Guide for Content Providers
Guide for Content Providers
Trainers and organisations – training service providers – who are collaborating partners with OpenAIRE are welcome to join OpenPlato under the terms of use of the service. We are also willing to hear from other potential partners and please contact us about this.
The OpenPlato content providers adhere to the following policies:
Collection policy
Scope: Self-paced or moderated courses on Open Access, RDM, Open Science, EOSC and the FAIR principles training. Content must not violate privacy or copyright, or breach confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements for data collected from human subjects.
Ownership: By uploading content, no change of ownership is implied and no property rights are transferred to OpenPlato, where all uploaded content and metadata remain the property of the parties after submission. Uploading resources to OpenPlato does not preclude publishing/uploading on other platforms (please also see below in the Quality Assurance section). Please note however that deletion of resources does not mean deletion of metadata, and OpenPlato reserves the right to hold this information.
Quality: All information is provided “as-is”, and OpenPlato is not responsible for the quality of resources. However, only resources that meet certain quality standards will be accepted (see Quality Assurance Policy).
Metadata types and sources: All metadata are stored internally (ICM, Poland) according to the defined RDA ETHRD schema.
Language: All languages are accepted. The platform fully supports Unicode.
Formats: Interoperable file formats should be used (see here for examples of recommended formats).
Access and reuse policy
Access: Content may be deposited under open, embargoed or restricted access. Access to metadata and content files is provided over standard protocols.
Content use and re-use: Use and re-use is subject to the licence under which the content was deposited. Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY International 4.0) licence is a preferred licence.
Metadata use and reuse: Metadata are licensed under Creative Commons Zero 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication (CC0) licence, except for email addresses.
Quality assurance policy
The quality assurance policy outlines the commitment of the Editorial Team of OpenPlato to ensure that learning resources included in OpenPlato meet quality standards. It defines the requirements resources have to meet in order to be accepted in OpenPlato, the responsibilities for quality assurance and related procedures. The Quality assurance policy is subject to revision every three years or whenever deemed necessary by changes in best practice or in the policy and technological landscape.
Content selection: The selection of resources to be included in the platform is performed by the OpenPlato Editorial Team.
In order to be included in OpenPlato, learning resources must be in line with the Collection policy. Content providers agree to clearly identify all the information identified as the minimal set of metadata for learning resources:
Title
Abstract/description
Authors and contributors
Primary language
Keywords
Licence information
Version date
PID (persistent identifier, e.g. via Zenodo)
The target audience
Learning resource type
Learning outcomes
Access conditions
Information about the level of training and qualifications.
The following information should also be provided:
Estimated work (hours)
Copyright, usage conditions, access constraints and licensing, while crediting all sources in case existing materials are reused
The origin/provenance of the materials
Responsibilities for the resource (who will maintain and update it).
Responsibilities of content providers: Content providers agree to make content as FAIR as possible so others can find, use and reuse it, including technical integrity of content (completeness of metadata to facilitate discovery and reuse, PIDs, FAIRness, etc.). Along with ensuring the technical integrity of files, they should provide as complete metadata as possible. Interoperable file formats (see here for examples of open formats) should be used at all times. Standard naming conventions should be used to name files. We strongly recommend following the format “YYYYMMDD_unique_name_or_identifier_version”, where “unique name or identifier” can be any alphanumeric string separated by underscores or hyphens and “version” takes the form, e.g. “v1, v2, v1.1, v2.2”, etc.
Resource providers also agree to periodically update training content to keep it current, including the date of last updates and versioning on the materials to solve the problem of materials going out of date.
Providers must also agree to supply resources with detailed documentation, including user guidelines, notes, packaging (e.g. for the webinars - slides, notes, recording, etc.), information about technical requirements or specific software needed to use the resource, so that they can be used as stand-alone materials.
If a resource is not well maintained but may still be useful, a provider must include a note that maintenance is discontinued.
Content curation: The OpenPlato quality assurance process is a community effort and it includes the review process and periodic automated and manual audit/checks of the content and metadata by the OpenPlato Editorial Team. The Editorial Team will use OpenPlato’s functionalities as much as possible to align resources with the FAIR principles, so others can find, access, use and reuse them. The continued control of existing OpenPlato resources revolves around ensuring that the content is still valid and up to date, as well as encouraging the enrichment of resources by adding properties that are recommended. Regular checks will be performed to ensure the above.
Resource providers are encouraged to inform the Editorial Team about any relevant changes that need to be made to the resource, corrections, new versions, etc., so that records in OpenPlato can be updated. Furthermore, any user can use the feedback form to report an issue (e.g. a broken link, missing content or metadata, etc.) or suggest corrections and updates to OpenPlato records, as well as new content for inclusion.
Both during the selection process and subsequent checks, the Editorial Team may require content providers to add or correct the metadata, rename files to align them with the naming convention, assign PIDs, or convert files to recommended formats.
If a resource is not well maintained but may still be useful, an appropriate label will be used in OpenPlato to suggest that maintenance is discontinued.
Withdrawal/Removal Policy: Ownership is retained by the author/owner of a resource, but in order for OpenPlato to be useful and valuable to the community, it may on occasion be necessary to remove (delete) or withdraw content. Criteria for deselection of resources:
That they are no longer available
That they are no longer current or relevant e.g it may have been superseded by a new version
A resource location is no longer reliable or stable e.g frequently unavailable
A resource is found to be in violation of copyright, other licence terms or legal requirements
Decisions to withdraw or remove content are made by the OpenPlato Editorial Team.
When content is withdrawn/removed, a record (including metadata) for that resource will be retained highlighting the reason. If the author/owner of a resource wishes to withdraw/remove a resource due to other reasons not listed above, please contact us through the Helpdesk.
Accessibility policy
Content providers agree to make content accessible and inclusive, e.g. by following accessibility guidelines including W3C and those outlined by JISC and simple guides like SCULPT with key accessibility elements. Content providers are encouraged to design online materials that support executive function. Please also refer to the section on the Withdrawal/Removal policy.
OpenPlato includes an Accessibility Menu enabled by UserWay.org.
Longevity
Retention period: Content will be retained for the lifetime of OpenPlato.
Functional preservation: OpenPlato will try to ensure continued readability and accessibility of content. But it may not be possible to guarantee the readability of some proprietary file formats.
File preservation: Files, metadata, and all server information are backed up nightly to a different data centre and backups are kept for one week. This backup is intended for disaster recovery.
Fixity and authenticity: Standard procedures to ensure that digital objects remain unchanged (fixity) are applied.
Succession plans: In case of closure of OpenPlato, best efforts will be made to integrate all content into a suitable alternative platform.
Intellectual Property Rights
Intellectual Property Rights: OpenPlato acknowledges that all Intellectual Property Rights in the materials are the sole and exclusive property of the content providers or duly licensed to the content providers. No rights are assigned or transferred to OpenPlato except for the right to use the metadata and content in accordance with the terms and conditions described below. OpenPlato shall accrue no rights, including Intellectual Property Rights, in regard to the metadata and content. Content providers are responsible for respecting applicable copyright and licence conditions for the content they upload. Content providers represent and warrant that the use of their content does not infringe third-party rights. Content providers shall indemnify and hold OpenPlato and its users harmless from any third-party claims resulting from the use of the content.
Consent for re-use of metadata: Resource providers allow OpenPlato to publish metadata records, thus to provide public access to them under the Creative Commons CC0 licence without any restrictions on reuse in original and derivative forms.
Consent for re-use of resources: Resource providers allow OpenPlato to store content and make it available (access rules defined per record/course type by the resource providers). OpenPlato will not provide content for public distribution, unless otherwise authorised by the resource providers.