DOAJ Ambassador Training Course in Seoul

From October 31 to November 3, 2017, the National Library of Korea in Seoul hosted the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) Ambassador Training Course. Three DOAJ staff members from the Netherlands, China, and India conducted the event. Their main purpose was to train the participants, who were Korean journal editors or manuscript editors, on what DOAJ does and how to apply for their open access journals to be included in the directory. The instructors were also to elect three DOAJ Korean ambassadors from among the trainees. The ambassadors would promote DOAJ in Korea and help publishers apply for their journals’ inclusion in the DOAJ. The instructors would elect the ambassadors based on their performance during the training course and an individual interview conducted on the last day of the training. On the first day of the program, I arrived at the training with excitement and expectation. After a brief introduction, the instructors explained the details of the training program. Then we all learned about and discussed DOAJ, journal publishing, open access, and trends in the Korean publishing market. After the day session, participants had an opportunity to connect with each other over dinner. Everyone seemed to be excited about the remaining sessions. On the second day, the instructors explained the organizational and administrative structure of DOAJ. Then participants practiced filling in the Journal Application Form, item by item. In the afternoon, participants gathered into groups to practice reviewing and evaluating application forms. Then the groups presented their conclusions of the review and asked questions about the review process. It appeared that most participants had not yet applied for their journal’s inclusion in DOAJ and that the practice session had been helpful. A few participants promised to apply after the training. On the third day, each participant used the knowledge gained from the previous day’s practice to evaluate an example application form. Compared to the group exercise from the day before, this individual evaluation was more exciting but also carried the weight of greater responsibility. After the exercise, the instructors shared DOAJ’s expectations for Korean ambassadors. They also discussed the practices of the DOAJ ambassadors in Indonesia and the recent increase in journal applications from that country. In the last session of the day, participants who wanted to become a DOAJ Korean ambassador scheduled interviews for the next day. Finally, on the last day, the instructors conducted the ambassador interviews and announced the three new Korean ambassadors. The other participants expressed their willingness to help Received: January 22, 2018 Accepted: January 29, 2018