Open Access Week at SFU

Open Access Week

Simon Fraser University Library: Celebrate Open Access Week 2023

Introduction to the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI)

Wednesday, 26 October 2022, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (Pacific) (in person)

The Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) is the de facto standard for digitizing and enriching textual materials. An XML encoding language, the TEI offers a robust, multi-lingual vocabulary for describing, analyzing, preserving, and publishing “texts” across various genres: poems, drama, manuscripts, tombstones, posters, audio recordings, music videos, et cetera.

This in-person workshop will serve as an introduction to the TEI as an encoding language, outlining how individuals can use the TEI in their own research projects. No prior experience with markup language, text encoding, or the digital humanities is needed.

By the end of this workshop, participants will understand why it is that so many digital humanities resources—including Early English Books Online (EEBO), Eighteenth Century Collections Online, and the Women Writers Project—use TEI to enrich their digital archives and what the scholarly and technical affordances are of using the TEI. This workshop will also provide participants tangible tools for taking up the TEI for their own purposes and outline how participants leverage the mechanisms of the TEI within their own work.

Grad Conversations on the Open Access Topic

Thursday, 27 October 2022, 12:00 pm to 12:50 pm (Pacific) (in person and virtual)

Join us for a casual discussion focused on the topic of open access and SFU's open access policy, and about the ways that the library can support SFU researchers, students, faculty, and staff in making their work open access through our institutional repository, Summit, and the Central Open Access Fund.

Unlock the Potential of Volunteered Geographic Information

Friday, 28 October 2022, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (Pacific) (virtual)

The creation of spatial data is no longer confined to government entities, commercial corporations and GIS professionals.  Volunteered Geographic Information has been on the rise, with OpenStreetMap (OSM) being a prominent example as a map of the world created by volunteers. Unlike Google Maps, OSM data is free to download and use in a GIS capable format. Also, OSM uses a community-based tagging system to describe and organize its mapped features, which in many cases provide great value to communities, but are not monetarily lucrative (e.g. gender-neutral washrooms, biking racks, wheelchair accessible places, etc). This Wheelmap (the data is pulled from OSM) is an example. Despite the extensive coverage and unique value of OSM data, it has been underused by academia. This workshop will introduce you to how to find, explore, and download OSM data.