[OWW-Discuss] OWW teleconference tomorrow, Thursday, April 10, at 12noon EST, "How best to steer the OWW ship? the role of the steering committee in times of change" - new callers most welcome...

[John Cumbers]

Dear all,
Please call USA (+1) 617-324-7294 at noon EST tomorrow Thu, to take part in
what could be the most exciting teleconference of your life: "How best to
steer the OWW ship? the role of the steering committee in times of change"

This is [my] chosen title for the teleconference tomorrow.  As OpenWetWare
goes through times of change in terms of Bill and Lorrie coming in and key
founders moving on, what should the role of the steering committee be?  What
is the mission of OWW (see below for a reminder) and how best could they be
achieved?   How do we welcome new users and keep existing ones excited and
interested in participating.   How to we manage our distributed time
effectively so that we can best execute our mission?

The conference number is USA (+1) 617-324-7294. We'll also have a
simultaneous chat session at
http://openwetware.org/chat/.<http://openwetware.org/chat/>
You're welcome to do either/or, but it's much better if you can both talk
and chat at the same time.  If you're new and feel intimidated by the
teleconference then do not be, it's fine just to say hello, introduce
yourself and your interest in OWW and then just listen until you feel
comfortable.

Cheers,
John


*
OWW Mission *
http://openwetware.org/wiki/OpenWetWare:Mission

*The goals of OWW are to support open sharing of research, education,
publication, and discussion in biological sciences and engineering. We
promote and support collaborations among researchers, students, and others
who are working towards these goals. We believe that open sharing of
research improves the quality and pace of scientific and engineering
research.*


We are taking three approaches to achieve our mission -
[edit<http://openwetware.org/index.php?title=OpenWetWare:Mission&action=edit&section=1>
] 1. Lower the technical barriers to sharing and dissemination of knowledge
in biological research

Scientific and engineering research have strong traditions of publishing
research. However, the pace of publishing research (often 6-12 months) has
lagged the pace of research. Moreover, much of the information generated in
the course of research fails to get captured in research articles (the
traditional mechanism for sharing research). Thus, we advocate new, faster
timescale publishing mediums like OpenWetWare that can capture biological
knowledge as it is generated to complement the existing scientific
publishing mechanisms. We are always seeking new tools and technologies that
make this open sharing of research easier.
[edit<http://openwetware.org/index.php?title=OpenWetWare:Mission&action=edit&section=2>
] 2. Build a community of researchers in biology and biological engineering
that values, practices, and innovates the open sharing of information

Peer review is a fundamental part of biological research. We use it to
assess papers for publication, talks to be presented at conferences, grant
proposals for funding and job hiring and promotion. Thus, an important part
of our mission to promote the open sharing of research is building a
community that recognizes and values that sharing.
[edit<http://openwetware.org/index.php?title=OpenWetWare:Mission&action=edit&section=3>
] 3. Integrate OpenWetWare into existing and future reward structures in
research

Ultimately, for the open sharing and digitization of research to be standard
practice in scientific research, it will need to be integrated into existing
reward structures in science. Researchers need to "receive credit" when they
make their protocols, datasets, model files etc. freely available to others.
We consider this to be a critical but long-term goal of OpenWetWare.

-- 
John Cumbers, Graduate Student
Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry
Biology and Medicine, Brown University, Box G-W
Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, USA
Tel USA: +1 401 523 8190, Fax: +1 401 863-2166, UK to USA: 0207 617 7824

Delivery address: Brown University (EEB) Biomed Stock Room
34 OLIVE ST, Providence, RI 02912
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