Cameron Neylon

1
A Beginners Guide to Open Science(Not for
beginners but by beginners)

• Cameron Neylon
• School of Chemistry, University of Southampton
• Science and Technology Facilities Council,
• Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire

2
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

3
Objectives for an e-notebook

• Storing, recording, and preserving data
• Tracking samples and sample movements
• Monitoring researcher progress and problems
• Machine readable data structure to track
  relationships between samples/data

4
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)

http//chemtools.chem.soton.ac.uk/projects/blog/
Bio Blogs http//blogs.openwetware.org/sciencein
theopen Discussion
5
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

http//chemtools.chem.soton.ac.uk/projects/blog/
Bio Blogs http//blogs.openwetware.org/sciencein
theopen Discussion
6
Objectives for an e-notebook

• Storing, recording, and preserving data
  ?
• Tracking samples and sample movements ?
• Monitoring researcher progress and problems ?
• Machine readable data structure to track
  relationships between samples/data
  ?

7
What is this to do with Open?
8
What do we mean by Open?

• 'No insider information Jean-Claude Bradley

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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 issuessafety and ethicspolitics?

10
Other approaches to ONS
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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

12
Linking web services together
Workflow by Duncan Hull
13
Linking web services together
14
Linking web services together
15
Linking web services together
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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.

17
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

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Links

• Our lab blogs (pick one of the Bio Blogs)
• http//chemtools.chem.soton.ac.uk/projects/blog/
• Timeline view of one of the Lab Blogs
• http//chemtools.chem.soton.ac.uk/projects/timeli
  ne/ blogs.php?id13
• Discussion of related issues with the Lab Blog
  including technical and social issues
• http//blog.openwetware.org/scienceintheopen