Open Science & Libraries 2023: 25 Tips for Conferences, Festivals & Co.

Which conferences and events could be worth an (online) visit in 2023? We have put together a selection of events related to Open Science and libraries. Here are our 25 favourites:

In fact, for the first time since the onset of the Corona pandemic, the event horizon for 2023 looks like 50% of events will take place on-site. The other half is split roughly equally between hybrid and online events.

Below you will find a selection of conferences, workshops, barcamps, festivals and other events that you should not miss in 2023. You can find more interesting events in the extensive ZBW MediaTalk events calendar.

#01 – Roundtable | 19.01. | Online
Organised by: Special Interest Group “User Experience in Libraries” at the German professional association for employees in libraries “Berufsverband Information Bibliothek“ (BIB)
UX Roundtable: Annual Planning UX
“The aim of the UX Roundtable is to exchange ideas on user experience and usability in libraries and at universities across institutional boundaries in the German-speaking world and thereby make libraries and information facilities more human-centred.”

#02 – Conference | 01.02. – 03.02. | Bonn (Germany)
Organised by: Transforming Research through Innovative Practices for Linked Interdisciplinary Exploration (TRIPLE)
TRIPLE Conference 2023 – Improving Discovery and Collaboration in Open Science
“Since 2019 the TRIPLE project has been developing the multilingual discovery platform GoTriple, aiming to facilitate interdisciplinary research and foster collaboration. The platform provides a central access point for users to explore, find, access and reuse Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) materials at European scale (data and publications, researcher’s profiles, projects).
The final TRIPLE conference focuses on the potential, challenges and possibilities that arise out of these endeavors for Open Science in SSH and beyond. It will focus on the following topics: Innovation and innovative services in SSH; Multilingualism in SSH; (Crowd)Funding in Open Science; Sustainability, Research Infrastructures and Open Science; Collaboration; Metadata and Data Quality; any other topics related and of importance to Collaboration and Discovery in Open Science.”

#03 – Conference | 13.02. – 17.02. | On Site, virtuell or hybrid
Organised by: Research Data Alliance Deutschland (RDA), Helmholtz Open Science Office
RDA Germany Conference 2023
“The RDA community in Germany wants to contribute to increasing the exchange of data and making the reuse of data more efficient. The location (on site, virtual or hybrid) will be decided at a later date.”

#04 – Conference | 13.02. – 17.02. | Online
Organised by: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
International Love Data Week: Data: Agent of Change
“The theme this year is Data: Agent of Change. Love Data Week is about inspiring your community to use data to bring about changes that matter. Policy change, environmental change, social change… we can move mountains with the right data guiding our decisions. This year, we are focused on helping new and seasoned data users find data training and other resources that can help move the needle on the issues they care about.”

#05 – Conference | 01.03. – 03.03. | Heidelberg (Germany)
Organised by: Project bw2FDM, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, University of Konstanz, Heidelberg University.
E-Science-Days 2023: Empower Your Research – Preserve Your Data
“The E-Science Days are an interdisciplinary conference series centered around the topics of research data management and Open Science – with diverse offerings for professional exchange between science and technology. Save the date in your calendar now – more info coming soon!”

#06 – Unconference | 09.03. – 10.03. | Online
Organised by: Center for Open Science with support from the National Science Foundation award
Unconference 2023: Open Scholarship Practices in Education Research
“Collaborate, Learn, and Share as We Advance Open Science Practices in Education Research: The 2023 Unconference will be a virtual participation event featuring participant-led sessions analysing the current state of Open Scholarship practice seeking solutions to identified problems. Participants will assess barriers to adoption of Open Scholarship practices unique to the education community and brainstorm strategies for promoting greater awareness. Sessions will provide a broader and more educational focus for attendees who are seeking to expand their knowledge about Open Science.”

#07 – Conference | 21.03. – 22.03. | Online
Organised by: ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics
Open Science Retreat: Reform on Research Assessment in the context of Open Science
“Only together can we successfully change the way we work scientifically. Only together can we advance Open Science. WE does not mean scientists only. WE incorporates scientists, science communicators, data stewards, librarians, publishers, editors, and other stakeholders involved in Open Science developments. With the Open Science Retreat, the ZBW wants to bring together international Open Science supporters from different stakeholder groups. For two afternoons in a row, the aim is to dive deep into the topics that are of burning interest to all of us.”

#08 – Conference | 21.03. – 23.03. | Gothenburg (Sweden) & Online
Organised by: Research Data Alliance (RDA)
RDA 20th Plenary, Gothenburg – Research Data Alliance 10th Anniversary Plenary meeting
“The Research Data Alliance will celebrate its 10th Anniversary Plenary Meeting in March 2023 in Sweden, going back to where RDA was launched in March 2013. Following on from the success of the 19th Plenary meeting held in a hybrid format for the first time, P20 will take place in Sweden’s second-largest city – Gothenburg. The three-day hybrid conference will once again bring together researchers, data scientists, policymakers, and data stewards from disciplines from all over the world to share new ideas and explore best practices in using data.”

#09 – Conference | 27.03. – 28.03. | Online
Organised by: Consortium for the Social, Behavioural, Educational and Economic Sciences (KonsortSWD)
Conference on Social and Economic Data (KSWD)
“Social and societal developments can only be understood and explained with the help of good and up-to-date data. But this must be done in strict compliance with data protection. The KSWD is the German forum for an interdisciplinary exchange on the topic of research data. The KSWD is open to all those interested in research data from science, politics and data production, as well as representatives of research funding agencies and research infrastructures. The guidelines for the work of the German Data Forum (RatSWD) are discussed here. The dialogue serves to build and further develop the research infrastructure for the social, behavioural, educational and economic sciences. During the conference, the appointment proposals for the representatives of the social, behavioural, educational and economic sciences in the RatSWD are also elected.”

#10 – Conference | 03.04.| Kochel am See (Germany)
Organised by: Open Science Freelancers, Access 2 Perspectives
Open Science Retreat
“Whether you are just getting started with Open Science or are already an open hero. Whether you are a researcher or provide research services. If you are ready for a week of new ideas, productivity and rebooting: this retreat is for you! The Open Science Retreat is an event from Open Science enthusiast for Open Science enthusiasts. The main goals are: Learning – Getting stuff done – Networking – Reflecting – Rebooting.”

#11 – Conference | 24.04. – 25.04. | Hannover (Germany)
Organised by: German Council for Scientific Information Infrastructures (RfII), Volkswagen Foundation
Shaping Data Spaces in Germany and Europe – Impulses From Science
“What needs to be done to establish research data infrastructures in a sustainable, networked and quality-assured manner? The aim of the event is to initiate an interdisciplinary exchange that explores the need and the necessary prerequisites and competences for the use of data infrastructures and focuses on actively helping to shape the future scientific landscape.”

#12 – Festival | 26.04. – 28.04. | Online & various locations in Germany
Organised by: Hochschulforum Digitalisierung, Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre
University:Future Festival – Heads Up!
“The festival will deal with topics related to the future of higher education: technology, didactics, strategy development, competences, architectures and much more. It will take place in the physical as well as in the digital space. The principle is: Digital first! The event in all its diversity can only be experienced online. Physical stages at various locations in Germany will enable encounters and networking in person. The festival is bilingual in German and English.”

#13 – Festival | 14.05. – 16.05. | Aarhus (Denmark) & Online
Organised by: The Next Library (Aarhus Public Libraries)
Next Library 2023
“We invite library innovators from all over the world to join next year’s festival and we hope to see many of you. Next Library 2023 is currently in the process of becoming a hybrid festival so it will be possible for people all around the world to tune in on the conversation. We are still working on the format and the programme, so please stay tuned for more updates, questions and ideas for Next Library 2023.”

#14 – Conference | 23.05. – 26.05. | Hannover (Germany)
Organised by: Verein Deutscher Bibliothekarinnen und Bibliothekare e.V. (VDB), Berufsverband Information Bibliothek e.V. (BIB)
111th German Librarians’ Day: Forward to Far
“The motto of the largest and central continuing education event for German and European librarianship in 2023 is ‘forward to far’. Lectures, panel discussions and posters will focus on the following topics: Topic 1: Shaping everyday working life: Workflows, practical relevance, management, controlling, statistics, new work, new services, job profiles
Topic 2: Qualifications in education and occupation: study programmes, initial, continuing and further training, recruitment, job profiles, internationalisation of qualifications
Topic 3: Building and Learning, Architecture and Pedagogy: New Construction, Conversion, (Hybrid) Learning Places, Resources, Sustainability, Didactics, Educational Partnerships
Topic 4: Services and Community Building: Portfolio, Networking, Participation, Democracy Promotion, Internationalisation, Rural Areas, Bookmobiles
Topic 5: Data and Publications: Editions, Linked Open Data, Digital humanities, Bibliometrics, Open Access, Scientific Publishing, Search Spaces, Standardisation, Open Science
Topic 6: Digital and Analogue Infrastructures: NFDI, FID, Long-Term Archiving, Research Data Management.
The detailed lecture programme will be available here from February 2023.”

#15 – Workshop | 05.06. | Online
Organised by: ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics
INCONECSS Community Meeting
“A couple of times each year, we invite you to take a closer look at a current topic and to share your experiences with others. More details will follow, as we get closer to the date.”

#16 – Conference | 06.06. – 08.06. | Brighton (UK)
Organised by: UX in Libraries
UXLibs 2023: Connections & Collaborations
“The 2023 theme will be ‘Connections & Collaborations’. We will be encouraging attendees to think about how they connect and collaborate with others both inside and outside of libraries when engaged in User Experience work: How might we collaborate in order to make our services more useful, usable and desirable to our users? How might we work with specific user groups to establish and co-create more relevant and inclusive library services? How might we forge connections with external groups or individuals in order to improve both our processes and results?”

#17 – Festival | 03.07. – 05.07.
Veranstaltet von: ZB MED – Information Centre for Life Sciences
Open Science Festival 2023
“The Open Science Festival offers space for exchange and impulses on Open Science practices with international experts, practical workshops and a marketplace for networking activities. SAVE THE DATE.”

#18 – Conference | 05.07. – 07.07. | Budapest (Hungary)
Organised by: Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER)
LIBER 2023 Annual Conference: Open and Trusted – Reassessing Research Library Values
“The topics of the conference are: Supporting the pillars of Open Science, developing independent and inclusive collections, building sustainable infrastructures, managing data and information for a new kind of intelligence, addressing the post-pandemic challenges in education, engaging with libraries’ communities, enabling autonomy in scholarly publishing.

#19 – Conference | 21.08. – 25.08. | Rotterdam (The Netherlands)
Organised by: International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
88th World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) 2023: Let’s work together, let’s library
“The goals of the IFLA Global Vision will be the central theme during this Congress. With the motto Let’s work together, let’s library, we explore how libraries can contribute to an inclusive society, one in which everyone has the opportunity to participate. Key topics include personal development, the stimulation of reading, the development of language and digital skills, free access to culture, digital knowledge and innovation.”

#20 – Conference | 11.09. – 13.09. | Berlin (Germany)
Organised by: hbz – Wissen Information Innovation, ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics
SWIB23
“SWIB conference (Semantic Web in Libraries) is an annual conference, being held for the 15th time. SAVE THE DATE!”

#21 – Conference | 13.09. – 15.09. | Cologne (Germany)
Organised by: Technology Arts Sciences TH Köln, Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre
TURN Conference 23: Prototype Future – Sharing Solutions for Transformative Teaching
“At TURN Conference 2023, you will share teaching practice and learning materials with colleagues from your discipline and beyond. In fixed time slots and supported by writing consultants and other experts, you can further develop your concepts and studies for further dissemination and easy adaptation by colleagues. Our aim is to create products at the conference itself, i.e. prototypes of the teaching of the future in the form of didactic design patterns or Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) projects, as material for teachers (which can include learning material for students), which will be uploaded to the conference website and can be further used by others also thanks to open licensing as OER. In the aftermath of the conference, further distribution channels will be opened up. Those who launch promising new or further developments during the concept sprints are candidates for a sprint award at the end of the conference.”

#22 – Fair | 25.09. – 27.09. | Madrid (Spain)
Organised by: OpenAIRE, Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT)
4th Open Science Fair (OSFair2023)
“Open Science (also referred to as Open Scholarship) is at a crossroads. Implementation and adoption are progressing, with researchers, research institutions, funding agencies, service providers and infrastructures all engaging at various levels. However, different models are emerging which produce a seemingly fragmented ecosystem and achieve small steps on top of traditional scholarly communication system. In order to enable international and interdisciplinary research, we need to ensure interoperability across communities and services while still maintaining our ability to support diversity of workflows and knowledge systems. OSFair2023 aims to bring together and empower Open Science communities and services; to identify common practices related to Open Science; to see what are the best synergies to deliver and operate services that work for many; and to bring experiences from all around the world and learn from each other.”

#23 – Conference | 27.09. – 29.09. | Berlin (Germany)
Organised by: Open-Access-Büro Berlin, twelve Berlin universities and colleges
Open-Access-Days 2023: Open Access – Shaping Visions
“In 2003, the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities and Cultural Heritage was adopted. Where the ‘vision of a comprehensive and freely accessible representation of knowledge’ began in 2003, 20 years later the universities are working closely networked and in exchange with non-university research and cultural heritage institutions on the topic of Open Access. On the basis of this long-standing cooperation, Berlin’s universities will bring Open Access back onto the stages of the German capital in 2023.”

#24 – Conference | 23.10. – 26.10. | Salzburg (Austria) & Online
Organised by: International Science Council’s Committee on Data (CODATA), World Data System (WDS), Research Data Alliance (RDA)
International Data Week 2023: A Festival of Data
“International Data Week (IDW) brings together a global community of data scientists and data stewards; researchers from all domains; data, interoperability and informatics experts from all fields; industry leaders, entrepreneurs and policymakers. This event will be an inclusive and celebratory Festival of Data, with in-person and virtual components, highlighting the opportunities for the positive transformation of our world in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global challenges. IDW 2023 will combine the RDA Plenary Meeting, the biannual meeting of this international member organisation working to develop and support global infrastructure facilitating data sharing and reuse, and SciDataCon 2023, the scientific conference addressing the frontiers of data in research organised by CODATA and WDS.”

#25 – Conference | 06.12. – 07.12. | Online
Organised by: TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology and University Library, Berufsverband Information Bibliothek (BIB), Leibniz Association
#vBIB23
“The #vBIB is the virtual conference for digital library and information topics. SAVE THE DATE.”

Events 2023: How to stay up to date

These are our event tips for the Open Science and library world for 2023. Of course, there will be more exciting festivals, fairs, barcamps and other formats in the course of the year. We will collect these for you in our event calendar on ZBW MediaTalk!

To stay up to date on interesting events, you can drop by there or subscribe to our newsletter. There, we will inform you about new highlights on the Open Science and library event horizon approximately every fortnight: Sign up for the ZBW MediaTalk newsletter.

Are you missing an event?
Do you have an event tip that is not yet listed here or in our event calendar? Then we would be pleased if you let us know:

Submit event tip

This text has been partly translated from German.

Decision-making aids for event attendance: Highlights 2022

Despite the still ongoing pandemic-related obstacles, there were already many worthwhile conferences, workshops, festivals, barcamps & co. in 2022. We have reported on some of them in more detail here on ZBW MediaTalk. So if you are thinking about attending one of the events we recommended, our review will certainly help you in your decision-making:

Further reading tips for event organisers:
Do you organise events yourself and are looking for tips on how to make them even better? We have been dealing with this more frequently lately:

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