Call for Proposals: Open Repositories Annual Conference, 2013 and 2014 The Open Repositories Steering Committee seeks proposals from candidate host organisations for the 2013 and 2014 Open Repositories Annual Conference. Preference will be given to North American hosts for OR2013, and to European hosts for OR2014. Proposals from all geographic areas will, however, are given consideration. Important Dates The Committee is accepting proposals to host OR2013 through October 28, 2011. Please submit initial expressions of interest by October 7, 2011. Proposals for the OR2014 conference will be accepted until March 1, 2012. Initial expressions of interest are encouraged and should be received by December 31, 2011. Candidate institutions must have the ability to host a four-day conference of approximately 350-500 attendees (OR2011 drew approximately 315 attendees). This includes appropriate access to conference facilities, lodging, and transportation, as well as the ability to manage a range of supporting services (food services and conference social events; conference web site; management of registration and online payments; etc.). The candidate institutions and their local arrangements committee must have the means to support the costs of producing the conference through attendee registration and independent fundraising. The OR Steering Committee can provide further information on costs and fund-raising associated with recent conferences, or a sample proposal, to sites that have a potential interest in hosting the conference. Proposal Guidelines Organisations interested in proposing to organise a future OR conference should follow the steps listed below: 1. The target dates for initial enquiries and proposals specified above should be observed. Please direct enquiries and proposals to OR Steering Committee Chair John Howard, [log in to unmask] Preliminary enquiries to review requirements of proposals are welcomed. Decisions on proposals can be expected within approximately 6-8 weeks of the submission deadline. 2. Proposals should include: identification of venue and facilities; proposed management framework (local arrangements committee), a preliminary budget and discussion of financial arrangements; a brief summary of the proposed conference structure. It will be useful to identify the host institution's engagement with the technologies and substantive themes relevant to open repositories. Suggestions for potential conference themes, presentation formats, and so forth are welcomed. However, the focus of proposals should be on the suitability of the site and ability of the host institution to manage a conference that typically includes diverse presentation formats, workshops and collaborative activities. Proposals should include specific dates for the event, and note the scheduling of any other potentially conflicting meetings within several months before or after the proposed meeting date. Further, written commitments of financial support from sponsoring institutions, if any, should be submitted in the proposal. 3. The OR Steering Committee will review proposals and may seek advice from additional reviewers. If the evaluation is positive, the Steering Committee will tentatively accept the proposal and the proposer will be asked to prepare and submit a detailed budget to the Steering Committee. About Open Repositories Since 2006 Open Repositories has hosted an annual conference that brings together users of open digital repository platforms. For further information about Open Repositories and links to past conference sites, please visit the OR home page: http://sites.tdl.org/openrepositories/. Subscribe to announcements about Open Repositories conferences by joining the OR Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/open-repositories. =================================================== Dr John B Howard, University Librarian and Adjunct Professor, UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics UCD James Joyce Library University College Dublin Belfield Dublin 4 Ireland An Dr John B Howard, Leabharlannaí Ollscoile, agus Ollamh Adjunct, Scoil na Ríomheolaíochta agus na Faisnéisíochta UCD Leabharlann James Joyce UCD, An Coláiste Ollscoile, Baile Átha Cliath, Belfield, Baile Átha Cliath 4, Éire t: +353 1 716 7067 f:+353 1 283 7667 [log in to unmask] http://www.ucd.ie/research/people/library/drjohnhoward/