Relatori Napoli 2021
Paul Ayris
Pro-Vice-Provost, University College of London,
Chair of LIBER’s Citizen Science Working Group
Carpe Diem [Seize the Day]: roles for academic libraries in Citizen Science
The paper will look at the potential for Citizen Science to change the way universities and their libraries interact with Society. The paper will post a high-level mission for universities to take forward in the Citizen Science arena. It will then look at the work of the LIBER Working Group on Citizen Science, of which Dr Ayris is chair, and describe key areas of activity which that Working Group has identified. It will then look at the UCL Office for Open Science, which is run by UCL Library Services, and examine a number of case studies where the Library is actively contributing to the Citizen Science agenda. The paper will close by drawing conclusions on what libraries can actually contribute to this agenda.
Paul Ayris is Pro-Vice-Provost (UCL Library Services & the UCL Office for Open Science and Scholarship). He joined UCL in 1997.
Dr Ayris was the President of LIBER (Association of European Research Libraries) 2010-14. He was Chair of the LERU (League of European Research Universities) INFO Community, finishing 10 years in office in December 2020. He is now the LERU observer in the EOSC Association and UCL’s Open Science Ambassador in the LERU Open Science Ambassadors Policy Group.
He also chairs the OAI Organizing Committee for the Geneva Workshops on Innovations in Scholarly Communication. He is a member of the UUK High-Level Strategy Group on E-Resource purchasing for the Jisc community. On 1 August 2013, Dr Ayris became Chief Executive of UCL Press. He is a member of the Provost’s and President’s Senior Management Team in UCL. On 1 October 2020, Dr Ayris launched the UCL Office for Open Science and Scholarship, of which he is head. He has a Ph.D. in Ecclesiastical History and publishes on English Reformation Studies. In 2019, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.