This is us: Josefine Blunk
How can knowledge be made freely accessible to everyone? This is the question that Josefine Blunk, a member of the Service Unit Library and Research Information, is passionate about. In this interview, she explains why she chose a career in librarianship and what her enthusiasm for Open Science is all about.
You work in the Library and Research Information department. What are you working on right now?
Josefine Blunk: As part of the Open Access team, I am always on duty to answer any questions about Open Access publishing at the MPIB. These are often questions about the payment of Open Access publication fees, and we are happy to advise on the various funding options, where the devil is often in the details. This also applies to my work in the context of our Open Access secondary publication service. Here, too, it is always worth taking a close look at the publishers' Open Access guidelines. Fortunately, most publishers now have clear guidelines. Only with a few does it sometimes still require almost detective work to find out under what conditions and in what form, papers or book chapters that have already been published behind a paywall may be publicly shared on our MPG publication server. The good news is that there is almost always a way! Since this summer, I have also been involved in developing an Open Science and a Research Data Management Policy, which the institute is to receive in spring 2025.
You are coordinating the Open Science and Research Data Management Policy project. What do you find particularly fascinating about your work?
Josefine Blunk: I find it very exciting to be part of the shift towards Open Science – meaning the opening of the scientific process in all its phases – at the institute. As the project coordinator, I mainly take care of organizational tasks. However, as I am simultaneously part of the Open Access team, I also have a second function within the project with regard to the Open Access section of the Open Science policy for which I of course happily provide input. As a preliminary step for our own guidelines, we have been in contact with other research institutions that already have Open Science or Research Data Management policies in place. These conversations have been very inspiring and we have established helpful contacts. But the internal exchange within the working group for Research Data Management and Open Science through team meetings to develop the respective policies is also incredibly valuable. People from a wide range of research areas and infrastructure staff come together, exchange their perspectives and work with great motivation towards a common goal for the entire institute. This also gives me insights into the way the institute works that I didn't have before.
What do the Open Science and Research Data Management Policies include in terms of content?
Josefine Blunk: One of the key tasks of the policies will be to define the strategic goals for Research Data Management (RDM) and Open Science at the institute going forward. However, they will also contain practical guidelines for the researchers and thus create a clear framework for implementation. At the same time, they are intended to raise awareness of RDM and Open Science at the institute. Given the diversity of research methods at the institute, we are aware that there can be no “one-size-fits-all” solution. Therefore, while we are defining cross-institute minimum standards for important Open Science areas such as Open Access, Open Research Data, Open Software/Code, and Open Educational Resources, we also want the individual areas and groups to adapt or expand these guidelines to meet their specific needs.
But the documents are only the first step. To ensure that the measures set out in them are actually implemented, we attach great importance to involving as many perspectives as possible in the creation of the policies and keep the process open. Interested institute members can join this process at any time.
What is important in your work, what skills or tools do you use most often in your daily work?
Josefine Blunk: Someone once called me an “email warrior” – a description I find very fitting. Both within the library and across departments, I am almost constantly exchanging ideas and working together on various topics. My work, therefore, requires a high degree of organizational skills, time management, multitasking and, of course, communication skills. Routine tasks are rare for me, and contrary to popular belief – even from within my private circles– I rarely have a book in my hands at the workplace.
What inspired you to study librarianship and why did you specialize in Open Science?
Josefine Blunk: Like several librarians I know, I considered journalism as a career for a long time. While undertaking an apprenticeship as a specialist in media and information services at Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, I realized during a placement in the company library that I really enjoy the varied work in the library. Similar to journalists, librarians must be good at obtaining, organizing and evaluating information. However, librarians usually have more regular or family-friendly working hours and, more often, more secure employment. In the end, that was what tipped the scales for me.
I believe that my affinity for Open Science, which I discovered during my studies, is based on a fundamental interest in the research process on the one hand and a strong sense of justice on the other. During an exchange semester at the University of Dar es Salaam, I experienced first-hand the differences in the accessibility of information for students in Germany and Tanzania. My fellow Tanzanian students had very limited access to electronic resources via the university library, so freely accessible scientific papers and books on the internet were incredibly important when writing term papers, etc. I, on the other hand, was able to access countless expensively licensed scientific content through the university library of the Humboldt University, even while studying abroad, and thus had an unfair advantage. For me, it goes without saying that all publicly funded knowledge should be freely available for everyone – in line with the slogan “Open Science is just science done right.” Open Science as a scientific standard is a goal to which I am more than happy to devote my working hours to.
What do you appreciate about the Max Planck community?
Josefine Blunk: I appreciate working in a vibrant and international environment where everything is constantly in motion. You get many opportunities here to think outside the box. Specifically, in my work in the Library and Research Information department, I appreciate being part of a unit that continuously questions itself and strives to offer services that adapt to the needs of scientists even when conditions change repeatedly.
In my work, I am of course also in contact with other information service providers from the Max Planck community. This community is characterized by a strong sense of mutual support – people openly share best practices, help each other out, and treat each other with a great deal of respect.