{"id":260,"date":"2020-10-15T13:50:46","date_gmt":"2020-10-15T12:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/researchmatters\/?p=260"},"modified":"2020-10-18T09:09:36","modified_gmt":"2020-10-18T08:09:36","slug":"open-access-week-2020-a-day-in-the-life-open-research-development-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/researchmatters\/2020\/10\/15\/open-access-week-2020-a-day-in-the-life-open-research-development-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Access Week 2020: A day in the life: Open Research Development Manager"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Photo
Dr Steven Vidovic, Open Research Development Manager<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the few benefits of the circumstances we find ourselves in during 2020 is that I do not need to awkwardly explain what my job is and why it is important at family gatherings. I am going to assume that if you have found this blog post you know what open access (OA) publishing<\/a> is and have some idea about what the broader ideas around open research might be. My job<\/a> is essentially to support the open research environment and to maintain or develop associated infrastructure, services and policies at the local level. I also try to inform the national and international progress towards better dissemination of research, improved publishing processes and ultimately open research. All this effort hopefully contributes to sustaining the University of Southampton\u2019s already impressive profile <\/a>in the open research community, while delivering benefits to our community. As a result, no one day looks the same \u00ad\u2013 it can be challenging, but it is equally rewarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I start my day by brewing coffee in a cafetiere the size of\nmy head. This is key. A quick check of my calendar is next and then onto\nemails. Working alongside publishers and influencers from around the world\nmeans I can have emails queued up from the end of the day in the West and the\nstart of the day to the East, not to mention our own early-bird and night-owl\nacademics. Depending on the nature and content of the emails, I either have to\naddress them immediately or I can progress with my planned day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Before moving onto my list of combined most important and most urgent projects (I use the Eisenhower method) for the day I will check-in with my team. Before the 2020 lockdown, I would walk along the corridor and have a chat with a few team members, but now we have Microsoft Teams meetings using the chat or video calls. These catch-ups are important for many reasons (e.g. wellbeing, line management), but they\u2019re also important because we are constantly negotiating new deals with publishers, funders change their OA policies, and funds are always getting lower, meaning we need to change what we do to continue achieving our most important strategic goals. As a result of these meetings, there could be communications work to do, training to develop, or we have to change what we prioritise in the institutional repository or what we will pay for out of our funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of my team\u2019s business as usual, we:<\/p>\n\n\n\n