Cameron Neylon School of Chemistry, University of Southampton & Science and Technology Facilities Council, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire A Beginner’s Guide to Open Science (Not for beginners but by beginners)

The problem Too much data being collected Too spread out over too many computers and people Often not accessible or not properly indexed Data gets lost as computers are retired and people leave

Objectives for an e-notebook 1.Storing, recording, and preserving data 2.Tracking samples and sample movements 3.Monitoring researcher progress and problems 4.Machine readable data structure to track relationships between samples/data

Implementation of e-lab book Blog based format Purpose built engine Fully flexible system with arbitrary metadata Full record of changes (not currently easily accessible) “Bio Blogs”/ Discussion

Implementation of e-lab book Blog based format One poster per item Templates enable automated posting and metadata capture Aim to develop a web service interface “Bio Blogs”/ Discussion

Objectives for an e-notebook 1.Storing, recording, and preserving data  2.Tracking samples and sample movements  3.Monitoring researcher progress and problems  4.Machine readable data structure to track relationships between samples/data 

What is this to do with ‘Open’?

What do we mean by ‘Open’? 'No insider information‘ – Jean-Claude Bradley

Possible issues with ONS ‘Being scooped’ –The biggest fear and probably not actually a serious problem Being embarrassed –This is what actually scares people Requires effort, discipline, and a bit of persistence Legal issues…safety and ethics…politics?

Other approaches to ONS

Impressions of ONS approaches The initial motivation for doing ONS/using an e- notebook has a strong effect on form For most laboratory research strict data structures will always break Different viewers have different needs The simple notebook/journal has advantages of paper notebooks but also disadvantages Flexible metadata is crucial Templates provide a very effective way of capturing metadata and increasing useability

Linking web services together Workflow by Duncan Hull

Linking web services together

Where next? Small group of people doing ONS and a variety of other similar projects ongoing Small benefits being seen but community size and connectivity needs to grow Many of the tools we use do not yet provide the clear advantages to persuade people to move from paper Communication beyond traditional publishing needs aggregators and indexes ‘Open Science’ requires a series of cultural shifts in how scientists work, communicate, and are evaluated.

Acknowledgements Lab Blog development and implementation Andrew Milsted, Professor Jeremy Frey Lab work and blog use Jennifer Hale, Wendy Smith, Joseph She Funding BBSRC grant BBD00652X1, UK E-science programme through platform grant to JGF

Links Our lab blogs (pick one of the “Bio Blogs”) Timeline view of one of the Lab Blogs blogs.php?id=13 Discussion of related issues with the Lab Blog including technical and ‘social’ issues