FSCI 2020 – Online
(Geographic locations of 2020 attendees)
Comments from FSCI 2020:
We asked FSCI 2020 attendees to describe the appeal and value of FSCI for new attendees and the responses were…
- "I love the diversity and variety of participants."
- "It's a level of immersion and learning, and diversity of voices that you just can't get from going to a conference."
- "The community and the wide diversity of fields of expertise."
- "Learning by doing in a participatory and friendly manner. The Facilitators are superb."
- "FSCI brings together global perspectives from across academia to engage in broadening the purpose, reach and value of scholarly information."
- "I think the nature of in-depth instruction offers a better view of a topic. Typical conferences offer the equivalent of 'introduction to' courses without time to explore topics deeper. This offers the ability to explore a couple topics in a more meaningful way."
- The emphasis on learning in courses and ability to ask the instructors questions creates a unique dynamic different than a traditional conference. I appreciated the interactivity.
FSCI 2019 – Los Angeles, California
(Group photo of 2019 attendees)
Comments from FSCI 2019
- "The diversity of people attending FSCI makes it an unusual experience. This will be particularly useful for anyone working within interdisciplinary groups or for those who are interested in approaching their own subject with fresh eyes."
- "I had a fantastic experience at FSCI2019. It was very immersive and I came away with a much richer understanding of scholarly communication. Part of this was down to the incredible opportunity to share learnings with those from diverse settings, both geographically and academically. I made some important professional connections and also learned some key skills I was missing."
- "It was encouraging to spend a week learning advanced topics related to scholarly communication in a diverse community that values OA. The lectures were very informative, and participant's contributions were also a valuable component because of their diverse backgrounds. I gained practical skills in reproducibility and advocacy, as well as a better understanding of OA in my context. I was inspired by the work and projects of more experienced advocates, which motivated me to explore different ways of advocating for OA, from being more open in conversations with my peers to giving workshops. I am very thankful for the opportunity of attending FSCI."
- "At the FSCI 2019, I met many experts and fellow professionals who have helped me to gain new skills and knowledge in some areas of scholarly communication. I was very fortunate that all of them were very supportive, kind, and had a lot of things to share with me. They were willingly sharing their experiences and best practices in advocating open science in their respective institutions. I even still in contact with some of them. As a librarian who works in Indonesia, this such opportunity is rare."
- "Frankly, FSCI was the best ever event I have attended. And, it is very much unique in many aspects. The course contents, the classroom support, the group discussions, the freedom to choose and explore topics as per your own interest, the internal/official communications provided to the participants, are just some of them that I can list out here. Really, I had a great learning experience at FSCI."
FSCI 2018 – San Diego, California
(Group photo of 2018 attendees)
Comments from FSCI 2018
- "Overall I had a really positive experience at FSCI and I thank the programming and organizing committees and all those from UCSD who made this such a great experience. It was fantastic to come together with this group of individuals all focused on scholarly communication which is my work focus. Everyone was friendly and open and it made for a very enjoyable program."
- "FSCI was great! I recommended it to all my colleagues at work!"
- "It was my first time attending. I learned a lot and loved the atmosphere. The campus was great, and the small class sizes were really nice for getting to know people. I am very glad to have all the course materials still available to me. I am putting some of the knowledge I gained to use immediately. It is clear that a lot of thought goes into putting this learning opportunity together. I would come back every year if I could, but the cost is prohibitive for me. I will tell others to attend though."
- "Outside of the courses, the Institute offered rich opportunities for conversation and networking with individuals from different disciplines and backgrounds. Overall, my takeaway from FSCI18 was extremely valuable."
- "I learned my most interesting topics from this event, I wish to attend for next year also would like to network with participants."
- "The level of commitment was very high and group dynamics were great The Do-a-Thon has to be on the programme next year too."
- "FSCI was an extremely enriching event, I appreciate the amount of learning experiences especially working with peers."
- I thought it was great!
- "There were so many excellent topics that I wish I could have attended more, but I also thought the amount of time dedicated to each course was good."
FSCI 2017 – San Diego, California
(Group photo of 2017 attendees)
Comments from FSCI 2017
- "It was a great week, I would recommend it to others."
- "I would love to go again, Would go again if it was exactly the same format. What was great: the overall atmosphere, the willingness of everyone to talk and share, and the diversity of subjects."
- "This was an intense but very worthwhile week. I learned a lot and felt privileged to be among so many people who are change-makers at their institutions. It was inspiring. I would be tempted to return to take advantage of classes that I didn't have time for this first time around."
- "FSCI gathers passionate experts from all subdomains of research communication. Fantastic summer camp, networking and learning in lovely La Jolla"
- “FSCI 2017 was a wonderful learning intensive experience. I went away with great strategies to share with our university librarians, friends, colleagues and fellow students about how to build my research profile, register DOIs for data and how and why FAIR matters. The instructors were excellent and everyone was friendly. I would recommend FSCI as a place to learn and stay current at any level and for strategies on how to care for the masses of data that we are producing.”
- “FSCI was an amazing learning journey. It was a unique opportunity to meet great people who do great things and are passionate about sharing.”
