UCT Libraries Digital Library Services (DLS) collaborated with staff from University of Pretoria (UP) and North West University (NWU) to host a satellite conference in conjunction with OpenCon 2016. The Cape Town event took place in the new Hlanganani Junction, which resourcefully facilitated on-site, as well as online presentations and enabled participants to connect remotely from all over South Africa.

OpenCon South Africa consisted of presentations from UCT-affiliated researchers, Michelle Willmers (ROER4D) and Kirtanya Lutchminarayan (Biological Sciences Department), who spoke about their experiences with managing and sharing data openly, and Thomas King (ROER4D) described his work with cleaning research data through the process of data de-identification. Sessions presented from UP and NWU thereafter covered topics such as “Cleaning Libraries Data”, an OpenRefine mini workshop, and a “Software, Data and Library Carpentry” information session. The event concluded with a presentation and discussion, led by Anelda Van Der Walt, around Building RDM Resources for South African Higher Education Institutions” – a discussion that will continue as a part of a workshop being hosted at the DHASA conference in January 2017.

The event was well attended, with over 60 participants connecting from various parts of the country and we have received some great feedback from a number of attendees.

For more details, please visit the event website: http://www.opencon2016.org/opencon_2016_cape_town

By Kayleigh Roos and Erika Mias

Photograph by Niklas Zimmer

Adele Van Der Merwe presenting on cleaning Libraries' data. Photograph by Niklas Zimmer

Tea break discussions in the Hlanganani Junction. Photograph by Niklas Zimmer

Kirtanya Lutchminarayan, Master's candidate in the Biological Science Department, speaking about her experiences with open research data. Photograph by Erika Mias

Michelle Willmers, Curation and Dissemination Manager at ROER4D, speaking about open data sharing. Photograph by Erika Mias

Thomas King, Research Administrator at ROER4D, speaking about his experiences with the de-identification and anonymisation of research data that is to be shared openly. Photograph by Erika Mias