[CJ Woodford]

Hello everyone,
 
We are entering the last 6 months of the GORC-WG, and there’s lots to do! We felt this was a good time to reflect on what we have been working on and what is coming up.
 
Last week, we released a community-facing version 0.5 of our commons attributes and KPIs model. This was sent to all the RDA IG and WG chairs as well as to the GORC-IG. We also sent this model to specific community members that have voiced interest in our work. This version of the model is set for comments only, and we hope that there will be some feedback at this stage so we can take it under consideration as we continue to develop the model.
 
We are tracking all of our methodology, intermediate outputs, and speaker series analysis in the martyr doc. So far, all speakers we have had to date have been analyzed through the lens of the recently published GORC-IG definitions document defining a typology of essential elements of a commons, which is also what our model is built on. Some key intermediate outputs that are interesting but not directly part of our deliverables are the e-Infra scheme analysis of our speakers, a “type” analysis of our speakers, and a series of visualizations hosted on Github (also see the video walkthrough). All of these intermediate and secondary outputs will continue to be updated and modified as the speaker series and our model evaluations progress. You may have noticed that we have updated our RDA webpage, and in particular have added a more comprehensive summary of our work and links to them on our Deliverables page.
 
This month (May 2023), newly-formed task groups (TGs) will start on their phase 2 analysis. Between May and the end of June or early July 2023, the TGs will evaluate version 0.5 of the model in addition to new information from CJ’s continuing literature review. In addition to evaluating new and existing attributes and features, the TGs will also assign a relevance level to each attribute (e.g. mandatory, recommended, optional) and if any of the attributes or features apply to a specific type of commons in regards to reach (i.e. national or pan-national, domain specific or domain agnostic). By early July, hopefully July 1, we will have a version 0.6 of the model that can likewise be made accessible to the community in an informal request for comment. Version 0.6 will not only have further refined attributes and features, but will hopefully also be organized or tagged according to priority and commons type. During this period, TGs will keep track of their methodology in the martyr doc and speaker series presentations will also continue to be analyzed and added by CJ and interested members of the WG. Additionally, CJ and RDA-TIGER will be investigating new ways of representing the model, such as a network model or graphical database, and mapping our sources cross walk and commons matrix analysis (as done in the original running list, e.g. for Governance) to the internal version 0.5 and, when available, version 0.6, of the model. 
 
Between early July and mid-September 2023, the TGs will review all components of the model. They will work with other TGs to provide comments and suggestions for changes. While the exact mechanism for this has yet to be determined, the goal is that each TG will review and refine their own essential elements in early to mid-July, and then spend July-September working with all other TGs to review and refine each other’s essential elements or KPIs. Recall that there will be 6 TGs in this phase 2 evaluation. In addition to the TG work, a writing group will be formed in July or August to firm up the content of the martyr doc and split it into appropriately themed narrative outputs, including at least one peer reviewed publication. We will also be working with RDA-TIGER for support in designing and creating a dissemination strategy for our outputs and final graphics.
 
We will send a formal community request for comment on our final outputs on 14 September 2023, and close the request for comment on 12 October 2023. The TG leads, writing group leads, GORC-WG co-chairs and any interested GORC-WG members will incorporate the community feedback into our final outputs between 12 October and 22 October 2023, and we will present our entire body of work at IDW2023 during 23-26 October 2023. If any last-minute comments or suggestions are made at IDW that the co-chairs deem need to be included, they will implement them between 26 October and 1 November 2023. We will submit our outputs for RDA endorsement on 2 November 2023.
 
We recognize that our work does not encompass everything that is needed by the community in this field, and the GORC-IG is considering what will happen once our WG goes into maintenance. Please feel free to send ideas to CJ (ito-ra1@oceannetworks.ca) or add them to our Future Work section in the martyr doc.
 
As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns.
 
Sincerely,
CJ, Andrew, & Mark

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