About the speakers

Below you will find short introductions to the speakers, who will share their experiences and know-how during the workshop on 27 - 28 October 2008 in Elsinore, Denmark.

Vigdis Moe Skarstein

Ilkka Niiniluoto

Ingegerd Rabow

Vigids Moe Skarstein. Vigdis Moe Skarstein was educated as a librarian and has an M.A. degree in Literary Science. Her working career embraces different leading positions in the Trondheim Public Library, the Municipality of Trondheim and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Now she is National Librarian of Norway. She is also the leader of Arts Council Norway.

Abstract: Opening Speech

Ilkka Niiniluoto. Ilkka Niiniluoto was born in Helsinki in 1946. His doctoral dissertation in 1973 analysed the role of theoretical concepts in inductive inference. In 1973-77 Niiniluoto was Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Helsinki, and since 1977 Professor of Theoretical Philosophy. Since 1975 he has been the President of the Philosophical Society of Finland, and since 1980 the editor of Acta Philosophica Fennica. Niiniluoto is the chairman of the Finnish Council of Scientific Societies. In 2003-2008 he worked as the Rector of the University of Helsinki, and since the summer of 2008 as the Chancellor of the University. Niiniluoto’s main field of research is philosophy of science, but he has also written on philosophical logic, epistemology, philosophy of technology, and philosophy of culture. His main works are Is Science Progressive? (1984), Truthlikeness (1987), and Critical Scientific Realism (1999, paperback 2002).

Abstract: Research visibility: Why and how?

Ingegerd Rabow. MA, Ph.D h.c. at Lund University. She has been working with projects both in scientific communication and in bibliometrics for many years and has published several articles, reports, and book chapters on these subjects. When the Head Office of Lund University Libraries was established in 2001 she was appointed Director of E-resources. Her engagement in providing better access to scientific publications contributed to the creation in 2003 of a Swedish resource centre for scientific communication called ScieCom, for which she was the project manager until 2006 when the project period ended. She is also publisher/editor of the newsletter ScieCom info.

She is currently involved in other projects, e.g. as project manager of Intellectual Property Rights and New Publishing Models and is also working as a consultant on Open Access for the Swedish Research Council.

Dr Dale Peters. Scientific Technical Manager of the DRIVER project, (Digital Repository Infrastructure Vision for European Research) , and is based at the State and University Library of Göttingen. She is directly responsible for the collaboration between DRIVER partners, and with DRIVER- related projects. She is currently engaged in the development of a DRIVER Confederation to extend this vision to a world-wide network of scientific content repositories, offering a robust infrastructure supporting scholarly communications of the future.
Previously Dale Peters provided leadership to DISA: Digital Innovation South Africa, in the collaborative development of digital library services across multiple remote institutions through a central digital library infrastructure. With a personal research interest in digital curation in developing countries, she has acted as a consultant for UNESCO, the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), and the World Digital Library;participating in international initiatives aimed at the development of digital repositories in support of global paradigms of electronic scholarship.

Abstract: Institutional repositories and CRIS systems – the role of DRIVER’s infrastructure, concepts and organisation

Keith Jeffery. Keith Jefferey is currently Director IT and International Strategy, STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council) at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in UK. Previously he was Director IT with operational responsibility for 360,000 users, 1100 servers and 140 staff. He holds 3 honorary visiting professorships, is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London and the British Computer Society, is a Chartered Engineer, a Chartered IT Professional and an Honorary Fellow of the Irish Computer Society. He is currently elected President of ERCIM and euroCRIS, is invited as an international expert for various funding organisations and is an international reviewer for research proposals, research projects, journals and conferences.

Abstract: Institutional repositories and CRIS systems – infrastructure, concepts and organisation

Bård Smedsrød. Professor of Cell Biology and Histology, Head of Institute of Medical Biology, The Medical Faculty at the University of Tromsø. University education in Oslo, Tromsø and Uppsala, Defended PhD thesis in Uppsala, Sweden, 1984 (Cell biology).
Current research group consists of 5 postdocs and 3 PhD. More than 130 scientific publications (in referee based international journals and book chapters). Scientific profile: innate immunity, endocytosis, homeostasis, hepatology. Defender and proponent of the idea that the university as an academic institution should support and protect basic research.
Interested in the issue of how to evaluate quality in research (for instance: is "impact factor" a meaningful parameter?).

Abstract: Why should (or should't) researchers support OA publication?

Neil Jacobs. Programme manager for the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) in the UK. He is overseeing a large programme of research and innovation focused on digital repositories. This programme includes significant developments in technical and organisational aspects of repositories, covering research papers, research data and learning materials. Neil has edited a number of essay collections, most recently "Open Access: Key Strategic, Technical and Economic Aspects".

Gunnar Sivertsen. Gunnar Sivertsen is a Researcher and Special Adviser at the Norwegian Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU STEP) in Oslo. He is specialised in studies of scholarly publishing and in the development and use of bibliometric indicators for statistics, evaluation, funding, and science policy. Sivertsen has a PhD in Scandinavian literature from the University of Oslo.

Abstract: Quality, Transparency and Access in the Scholarly Publishing System

Turid Hedlund. Assistant professor, Ph.D. at the Swedish School of Economics and B.A. in Helsinki. She has participated in research projects on open access and scientific communication and published on the subject. Member of the FinnOA working group and leader of the project DHanken an open access institutional archive for the Swedish School of Economics and B.A.

Erik Sandewall. Professor of computer science at Linköping University, Sweden, since 1975. His research activities are in two areas: first, artificial intelligence methods for cognitive robotics and their use in systems for human-computer and human-robot interaction and, secondly, new methods for communication of scientific results, including electronic publication.
Erik Sandewall is Co-Editor-in-Chief (together with Ray Perrault) of the Artificial Intelligence Journal, General Editor of the Electronic Transactions on Artificial Intelligence, and Director of Linkööping University Electronic Press.

Bertil Dorch. Section leader, Ph.D. at The Royal Library/University of Copenhagen. Section leader of Faculty Library of Natural and Health Sciences and leader of "Videncenter for Videnskabelig Kommunikation" at the University of Copenhagen Library and Information Service (KUBIS). Assistant lector at University of Copenhagen. He is a former member of DEFF's (Denmark's Electronic Research Library) programme group for Information Supply and the European collaboration, Knowledge Exchange.

Abstract: An e-print archive for Nordic arts and humanities (hprints)

Joel Peltonen. Project coordinator of the Nordbib-funded project Development of Information Environment Architecture for Nordic Countries. Joel has M.A. in general history with mathematics and law as secondary subjects, and has been working in the National Library since 2007.

Abstract: Development of information environment architecture for Nordic countries

Inga-Lill Blomkvist. Inga-Lill Blomkvist is a librarian and webmaster at NIAS Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. She is educated in Sweden but came to work for NIAS as a librarian in 1996. Her area of expertise includes besides librarianship: Chinese, web design, information architecture, licenses and Open Access. She has been instrumental in designing www.asiaportal.info and is now working on the set-up of Barha: a community of Nordic Asian researchers and students and an important part of the Nordic Asian Studies Open Access Project.

Abstract: Open Access: Networks and knowledge dissemination in Nordic Asian Study Institutions. NIAS Nordic Institute of Asian Studies

Bo Alrø. Partner and Product Director at Atira A/S, a European software development company specialised in domain-specific solutions for knowledge producing sectors.

Abstract: Addressing multiple and diverse requirements with a single CRIS system

Martin Jägerhorn. Partner and co-founder of AVEDAS AG, a European software and consultancy company specialising in the management of research information, in particular by implementing its research information system CONVERIS. Previously, Martin has gained experience as management consultant on Information Systems in Sweden, Russia, France and Germany.

Abstract: Tracking your research footprints with CONVERIS

Kristoffer Holmqvist. Employed at Lund University Libraries Head Office since 2005, Kristoffer Holmqvist has mainly worked with the university’s publishing services and spent the last year implementing new repository software together with his colleagues.
Involved in various national and international scientific communication projects such as SPIDER ICT Bolivia Project and DART Europe.

Abstract: LUP - Lund University Publications

Celina Ramjoué. Policy officer working on questions relating to access to scientific information within the European Commission's DG Research. She previously worked in the area of research ethics and on implementing the ethics review of EU-funded research projects. Prior to joining the European Commission in 2005, Celina was a researcher in the field of comparative public policy at the University of Zurich. Celina holds a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in foreign affairs and political science (Universities of Virginia, Munich and Zurich) and has spent time as a visiting researcher at Harvard University and the European University Institute.

Abstract: General for Research Access to scientific information in the digital age: European Commission initiatives

Nordbib Secretariat c/o Danish Library Agency H.C. Andersens Boulevard 2 DK-1553 Copenhagen V Denmark +45 3373 3373 nordbib@bs.dk