@prefix n4c: .
@prefix rdfs: .
@prefix schema: .
@prefix fabio: .
@prefix nfdicore: .
@prefix xsd: .
@prefix void: .
n4c:E6823
rdfs:label "On the Way: Networking – Sustainability – Outreach. The Third Annual Meeting of the OER.net Group" ;
rdfs:seeAlso , , , ;
a schema:NewsArticle, fabio:Report ;
schema:image ;
schema:name "On the Way: Networking – Sustainability – Outreach. The Third Annual Meeting of the OER.net Group" ;
schema:headline "On the Way: Networking – Sustainability – Outreach. The Third Annual Meeting of the OER.net Group" ;
nfdicore:NFDI_0001008 "https://nfdi4culture.de/news/on-the-way-networking-sustainability-outreach-the-third-annual-meeting-of-the-oernet-group"^^xsd:anyURI ;
schema:datePublished "2026-06-02"^^xsd:date ;
schema:text """
Further authors: Dorothee Urbaum, Grigori Chlesberg, Laura Döring, Marina Lemaire, Petra Steiner, Paul Walter
Since 2023, representatives from various NFDI consortia, data competence centers, and related projects (DALIA, HERMES, KODAQS, KonsortSWD, NFDI4Culture, NFDI4Memory, QUADRIGA, SODa, Text+ und WiNoDa) have come together to form a growing network that has established itself under the name OER.net. Through regular meetings, joint workshops (in Mainz in 2024, and in Darmstadt in 2025 and 2026), and thematic sub-working groups (UAGs), the network is developing concrete resources and structures in the areas of Open Educational Resources (OER) and data literacy for the humanities, cultural studies, and social sciences.
On April 16 and 17, 2026, the OER.net group convened for its third annual meeting at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. Around 20 representatives took the opportunity to engage in an intensive exchange. The focus of this year’s meeting was the question of the group’s institutional sustainability.
Presentation of relevant findings from the sub-working groups (SWGs) and from the various project contexts
Three SWGs were formed in connection with the 2025 annual meeting. After about a year of intensive work, the initial findings were presented.
Based on the learning objectives of the Lernzielmatrix zum Forschungsdatenmanagement (Petersen et al. 2025), the Basic FDM SUG is developing micro-teaching and learning content, information on didactic methods, and templates—including practice datasets—to support instructors in integrating modular teaching and learning components into their practice. The materials are to be published as Open Educational Resources under an open license to enable widespread reuse by multipliers. The next steps are to set up a Git repository and to develop a joint proposal for a template and sample course outlines for basic FDM courses in close collaboration with the NFDI-Sektion EduTrain (Herres-Pawlis, S. et al. 2026): Working Group 3 “Implementation of the Modular Teaching Building-Block Concept.”
The UAG Metadata working group addresses the question of how teaching and learning materials in the field of data literacy can be adequately described. The focus is on metadata schemas and knowledge organization systems—such as selection lists, glossaries, controlled vocabularies, and ontologies—as well as the issue of interoperability between subject-specific and generic standards. The UAG functions as a kind of peer review group, thereby driving the further development of shared schemas and knowledge organization systems. A natural next topic for the group is the creation of mappings and crosswalks using mapping standards.
The starting point for the work of the Quality Criteria Working Group is the current standard for quality management (DIN EN ISO 9000:2015-11). This standard defines quality as “the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics of an object meets requirements.” Within the UAG, a catalog of quality criteria for evaluating OER, collections, and access technologies is currently being developed. The goal is to define a common framework that covers both the content quality and the technical accessibility and reusability of the materials. The catalog of criteria is expected to be published in 2026 as part of the NDFI-Sektion EduTrain (Herres-Pawlis, S. et al. 2026): Working Group 2 “Material Collections and (Re)use.”
In addition, the representatives in attendance took the opportunity to present the latest findings from their projects that are relevant to the OER.net community. Among other things, presentations covered educational offerings from QUADRIGA and NFDI4Culture, the HERMES-Metadatenschema, HISTOCAT and HISTOFOX of NFDI4Memory, the SODa Knowledge Base, the GlossOER and the new version of the DIF from DALIA as well as the work of the DHd-AG Reference Curriculum for Digital Humanities.
Traumwerkstatt: Setting up a working group
Back in February, at the meeting during the DHd2026 conference, the group had already made its intentions public: it wanted to open up, attract new members and invite anyone interested in networking within this field and seeking professional exchange.
Building on this momentum, the workshop included a so-called “dream workshop”—and it was quite the experience. The central question was: How can the group endure in the long term and become institutionally anchored, completely independent of project timelines and affiliations? To ensure this didn’t remain an abstract concept but was truly tackled, three key areas were highlighted: sustainability, networking, and outreach. In the first phase, the participants divided into three groups—one for each topic. The task was to deliberately think big, formulating wishes and visions without letting practical constraints hold them back. What content belongs in each topic area? What tasks would need to be undertaken? What would it take to make that happen? The results were then presented to the full group and discussed together.
On the second day of the dream workshop, the results from the previous day were to be further developed within these three groups. The focus was on questions of feasibility, possible implementation strategies, next steps, and ideas for meeting the actual resource needs. These ideas were then also presented to the plenary and discussed collectively.
The “Sustainability” group focused primarily on the process of institutionally anchoring the initiative. In addition to identifying suitable institutional affiliations, governance principles were developed: The group considered transparency, openness, autonomy of the sub-working groups, and, overall, flat hierarchies and decision-making processes to be particularly important. Furthermore, initial concepts for the mission and vision of the OER.net group were developed. The work is to be continued in the newly founded “Mission” working group.
The “Networking” working group first identified the relevant target groups: on the one hand, individuals who wish to actively participate in the group, and on the other, those who use and disseminate its findings. Against this backdrop and with a view to the desired institutionalization, concrete measures—such as a joint online presence for OER.net, suitable formats, and approaches to community building—were discussed. Following the meeting, the “Networking” working group was established. A first step for this working group was the creation of a LinkedIn-Page for the OER.net group.
The “Outreach” working group developed creative approaches for presenting and highlighting the results of the UAGs—which have been in existence since 2025—as well as their future offerings. The focus was on designing a clearly structured and concisely named online environment where various offerings are bundled. These include, among others, the “LösBAR” as a point of contact for questions—similar to a help desk or FAQ section—as well as the “NachnutzBAR,” where materials such as the FDM basic course are made available. The concept of sustainability was central to these efforts, for example, in terms of structures and the identification of best practices. The approaches developed can be easily integrated with the findings of the “Networking” working group.
Conclusion & Outlook
The results of the Dream Workshop have shown that the group possesses an enormous amount of energy, expertise, and shared determination. The discussions were productive, the visions concrete—and by the end of the day, we had not only inspiring ideas but also agreed-upon next steps toward establishing the OER.net group in a sustainable, project-independent manner. We are confident that we are on the right track.
Looking ahead, OER.net aims to strengthen the development of data and FDM competencies in the humanities, cultural studies, and social sciences over the long term—through discipline-specific and interdisciplinary networking, the transfer of knowledge into overarching structures, and the collaborative further development of OER. This will ensure that the results of project-based initiatives remain visible over the long term and are firmly anchored within the community. At the same time, we are countering the classic challenge of project-based time limits with something more permanent—because all too often, when projects end, not only are resources lost, but so too is painstakingly built-up knowledge, established collaborations, and the continuity of ongoing developments. And it is not uncommon for the same wheels to be reinvented elsewhere due to a lack of an overview of existing initiatives and resources. That is exactly what we want to change.
This article was previously published as an event report on Humanities Data Literacy blog of the data competence centre HERMES.
""" ;
schema:keywords n4c:E2312, n4c:E2313, n4c:E2325, n4c:E4722, n4c:E5321, n4c:E2315, n4c:E5464, n4c:E4675, n4c:E2317, n4c:E2335, n4c:E2322, n4c:E3342 ;
nfdicore:NFDI_0000211 n4c:E2312, n4c:E2313, n4c:E2325, n4c:E4722, n4c:E5321, n4c:E2315, n4c:E5464, n4c:E4675, n4c:E2317 ;
schema:contributor [
a schema:Role ;
schema:contributor n4c:E2674 ;
schema:sameAs n4c:E3282 ;
schema:roleName "Author"
], [
a schema:Role ;
schema:contributor n4c:E2380 ;
schema:sameAs n4c:E3282 ;
schema:roleName "Author"
] ;
nfdicore:NFDI_0001027 n4c:E2674, n4c:E2380 ;
schema:isRelatedTo n4c:E6224, n4c:E5994 ;
schema:potentialAction [
a schema:CreateAction ;
schema:actionStatus "CompletedActionStatus" ;
schema:agent n4c:E1826 ;
schema:name "Task Area 6: Cultural Research Data Academy" ;
schema:result n4c:E6823
] .
a void:Dataset ;
void:feature .
a void:Dataset ;
void:feature .
a void:Dataset ;
void:feature .
a void:Dataset ;
void:feature .
n4c:E2312 schema:name "Architecture" .
n4c:E2313 schema:name "Art History" .
n4c:E2325 schema:name "Digital Humanities" .
n4c:E4722 schema:name "Film Studies" .
n4c:E5321 schema:name "History" .
n4c:E2315 schema:name "Media Studies" .
n4c:E5464 schema:name "Museum Studies" .
n4c:E4675 schema:name "Sociology" .
n4c:E2317 schema:name "Theater Studies" .
n4c:E2335 schema:name "Qualification & Training" .
n4c:E2322 schema:name "Expert Working Group" .
n4c:E3342 schema:name "Report" .
n4c:E2674 schema:name "Andrea Polywka" .
n4c:E2380 schema:name "Jonathan Geiger" .
n4c:E6224 schema:name "The networking of actors and resources - OER in the NFDI and in the data competence centers: a workshop report (part 2)" .
n4c:E5994 schema:name "The networking of actors and resources – OER in the NFDI and in the data competence centers: a workshop report" .