EURASLIC XX: Sustainability and infodiversity: (aquatic) libraries strengthening biodiversity knowledge

Four years have passed since the last in-person meeting of the EURASLIC members. Celebrating 35 years of EURASLIC along with the 20th EURASLIC Biennial Conference was a good enough reason to meet again.

EURASLIC XX conference was held in Brussels, Belgium, from May 3 – 5, 2023, under the title Sustainability and infodiversity: (aquatic) libraries strengthening biodiversity knowledge. The conference host was the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). 

The first day of the conference started with a welcome speech and ice-breaker. After a short introduction the participants were ready for a picnic or for the conference. Short overview of EURASLIC history was followed by an invited lecturer on The evolving role of marine information in the IODE program. The conference covered diverse topics. 

One session of the conference was dedicated to Current Research Information Systems (CRIS). Flanders Research Information Space (FRIS) is a regional CRIS that aggregates metadata from publicly funded research in Flanders. Benefits of using FRIS are easier dissemination of research information, less administrative tasks for researchers, simplified reporting. Research institutes and FRIS are interconnected via different CRIS systems. Among others FRIS is interconnected with PURE, product of Elsevier. PURE is in use by INBO as a CRIS system that makes possible automation of processes and implementation of web services. Unlike FRIS, the Research Information System of the Republic of Croatia (CroRIS) is a centralized national information system that unifies all data on scientific activities of the Croatian scientific and research community. The system is being built as part of the strategic project Scientific and Technological Foresight. Although the project ended, the system is still in active development. CroRIS enables public availability of all the data, its visibility and transparency, promoting and supporting in that way open science. FRIS, besides monitoring research activity is a tool to monitor the progress of Open Science in Flanders. Thus, the presentation of CRIS was a good introduction to open science, another important topic of the conference. Participants were updated on ASFA projects: Improved Regional Fisheries Governance in Western Africa and FAO-SEAFDEC. OpenASFA workshop provided an opportunity for the participants to learn how to create new records and the best ones won the price. OpenASFA is relatively new platform launched in 2021 that enables exchange of aquatic data and increases visibility of records, especially the visibility of grey literature. The workshop was followed by a presentation on AquaDocs - aquatic open access repository. Apart from an overview of the current development of AquaDocs, the similarities and differences with OpenASFA were discussed. INBO's Open Science Lab for Biodiversity team (OSCIBIO) team presented activities, challenges and lessons learned in their way towards making INBO an open science institute. How data stewards can help to set the scene for open science was presented through activities of The Flemish Open Science Board (FOSB). Open Science was also topic of the poster by Flanders Hydraulics (FH). The poster presents process of optimisation of the research data in order to make them visible and searchable through an expert platform. The metadata of Flanders Hydraulics records are also aggregated by Flanders Research Information Space (FRIS).

While the poster of Flanders Hydraulics focused on open science and data management, the other poster brought light on the history of fake news and the role of the libraries.

Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) gave an overview on the development of new updated version of VLIZ information system and new initiative MarineInfo.org, linked open data catalogue that serves as a centralized hub for researchers, organizations, and individuals to submit, access, and explore a large amount of marine data.

The publishing was mentioned in the perspective of gray publishing and predatory publishers among us. Library of the Fish Resources Research Department of the Institute for Food Safety, Animal Health and the Environment (BIOR) was represented by an institutional report. 

After a successful day conference dinner was ideal for an informal gathering. During the conference Board and Business meetings were held, election results announced, new Board appointed. Scientific part was fulfilled thanks to the field trip to the Research Center for Aquatic Fauna in Linkebeek where we learned about research on the monitoring of aquatic fauna and efforts made to protect endangered aquatic species by breeding programs and species restoration.

The conference incorporated a wellness aspect into the program and offered delegates the opportunity to take a wellness walk at lunch or some seated yoga, or mindfulness practice in a quiet space which was accomplished mostly by walking from hotel to INBO, or to the city centre and a little yoga on the train.

The conference host (INBO e.g. Bart and his team) apart from putting enormous efforts in a perfect organisation had ordered a nice weather for the conference. So, the participants could fully enjoy their stay at Brussels, Tour&Taxis site, visit to The Royal Depot multifunctional and multi-tenant building, and not to forget INBO Herman Teirlinck building, a modern new building. More information about the presentations at the conference can be found in the  proceedings.