RePEc Workshop 2017

Goals

This get-together of the main volunteers involved in RePEc intends to assess where the projects stands after 20 years, identify pain points, address them as well as think about the future of the project.

Process

Meet for two days, coming prepared with ideas and proposals. Leave with clear ideas on how to proceed.

Logistics

Location

The meeting will be October 12-13, 2017 at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (map). The Tennessee room on 6th floor is reserved from 8 to 5.

All visitors must enter the Bank through the main entrance, located on the pedestrian plaza at Broadway and Locust Street. You must have a valid driver's license or other government-issued picture ID to enter the building. Everyone who enters the building will be required to walk through metal detectors. All bags, keys, cell phones and other hand-held items will be sent through X-ray equipment. You may wish to arrive 20 minutes before the conference start time to give yourself time to go through the Bank's screening process.

Getting to St Louis

While St. Louis airport does not have flights to Europe, it is well connected by all major airlines. Note that it is a hub for Southwest Airlines (which does not participate in all airline ticket aggregator sites). You get to downtown by taxi (~$50) or Metrolink light rail ($4, Convention Station stop).

Lodging

The Bank will reserve and pay for three nights at the Downtown Hampton Inn, located close to the Bank. For those who need to stay longer, contact Christian.

Contact

Emilee Dufford is your contact for all logistical issues, including hotel reservations, visa letters and reimbursements. You can also text (but not call) Christian Zimmermann at +1 314 585-4825.

Participants

Confirmed

  1. José Manuel Barrueco Cruz (Universidad de Valencia)
  2. Kit Baum (Boston College)
  3. Pamela Campbell (St. Louis Fed, first day)
  4. Douglas Hanley (University of Pittsburgh)
  5. Jan Höffler (University of Göttingen, first 1.5 days)
  6. Areerat Kichkha (Lindenwood University, first 1.5 days)
  7. Thomas Krichel (RANEPA)
  8. Christian Mongeau Ospina
  9. Mahdi Moqri (University of Florida, last day)
  10. Robert Parks (Washington University)
  11. Genevieve Podleski (St. Louis Fed)
  12. Soledad Zignago (Banque de France)
  13. Christian Zimmermann (St. Louis Fed)

Skype (chris.zimm)

  1. Bernardo Batiz-Lazo (Bangor University)
  2. Sune Karlsson (?, Örebro University)
  3. Sergey Parinov (Russian Academy of Sciences)
  4. Volker Schallehn (Universität München)
  5. Jan Weiland (ZBW)

Sorry

  1. Ludovic Gauvin
  2. Bille Goffe
  3. Marco Novarese
  4. Joachim Winter

Agenda

Format: first morning rapid presentations, thereafter open discussions with designated leaders. Daily schedule (US Central time):

Day 0, evening

Meet-up at Tigin, starting at 18:00.

Day 1, morning: Where are we now?

Timed precisely, as outsiders will report through Skype and need to dial in. Note: Use projection only if absolutely necessary (Time is always lost with that). Participants can go to sites on their own.
  1. 9:00-9:15 Lightning round introductions (one minute per person, max).
  2. 9:15-12:30 Project status updates. BRIEF updates, including what work goes into the projects. There are potential volunteers in the audience eager to learn about opportunities. Points to hit: what the project is about, current status, what is ahead, pain points, help needed.

Day 1, afternoon: Where do we want to be in 5 years?

  1. Closing some projects?
  2. Opening new projects?
    1. Christian Zimmermann: Gateways from other formats/publishing platforms to ReDIF
    2. Thomas Krichel: ArchEc
    3. Thomas Krichel: ReDIF-Perl rewrite
    4. Thomas Krichel: reassessment of RePEc usage conditions
    5. Thomas Krichel: renewal of ReDIF and Guildford protocol
    6. Thomas Krichel: central series registration
  3. Expanding in new directions?
    1. Jose Barrueco: CitEc use of CrossRef, OpenCites
    2. Christian Zimmermann: Peer review

Day 1, evening

Reception at Christian Zimmermann's home located a 40-minute walk or 10-minute bike ride from the Bank. There will be cars available.

Day 2, morning: How to handle lack of resources

  1. Christian: Fail-over for IT resources

    Does every project have a plan if IT resources are failing? We will be asking each project manager to explain how this is handled (or not). We will identify gaps and try to address them.

  2. Kit Baum: Fail-over for volunteers: substitutes, succession. Does every project have more than one person who can take care of things in emergency? Can this person eventually take over permanently?
  3. Christian Zimmermann: Recruitment of new volunteers
  4. Thomas Krichel: Mailing list policy.

Day 2, afternoon: Open questions (including from Day 1)

  1. Christian Mongeau: Social media: can we do more? Should we?
  2. Christian Zimmermann: Drop in measured use of RePEc services
  3. Soledad Zignago: Under-represented groups: Heterodox? Women? Developing countries? Non-academics?
  4. Christian Zimmermann: How to handle abandoned archives
  5. Remaining items from previous sessions and things that came up in conversations.

Day 2, evening

Restaurant downtown St. Louis, then heading to City Museum.