Emily Silvester

ARC LIEF Linked Semantic Platforms kick-off meeting

LIEF group — LSP project kick-off meeting, Mayor’s Room, Hawthorn Town Hall

APO got started on the Linked Semantic Platforms for Policy and Practice (LSP) project on the 6 March, with a kick-off meeting at the Hawthorn Arts Centre in Melbourne.

Funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) grant, the LSP project is significant because it aims to revolutionise the way researchers are able to access, and analyse policy documents and data. The main objective of the two-year LSP Project is to develop the next generation of decision-support tools for interdisciplinary research on critical public policy issues.

By applying linked open data, knowledge graphs and collaborations across existing research infrastructure projects, the project will improve interoperability across major social science databases. The ultimate outcome of this project will be the creation of new analytical tools that will transform the research capabilities for evidence-based policy making. The LSP project also aligns closely with the Research Graph pilot project that APO is currently involved with an launching at Research Data Alliance Plenary in Berlin in March. Continue reading “ARC LIEF Linked Semantic Platforms kick-off meeting”

APO student placements

APO is pleased to be hosting three student placements this semester. They are Julia Pham, a fourth year Arts/Commerce student at Monash, and Ana Collings and Isabella Tilley, both International Studies students at Swinburne University. All three will be working on APO site development as well as on individual projects that will extend their writing and analysis capabilities.

Isabella and Ana — Isabella Tilley and Ana Machado-Colling

APO welcomes further placement applicants and other volunteers with aspirations of pursuing interesting projects. Potential placement opportunities include marketing internships and data visualisation or data analytics projects. And we are open to many other ideas too!

APO is able to host placements from various disciplines – including information management, politics, sociology, public policy in any discipline area, marketing and communications, computer sciences and other courses.

We also support those seeking work experience – particularly librarians and information managers who would like to help with curation and database improvements.

To find out more about organising a placement or volunteering with APO, please contact Penelope Aitken editors@apo.org.au.

Meet our current students on APO placement:

Ana Machado-Colling: ‘I’m a third year student completing a Bachelor of Arts, with a major in International Studies and minor in Politics and Public Policy at Swinburne. I undertook the APO internship to further enhance my writing and researching skills in a workplace setting. I’m interested in tackling contemporary policy issues through a range of open access resources and contributing to a reputable organisation.’

Isabella Tilley: ‘I’m a third year student at Swinburne, completing a Bachelor of Arts with a major in International Studies and a minor in Security Studies. The APO internship enables me to further my writing capabilities and learn to write in a style that is practical and job focused. Thus far, I have enjoyed getting to write about a current issue whilst actually envisioning policy reforms and recommendations.’

Julia Pham: ‘I applied for an APO placement because I have found the APO site incredibly helpful in the past. I thought that it would be a cool experience to work at a place whose mission it is to provide greater access to public policy research. Currently I am looking at the site’s metrics using Google Analytics.’

APO joins Australian Digital Alliance in support of copyright reform

Australian Digital Alliance (ADA) logo

APO is delighted to have joined the Australian Digital Alliance (ADA) – the peak body representing copyright users and innovators in Australia. APO strongly supports all the ADA positions including Australian copyright reform for fair use.

ADA’s mission

ADA advocates for balanced copyright laws by drafting policy submissions to government, engaging in legal cases concerning copyright and preparing publications on new developments in copyright law and policy.

The ADA’s mission is to promote a copyright law that is balanced and flexible, respects user rights, and encourages access and innovation in the public interest – stating that, ‘Balanced and flexible copyright laws are fundamental to the broad dissemination of knowledge, culture and education and to encourage innovation.’

Fair use advocacy

The ADA and APO both support the introduction of a broad, flexible, and technology neutral exception into the Copyright Act allowing fair and reasonable use of copyright material. Such an exception – similar to the United States ‘fair use’ doctrine – would enable a greater range of reasonable uses of material.

APO looks forward to updating you on our alliance with ADA and copyright reforms as they evolve.

Browse APO’s copyright resources here.

APO launches Private Rental Housing Collection

PrivateRentalHousing_Kurayba_flickr_650x410 — Credit: Kurayba on (Flickr)

APO has recently launched its new Private Rental Housing collection. Supported by Swinburne University’s Centre for Urban Transitions, this collection contains government, academic and other sector reports as well as media discussion about the financing, development and supply of rental housing, tenant access and rental property management in Australia. The collection can be viewed at apo.org.au/collections/private-rental-housing.

APO’s full Collections list can be found here apo.org.au/collections.

APO 15 Year Anniversary Celebration photo gallery

APO Forum 2017 photo gallery

APO Annual Forum: Program slides and videos

APO’s inaugural Annual Forum brought together policy makers, researchers, and industry experts from all over Australia to discuss the many issues facing evidence, expertise and information access in public policy and practice.

Entitled ‘Evidence, impact and access to knowledge for policy and practice’, the forum was held on the 28th of November in Melbourne. It covered a wide range of topics, including: evidence, impact and the policy process; data, tools and platforms for access and analysis of policy issues; the challenges of information access and use; and improving the system for better public policy and access to knowledge. Continue reading “APO Annual Forum: Program slides and videos”