Libraries have gone a long way to facilitating research workflows, and more recently on fostering open access to science and openness in a broader sense. Science is evolving, research practices, resources and tools are opening up and going beyond a publication-based model to a new open environment of research data and digital research tools, social media and collaborative platforms. There is a compelling need for libraries’ practices to encompass these changes. The challenge is not only technological but also cultural and attitudinal and requires a clear effort to engage and develop the necessary skills and knowledge involved in this open science environment.

This workshop was addressed to librarians at different levels and positions committed to supporting researchers and their research processes at their institutions, and who would like to gain an understanding of the implications of open science for them, the potential opportunities and possible challenges, and check on existing best practices to deal with them. The event was attended by 40 participants and seven FOSTER project members coming from sixteen European countries.

The workshop itself was focused on key topics on open science from the libraries’ perspective (see Agenda). Interactive sessions encouraged discussion around the planning and design of courses on Open Science, and the sharing of experiences of success and challenges among participants. An ultimate goal of the workshop was to provide participants with a set of tools and resources from the FOSTER portal. A specially-designed FOSTER online course was prepared to provided an introduction and background reading (Take course). Equipped with all these resources, participants may replicate the training and multiply the impact at their institutions targeting their peers, decision-makers or end-users.