and effective.
Through the EOSC EU Node Training Platform, the community is equipped to engage with and utilize the full potential of the EOSC services, thus contributing to the broader goal of fostering an open, interoperable, and inclusive research ecosystem. By providing accessible and high-quality training, the platform plays a crucial role in the EU’s commitment to advancing open science, making it an essential tool for researchers, institutions, and policymakers in the pursuit of global collaboration and innovation.
8.2) Human-Centred Design and Co-Creation as Future Skills for Orchestrating Software Ecosystems
Presenter: Riitta Peltonen, The National Library of Finland, Finland
Human-centred design (HCD) and co-creation as mechanisms to orchestrate digital ecosystems are skills needed in future, also for libraries. When addressing complex problems through technical innovation, solutions often involve a network of organisations collaborating within a digital ecosystem. Innovation within such ecosystems requires member organisations to assume new responsibilities. However, the alignment of these responsibilities is not always straightforward. Human-centred design (HCD) provides a framework for this alignment.
The Finna Services of the National Library of Finland (NLF) systematically applies HCD in its development work as a design practice. Beyond its primary role as a design methodology, HCD can also be used as a tool to identify and align role and value expectations within the ecosystem. This presentation examines the research question: how can HCD methods be used to identify and align role and value expectations within a digital ecosystem?
We present results analysed through rich data from seven years of development related to enabling the curation of material packages available in the national search service Finna.fi. Although the data analysis will be conducted in spring 2025, our preliminary results already suggest that: 1. For challenging problems, HCD methods provide useful tools for a potential leading organisation to define the scope and limits of the problem within which they are willing to act as a leader. 2. They facilitate discussions and confirmations with other organisations regarding value expectations, within which the organisations are interested in contributing. 3. These methods aid successful communication throughout the development phases.
The NLF is one of those national libraries that, in addition to being custodians and providers of unique and valuable collections, also act as digital service providers for other cultural heritage organisations and society. Finna.fi is a national digital library combining millions of items from almost 450 Finnish libraries, archives, museums, and publication repositories. While the creation and maintenance of the platform are managed by the Finna team at the NLF, the content is provided by all participating organisations. Prior to this development phase, Finna.fi functioned purely as a search service for individual materials from various organisations. During this seven-year development period, Finna enabled the curation of material packages from these individual materials available on Finna.fi.
Enabling the curation of material packages was initially a general, significant wish within the cultural heritage sector. It was unclear whether this should be addressed within the Finna ecosystem or as a new initiative, and who should take the lead. This situation could have resulted in the initiative falling into a void between organisations. It is an interesting success story of how the Finna ecosystem managed to realign itself in a new way and proceed forward in an agile manner.
8.3) Robotics at NTK: Why We Should Not Be Scared of Robots in Libraries
Presenter: Vojtěch Novák, The National Library of Technology, Czech Republic
This paper introduces the ongoing program of robotics at The National Library of Technology in Prague (further NTK) marked as #robotikaNTK from the insider position of its main coordinator. The goal is to present the idea that a library should not be just a building full of books, but rather a modern institution that is not afraid to reflect the development of technologies and its users (visitors).
The program of robotics at NTK was established during the year 2021 as a part of the project called The Technological Laboratory for the Development of Digital Literacy. This part of the project has since developed into a stable program supported and offered by NTK. Nowadays, this program consists of the Info Corner of Robotics (which offers a combination of contemporary popular and scientific literature about programming, robotics, mechatronics, A. I. etc.), and also of its adjunct activities like robotics workshops (with UR3e collaborative robotic arm and with Robotis hardware) that are conducted by our lecturers at NTK and designed mainly for elementary schools, high schools and universities. The visitors of NTK also have an opportunity to arrange a consultation where they could meet most of the robots individually.
In order to present the main goal, this paper uses the methodology of new media epistemology that reflects the development of the audience consisting of digital natives. Via this approach, the workshops of robotics are based on the constructivist model of education (that is focused on the practical activity of the audience) rather than frontal teaching (that is focused on the theoretical passing of information). The workshops also help not just to develop the software based skills, but also widely declining fine motor skills that lead to upskilling thanks to the usage of hardware (robots). This provides a very unique combination of learning for the visitors of our library who are allowed not just to read about the technologies (robots), but to work with them as well. It also leeds to upskilling between the staff members of #robotikaNTK that are with their different intellectual background made to educate themselves mutually in order to understand each other and to conduct the program successfully.
Based on our data of #robotikaNTK collected between the years 2022-2024 which show a stable interest and a slightly growing tendency of participants, it is safe to say that this approach (which reflects the development of technologies and its audience) has paid off and has helped to shape a base of participants (especially from the members of educational institutions) that keep coming back to NTK in order to gain more skills. Therefore, it is necessary not to underestimate the impact of such activities that may be formally considered as a secondary role of libraries, because in reality (as this example of #robotikaNTK shows) they help to cultivate the library into the form of a modern and attractive institution and hold an important position that can’t be reduced to something secondary or insignificant.