“The good news is, we’re not too dumb for democracy,” David Moscrop told a packed room of media, activists, book lovers, academics, and more. “The bad news is, we’re encouraged to be.” On March 21, Moscrop celebrated the launch of his new book, Too Dumb for Democracy?

Three students share their thoughts on the President’s Dream Colloquium on Making Knowledge Public.

“What might be possible for us if we were to retain the social commitment that motivates our critical work, while stepping off the field of competition?” Kathleen Fitzpatrick asked a rapt audience at SFU’s Harbour Centre last Wednesday, “We would have to open ourselves to the possibility that our ideas might be wrong.” Fitzpatrick is Director of Digital Humanities at Michigan State University, the former Director of Scholarly Communication at

The ScholCommLab is excited to welcome three new faces to the lab this spring. Iara Vidal, Isabelle Dorsch, and Lisa Matthias will join us as Visiting Scholars in each of our two locations—Matthias and Vidal in Vancouver, Dorsch in Ottawa—to collaborate on a research project of their choosing. Vidal has a background in library science and is currently finishing her PhD in Information Science in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

What does making research knowledge public mean to you? We asked Juan Pablo Alperin and Hannah McGregor—winners of a new award for public scholarship—to share their thoughts.

How can scholars communicate their work in more accessible, engaging ways? Where should they publish and promote their findings? What does “research communication” actually mean? On Tuesday, January 15, ScholCommLab researcher Michelle La will explore these questions and more in a short talk at SFU’s Graduate and Postdoctoral Student Photo Reception.

This November, the city of Niterói in Rio de Janeiro received the first edition of LATmetrics, an international conference dedicated to the advancement of altmetrics and open science research in Latin America. Bringing together researchers, science communicators, librarians, and other stakeholders, the event featured a diverse array of speakers on everything from social media metrics and open data to the impact of science in society.

Last week, the ScholCommLab welcomed some smiling new faces to Vancouver. On Friday, Nov 9, attendees of ASIS&T’s 2018 Annual Meeting joined us from Dusseldorf, Detroit, Ottawa, and beyond for a quick lab tour, some dinner and conversation, and one very crowded, very happy selfie. At the conference, speakers and attendees from around the globe met in Vancouver to discuss the latest advances in information science.

Join us for the next Open Science Beers YVR Thursday, March 14, 20196 PM – 9 PM The Emerald (555 Gore Ave) About Open Science Beers YVR During last year’s FORCE11 conference, the idea was born to recreate Montreal’s popular Open Science Beers event right here in our very own Vancouver. Now, that idea has become a reality. Each month, we’re bringing together friends of Open Science* for a casual evening of drinks and conversation.

Taking place from Oct 11 to 12 in Montreal, QC, FORCE 2018 is a multi-disciplinary conference dedicated to creating a more open future for scholarly communications. This year, the conference will bring together a diverse mix of publishers, librarians, students, and policy makers—as well as several members of the ScholCommLab!

The ScholCommLab is pleased to welcome three visiting scholars to Ottawa this fall: Kate Williams, Enrique Orduña Malea, and Rodrigo Costas. Each of these visitors will spend a short stay at the lab, working with the team on a research project of their choosing. The hope is that these partnerships will pave the way for future collaborations, and interesting research in the long term.