Sunday, November 26, 2006

SECTUS 2007 - AN UNOFFICIAL HARRY POTTER CONFERENCE

SECTUS 2007 - AN UNOFFICIAL HARRY POTTER CONFERENCE
Park Crescent Conference Centre, London, UK.
Thursday 19th July - Sunday 22nd July 2007=20

CALL FOR PAPERS

Sectus 2007 offers attendees the opportunity to celebrate the tenth
anniversary of J.K. Rowling's series at a major fandom conference to be
held in the heart of London

The main focus of the conference will be on the Harry Potter series, the
fandom and its many areas of interest. Suggested topics for
presentations include, but are by no means restricted to:

- Science and technology:
Can science be said to exist in the Wizarding World, and if so, how far
does it reflect our real-world knowledge? Is magic bound by the laws of
physics?

- Mythology, alchemy and symbolism:
How myths and legends support Rowling's storytelling, and how an
examination of alchemical theory and symbolism can help us unravel the
secrets within the text.

- Education:
The portrayal of education in the Wizarding World, the effective use of
Rowling's books in real-world education and is the 'reading revolution'
a myth?

- Social and political issues:
Explorations of class, race, gender and sexuality in the narrative, the
Wizarding World and/or derived fan works.

- Fandom history:
From paper to screen - how would the HP fandom have fared without the
internet, and what lies ahead for the fandom after the publication of
the seventh book?

- Fandom issues:
Staying on the right side of international law, fan fiction vs. fan art,
gender and the fan community.

Proposals should contain the following information:

- Title of presentation (must clearly indicate the subject matter)
- Abstract/Synopsis (100-200 words) - For lectures only
- Length of time required for presentation (estimate)
- Short biography for conference programme (50-200 words)

Proposal submission deadline: 31st January 2007
Full paper submission deadline: 30th April 2007
Format: All proposals and submissions should be presented in .doc or .rtf format and forwarded by e-mail only to submissions@sectus.org using the subject line 'Sectus 2007 Proposal' or 'Sectus 2007 Paper' as appropriate.

All work must be original/your own work and you must be registered with
Sectus to have your proposal accepted.

For further information and to register, please visit the Sectus 2007
website at http://www.sectus.org
.

Please note that attendance at Sectus 2007 is restricted to those aged
18 and over, and requires registration in advance.

SECTUS 2007 - AN UNOFFICIAL HARRY POTTER CONFERENCE
Park Crescent Conference Centre, London, UK.
Thursday 19th July - Sunday 22nd July 2007=20

CALL FOR PAPERS

Sectus 2007 offers attendees the opportunity to celebrate the tenth
anniversary of J.K. Rowling's series at a major fandom conference to be
held in the heart of London

The main focus of the conference will be on the Harry Potter series, the
fandom and its many areas of interest. Suggested topics for
presentations include, but are by no means restricted to:

- Science and technology:
Can science be said to exist in the Wizarding World, and if so, how far
does it reflect our real-world knowledge? Is magic bound by the laws of
physics?

- Mythology, alchemy and symbolism:
How myths and legends support Rowling's storytelling, and how an
examination of alchemical theory and symbolism can help us unravel the
secrets within the text.

- Education:
The portrayal of education in the Wizarding World, the effective use of
Rowling's books in real-world education and is the 'reading revolution'
a myth?

- Social and political issues:
Explorations of class, race, gender and sexuality in the narrative, the
Wizarding World and/or derived fan works.

- Fandom history:
From paper to screen - how would the HP fandom have fared without the
internet, and what lies ahead for the fandom after the publication of
the seventh book?

- Fandom issues:
Staying on the right side of international law, fan fiction vs. fan art,
gender and the fan community.

Proposals should contain the following information:

- Title of presentation (must clearly indicate the subject matter)
- Abstract/Synopsis (100-200 words) - For lectures only
- Length of time required for presentation (estimate)
- Short biography for conference programme (50-200 words)

Proposal submission deadline: 31st January 2007
Full paper submission deadline: 30th April 2007
Format: All proposals and submissions should be presented in .doc or .rtf format and forwarded by e-mail only to submissions@sectus.org using the subject line 'Sectus 2007 Proposal' or 'Sectus 2007 Paper' as appropriate.

All work must be original/your own work and you must be registered with
Sectus to have your proposal accepted.

For further information and to register, please visit the Sectus 2007
website at http://www.sectus.org
.

Please note that attendance at Sectus 2007 is restricted to those aged
18 and over, and requires registration in advance.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

CFP: SACRED LEAVES: THE BOOK BETWEEN MANUSCRIPT & PRINT

CFP: SACRED LEAVES: THE BOOK BETWEEN MANUSCRIPT & PRINT

First Annual *Sacred Leaves *Graduate Symposium, University of South Florida,
Tampa Library, Tampa, Florida
Date: February 22-23, 2007
Deadline: January 5th, 2007

*Keynote Speaker*: *Mark Dimunation, Chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress. *Thursday, February 22, 7:00pm.

The Special Collections Department of the Tampa Library, University of South Florida seeks papers from graduate students and recent MA or PhD recipients for its First Annual Graduate Symposium, *Sacred Leaves.* This year's theme is *The Book Between Manuscript & Print*. We encourage interdisciplinary topics considering the history of the book, with particular emphasis on the shift from script to print. Subjects for proposals may include, but are not
limited to:

-Readership
-Production techniques
-Word and image relations
-The book as art
-Methodologies in the history of the book

This symposium will coincide with the University of South Florida Tampa Library's 4th *Sacred Leaves* exhibition: *Beyond the Quill… Books Printed Between 1450-1500*. This exhibit will feature twenty individual leaves and four full books printed before 1500. These incunabula offer physical evidence of the transition between script and print, an evolution not unlike the twenty-first century shift from print to electronic media. This exhibit explores the dependence of early printed books on their manuscript predecessors by addressing the overlap in production and presentation that took place during this transitional and experimental period.

Deadline: January 5th, 2007.

Please email abstracts of no more than 250 words to Curator of Medieval Manuscripts Collections and Symposium Coordinator, Lesley T. Stone lstone@lib.usf.edu (813) 974-4774. Notification of acceptances will be emailed by January 15, 2007. Please include the title of your paper, name, affiliation, and email address. Each paper selected will be allotted 15
minutes for presentation. Papers will be presented in small group sessions
and audience response will be encouraged.

*Sacred Leaves: The Book Between Manuscript & Print* is organized by the Special Collections Department of the Tampa Library, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida.

Keli Erin Rylance, Ph.D.
Special Collections Department
University of South Florida Libraries
4202 E. Fowler Avenue, LIB 122
Tampa, FL 33620-5400
813.974.5458 voice
813.396-9006 fax
http://www.lib.usf.edu

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

CFP: Spring 2007 meeting of the Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians

CFP: Spring 2007 meeting of the Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians
Mapping Our Way: New Formations in Technical Services

The Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians (OVGTSL), serving Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, will hold its 2007 annual meeting at the Holiday Inn University Plaza, Bowling Green, Kentucky, on May 16-18. The OVGTSL Program Planning Committee invites proposals for presentations that explore the spectrum of library technical services. Presentations relating
to academic, public, or special libraries from historical, theoretical, practical or visionary perspectives are welcome. Possible areas include:

* Acquisitions /cataloging /serials
* Database maintenance
* Preservation, archival issues, digitization
* Collection management /gift items /challenged materials
* Changing relations with vendors and publishers
* Educating /retraining technical services staff
* New technologies /services /software /standards /systems
* Instructional roles for technical services librarians
* Management trends / marketing /funding opportunities
* Communication enhancement tools

OVGTSL invites all interested persons to submit proposals and suggested topics/speakers. Please include the following:

* Name, address, institution and title, e-mail address, and telephone number of the presenter(s) * Title of presentation
* Abstract (not to exceed 200 words)
* Format (e.g. presentation, individual or panel discussion, poster session)
* Equipment needs

URL:
http://www.wku.edu/Library/ovgtsl/Home.html

2007 Meeting Sneak Preview:
http://www.wku.edu/Library/ovgtsl/OVG%202007.ppt

Proposals should be submitted either electronically or by post by March 1, 2007 to:

Uma Doraiswamy
University Libraries
Western Kentucky University
1906 College Heights Blvd., #11067
Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101-1067
Email: uma.doraiswamy@wku.edu

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

CFP: 4th International Conference on Evidence-based Library & InfoPractice

4th International Conference on Evidence-based Library & InfoPractice

The Evidence Based Library and Information Practice Conference (EBLIP4) is
an exciting international event that has emerged in response to the growing
interest among all types of libraries in using the best available
research-based evidence to improve information practice. The conference on
May 6-9, 2007 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina will be followed by two days of
CE. The conference provides a forum for the presentation of high quality
papers and posters as well as examples of how EBLIP is being implemented in
library and information settings around the globe. EBLIP4 invites
submissions for contributed papers and posters including both original
research and innovative applications of EBLIP in library and information
management. Papers that deal with library support of evidence-based practice
in other fields such as health, social work and public policy are also
welcome.

Additional info may be found at http://www.eblip4.unc.edu

Important Dates
December 1, 2006 Submission deadline for abstracts for papers and
posters
February 11, 2007 Final decisions for accepted papers
February 15, 2007 Final decisions for accepted posters
March 15, 2007 Submission deadline for full papers

Submit a proposal for a Cyber Zed Shed presentation at theACRL 13th National Conference

Submit a proposal for a Cyber Zed Shed presentation at theACRL 13th National Conference

Are you a tech savvy librarian using new technologies in innovative ways to help your library be more effective, efficient and productive? Here is an opportunity to share your innovations with your colleagues, library administrators, and others at the “Cyber Zed Shed” at the ACRL 13th National Conference!

The ACRL 13th National Conference Innovations Committee invites you to submit a proposal for a Cyber Zed Shed presentation. The committee is looking for proposals that document technology-related innovations in every area of the library. Whether you are teaching in a classroom, answering questions from patrons, acquiring, cataloging, processing or preserving materials, or providing other services, we’re interested!

Presentations will be shared at the Cyber Zed Shed during the ACRL 13th National Conference, which will be held in Baltimore, March 29 - April 1, 2007. Cyber Zed Shed presentations will be held throughout the day on Saturday, March 31, 2007, and will be located on the exhibit floor at the Baltimore Convention Center. Proposals must be submitted by Friday, December 8.

FORMAT
Cyber Zed Shed presentations are 20-minutes in length, with fifteen minutes to present a demonstration, and five additional minutes for audience Q&A. Presentations should document technology-related innovations in academic and research libraries. A computer, data projector, screen, microphone, and stage will be provided in the Cyber Zed Shed theater. You will be responsible for bringing all other equipment required for your demonstration except as agreed to in advance (see Call for Proposals online for details).

HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL
The full text of the Cyber Zed Shed Call for Proposals is online at http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlevents/baltimore/program07/cyberzedshed.htm. Proposals must be submitted via the online submission form: https://marvin.foresightint.com/surveys/Tier1Survey/ACRL/133.

DEADLINE
Proposals must be submitted by Friday, December 8, 2006 (5:00 p.m. CST).

NOTIFICATION
Applicants will be notified via e-mail by January 15, 2007.

Questions should be directed to Margot Conahan at msutton@ala.org, 312-280-2522.

ACRL is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), representing more than 13,000 academic and research librarians and interested individuals. ACRL is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products and services to meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand the role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning and research environments.

Call for Contributors: Encyclopedia of the Caribbean (Facts on File)

Call for Contributors: Encyclopedia of the Caribbean (Facts on File)

The editor of the forthcoming Facts On File Encyclopedia of the Caribbean is seeking academic contributors for articles on the history, societies, and cultures of this region.

The reference work will be available in a three-volume print edition and through electronic subscription. High school and college students are the intended reading audience.

With over 700 entries, the Encyclopedia will be the only comprehensive reference work of its kind for this region, defined to include the circum-Caribbean. Coverage includes key figures, topics and events in history, society and popular culture, religion, literature, politics, geography, and economics. Articles will range from 500 to 8,000 words and honorariums are available. Deadlines for submitting the work are March 1, July 1, and October 1, 2007, and priority will be given to those who can commit to the earlier targets.

Interested scholars, graduate students, or freelance writers should send a writing sample and a CV or resumé that describes their academic qualifications to write on this subject.
Please email queries and documents to Caribbean_encyclopedia@yahoo.com

John Garriugs
Associate professor of history
University of Texas at Arlington
Arlington TX 76019-0529g
Email: caribbean_encyclopedia@yahoo.com

CFP: Beyond the Book: Contemporary Cultures of Reading

CFP: Beyond the Book: Contemporary Cultures of Reading
A conference at the University of Birmingham, UK

1 & 2 September 2007

Keynote Speakers:
Janice Radway (Duke University) & Elizabeth Long (Rice University)

Book groups, Lit Blogs, on-line bookstores, book festivals, reader magazines, 'One Book, One Community,' Reader's Guides, 'Richard & Judy's Book Club,' Book TV, 'Canada Reads,' the 'Nancy Pearl Action Figure,' 'Tuesday Night Book Club,'… reading is hot!

This conference will explore the diverse formations, mediations, practices and representations of reading and readers in the contemporary moment. Cultures of reading are dynamic and complex: they involve not only readers reading, but also multiple agencies including publishers, booksellers, broadcast networks, national, regional and municipal governments, and educational institutions. The aim of the conference is to interrogate the relations among these agents and their investment in the meanings of reading. The study of readers and reading encourages, maybe demands, multi- and interdisciplinary analysis. We therefore invite scholars from across the humanities and social sciences to consider the contemporary meanings and experiences of reading in any culture or location. Selected papers will be included in an edited collection on contemporary cultures of reading/book cultures.

Possible topics for consideration:
• Reading as a form of popular culture
• Books & reading as cultural events
• Investigating reading and reader response: methodological problems & strategies
• The production of readers and/or reading
• Books/Reading and/in/through the mass media
• Reading spaces
• Reading together: shared reading
• Reading as a medium of/for social change
• Reading practices
• Reading and the state
Please send proposals for 20-minute papers (abstracts of 200-300 words) or complete three-person panel sessions (including abstracts for each paper) by 15 January 2007 to: burrealz@adf.bham.ac.uk, using "BTB proposal" as the subject line in your email. Proposals may also be sent to:

Beyond the Book Conference
Department of American & Canadian Studies
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Beyond the Book is a three-year collaborative interdisciplinary AHRC-funded research project investigating contemporary cultures of reading. The transatlantic BTB team are: DeNel Rehberg Sedo (Mount Saint Vincent University, Canada), Danielle Fuller, Anouk Lang & Anna Burrells (University of Birmingham, UK).

Anouk Lang
Department of American & Canadian Studies
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT

email: a.e.lang@bham.ac.uk
tel: 0121 414 7568
fax: 0121 414 6866

www.beyondthebookproject.org
www.uscanada.bham.ac.uk
Email: a.e.lang@bham.ac.uk
Visit the website at http://www.beyondthebookproject.org

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS: Encyclopedia of American Disability History (Facts on File)

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS: Encyclopedia of American Disability History (Facts on File)


Facts On File and the advisors for the Encyclopedia of American Disability History are looking for contributors.

• This three-volume reference work will cover basic information on important events, issues, developments, laws, biographies, and related topics in American Disability History. Entries on significant historical themes and concepts—including civil rights, war, public policy, citizenship, media, institutions, education, and technology—will examine both practical and theoretical factors, as well as demonstrate the deeper meaning of the lived experience of disability. Each entry will illustrate the subject within an historical context, and show that while disability has existed throughout American History, disability is neither a fixed nor static concept but one whose definition and understanding have changed markedly from era to era.


• Because accessibility is a major issue in Disability History, the entries in this reference will accommodate a broad, diverse audience, from high school students to general readers, to individuals who assist people with disabilities. Clear language, accessible prose, and coherent, balanced, jargon-free interpretations are essential for every article.


The editors of this encyclopedia are currently seeking contributors for a wide range of entries.

The following is a sample list of available entries:
Adoption
Aesthetic surgery
Camps
Children’s Bureau
Discrimination
Easter Seals
Environment
Family
Folklore
Homelessness
Identity
Industrialization
Gilbreth, Frank and Lillian
Gulf War
Little People of America
Mann, Horace
National Association of Psychiatric Survivors
National Paraplegia Foundation
Optical Recognition Scanner
Poster art
Public welfare
Rare Disorders
Representation
September 11, 2001
Staring
Stereotypes
Thalidomide
Transportation
Violence
War
Zola, Irving

• Authors interested in contributing to this important project should contact Dr. Susan Burch for further information and details regarding the full list of entries: susan.burch@gallaudet.edu
Fax: 202 651 5652

Dr. Susan Burch
History and Government Dept.
Gallaudet University
800 Florida Ave NE
Washington DC 20002
Email: susan.burch@gallaudet.edu

Monday, November 13, 2006

CFP: media in transition 5: creativity, ownership and collaboration in the digital age

CFP: media in transition 5: creativity, ownership and collaboration in the digital age

April 27-29, 2007
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

CALL FOR PAPERS (submission deadline: Jan. 5, 2007)

Our understanding of the technical and social processes by which culture is made and reproduced is being challenged and enlarged by digital technologies. An emerging generation of media producers is sampling and remixing existing materials as core ingredients in their own work. Networked culture is enabling both small and large collaborations among artists who may never encounter each other face to face. Readers are actively reshaping media content as they
personalize it for their own use or customize it for the needs of grassroots and online communities. Bloggers are appropriating and recontextualizing news stories; fans are rewriting stories from popular culture; and rappers and techno artists are sampling and remixing sounds.

These and related cultural practices have generated heated contention and debate. What constitutes fair use of another's intellectual property? What ethical issues are posed when sounds, images, and stories move from one culture or subculture to another? Or when
materials created by a community or religious or ethnic tradition are appropriated by technologically powerful outsiders? What constitutes creativity and originality in expressive formats based on sampling and remixing? What obligations do artists owe to those who have
inspired and informed their work and how much creative freedom should they exercise over their borrowed or shared materials?

One source of answers to such questions lies in the past - in the ways in which traditional printed texts - and films and TV shows as well - invoke, allude to and define themselves against their rivals and ancestors; and - perhaps even more saliently - in the ways in which folk and popular cultures may nourish and reward not originality in our modern sense, but familiarity, repetition, borrowing, collaboration.

This fifth Media in Transition conference, then, aims to generate a conversation that compares historical forms of cultural expression with contemporary media practices. We hope this event will appeal widely across disciplines and scholarly and professional boundaries. For example, we hope this conference will bring together such figures as:

* anthropologists of oral and folk cultures
* historians of the book and reading publics
* political scientists and legal scholars interested in alternative approaches to intellectual property
* media educators who aim to help students think about their ethical responsibilities in this new participatory culture
* artists ready to discuss appropriation and collaboration in their own work
* economists and business leaders interested in the new relationships that are emerging between media producers and consumers
* activists and netizens interested in the ways new technologies democratize who has the right to be an author

Among topics the conference might explore:

* history of authorship and copyright
* folk practices in traditional and contemporary society
* appropriating materials from other cultures: political and ethical dilemmas
* poetics and politics of fan culture
* blogging, podcasting, and collective intelligence
* media literacy and the ethics of participatory culture
* artistic collaboration and cultural production, past and present
* fair use and intellectual property
* sampling and remixing in popular music
* cultural production in traditional and developing societies
* Web 2.0 and the "architecture of participation"
* creative industries and user-generated content
* parody, spoofs, and mash-ups as critical commentary
* game mods and machinima
* the workings of genre in different media systems
* law and technological change

Short abstracts of no more than 200 words for papers or panels should be sent via email to Brad Seawell at seawell@mit.edu no later than January 5, 2007. Brad can be reached by phone at 617-253-3521. Email submissions are preferred, but abstracts can be mailed to:

Brad Seawell
14N-430
MIT
Cambridge , MA 02139

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Call for Papers for Satellite meeting (IFLA)

Call for Papers for Satellite meeting (IFLA)
Managing technologies and library automated systems in developing countries: open source VS commercial options
Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal
14-16 August 2007

URL: http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla73/satellite10call-en.htm

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and its Management and Marketing, Information technology, and Africa Sections, in collaboration with the Université Cheikh Anta Diop, are organizing a pre-conference and satellite meeting in Dakar (Sénégal) from August 14 to 16, 2007. This is held in conjunction with the IFLA annual conference, which takes place in Durban (South Africa), the following week.

THEME AND OBJECTIVES

The theme of this meeting will be the management of technologies and library automated systems in the context of developing countries, and in the light of recent developments concerning open source software and applications, as well as new commercial products. The objectives of the conference are to:

Bring together library practitioners, researchers, and educators in library and information science as well as designers and providers of technologies, software and other products that can be useful to libraries and their users, in order to exchange information and ideas;
Share international experiences focusing on various approaches to the management of technologies and library systems in the context of developing countries;
Contribute to the organization of study groups on these questions among African information professionals from different linguistic communities;
Explore possibilities that can be offered by IFLA core programmes to support developing countries in developing their management of technologies and library and automated systems.
TOPICS FOR PAPERS

Theoretical, practical and technological implications of the management of technologies and library automated systems in the context of developing countries;
Change management and communication patterns related to new technologies in libraries and information services;
Staff and personnel training / education for the management of technologies and library automated systems;
Experiences with and evaluation of technologies and library automated systems as they relate to developing counties;
Prospective questions in the area of technologies and library automated systems;
All other related subjects
NOTE: It is important to note that technology per se is not the theme of the conference, but rather its management.
HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL

Interested persons are invited to submit a proposal for a paper and presentation of about 25 minutes on the topics listed above.

Languages accepted: French and English are the two official languages of the conference and proposals can be submitted in either language.
The proposal which should be not more that 1000 words or two pages long and accompanied with the author¹s resume must be submitted in electronic format before November 30 2006.

Proposal should be sent by e-mail to:
Réjean Savard, Chair of the scientific committee
EBSI, Université de Montréal
CP 6128 succursale Centre-Ville
Montréal H3C 3J7
CANADA
E-mail: rejean.savard@umontreal.ca

Proposal evaluation:
Evaluation of the proposals will be based on their scientific quality (pertinence, theoretical base, methodology, originality) and on the competencies of the candidate(s) based on his/her past realizations (quality/quantity of his/her publications/communications, importance, and relevance to the theme of the pre-conference, professional experience etc.)

The following schedule will be applied:
30 November 2006: Deadline to submit proposals
15 January 2007: Notification of acceptance and dissemination of the program
30 May 2007: Deadline for authors to submit their papers
14-16 August 2007: Conference
2008: Publication of the papers

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

Reinhard Altenhöner, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (Germany)
Yawo Assigbley, Ministère du Développement et de l'Aménagement du Territoire et consultant (Togo)
James Daniel, National Mathematical Center, Abuja (Nigeria)
Bernard Dione, Univ. de Montréal, (Canada) (formerly from Université de Dakar Library)
Benoit Ferland, Bibliothèques, Ville de Montréal et Université de Montréal (Canada)
Nazha Hachad, École des sciences de l'information (Morocco)
Jacques Hellemans, Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)
Àngels Massisimo, Universitat de Barcelona (Spain)
Ali Mcharazo, Chairman, Tanzania Library Association (Tanzania)
Jalel Rouissi, Institut Supérieur de Documentation (Tunisia)
Réjean Savard, Université de Montréal (Canada)
Nadia Temmar, Documentation et archives, École Supérieure de Banque (Algeria)
Jacintha Were, Systems Librarian, University of Nairobi (Kenya)
Elie Youmba, Institut de recherches agronomiques et forestières (Gabon)
For more information about the venue of the conference:
Henri Sène, Chair of the Local Organization Committee,
Director Library, Université Cheikh Anta Diop,
Dakar, Senegal
E-mail: hsene@ucad.sn

UbiComp2007 Call for Papers

UbiComp2007 Call for Papers

UbiComp 2007 [1] will be the Ninth International Conference on
Ubiquitous Computing, held in Innsbruck, Austria, on 16-19 September 2007.

UbiComp 2007 invites original, high-quality research papers in the areas
of ubiquitous, mobile, embedded, and handheld computing. The conference
provides a forum for original research that enables new capabilities,
appropriate security and privacy, improved user experiences, and
simplified and powerful development and deployment practices. In
addition, we are interested in studies of existing and emerging
technologies, everyday use of technologies, and insightful commentary on
the state of the field.

Researchers are encouraged to submit papers on the following topics:

- Inferring the state of the user, such as location, activity,
intentions, resources, and capabilities in the past, present, and future
-Developing ubicomp systems, including representations, architecture,
middleware, resource management, and service discovery
- Embedding computation for new user interfaces, assistive technologies,
communication, novel sensors, intelligent environments, wearable
computing, and continuous monitoring and actuation
- Building ubicomp systems for health, gaming, socializing, and other
applications
- Ensuring user trust through privacy and security
- Understanding ubicomp and its consequences through conceptual models,
hard-won experience, user studies, business scenarios, and real deployments

UbiComp has a history of being a very selective conference, and there is
no desire to reduce expectations on quality. In an effort to enhance the
breadth of the conference, we aim to increase the number of accepted
full papers to approximately 40 for this year, which is up from 30 last
year and 22 the year before. Presentations will be scheduled in a
dualtrack format. The conference will institute a process for nominating
and selecting awards for best paper and presentations at the conference.

Submissions will be peer-reviewed by members of the program committee
and by selected expert reviewers. Papers will be evaluated on the basis
of originality, significance of contribution, technical correctness,
overall appeal to the general UbiComp reader, and presentation. Papers
submitted must not have been previously published nor currently under
review for any publication with an ISBN, ISSN, or DOI number. If
submitted work may appear to overlap with the authors̢۪ previous work,
the authors should email the PC chairs [2] directly to explain how the
new work is different. All reviewers will be instructed to keep
submissions confidential, although submissions must be publishable by
the cameraready deadline.

Accepted papers will be published in Springer̢۪s Lecture Notes in
Computer Science (LNCS), and all submissions should be formatted
according to their guidelines [3]. Misformatted submissions, or those
longer than 18 pages, are subject to rejection without review. Shorter
submissions will not be penalized, and each submission̢۪s length should
be appropriate for its content. One author from each accepted paper will
be required to attend the conference to present their work.

Paper submissions must be anonymized to facilitate blind review. Authors
are encouraged to take care throughout the entire document to minimize
references that may reveal the identity of the authors or their
institutions. Relevant references to an author's previous research
should not be suppressed but instead referenced in a neutral way.
Papers should be submitted as PDF files through PCS at [4].

A PDF version of this CfP is also available [5].

Important Dates
---------------

9 March Paper submissions due (23:59 PST)
25 May Accept/reject notifications
29 June Camera ready papers due
16-19 September UbiComp2007 in Innsbruck

Program Chairs
--------------

John Krumm, Microsoft Research, USA
Gregory Abowd, Georgia Tech, USA
Aruna Seneviratne, NICTA, Australia

Conference Chair
----------------

Thomas Strang, University of Innsbruck and German Aerospace Center


[1] http://www.ubicomp2007.org/
[2] pcchairs@ubicomp2007.org
[3] http://www.springer.com/east/home/computer/lncs?SGWID=5-164-7-72376-0
[4] https://precisionconference.com/~ubicomp
[5] http://www.ubicomp2007.org/files/UbiComp2007-CfP-Main.pdf

Computers and Writing Online 2007: Call for Games

Computers and Writing Online 2007: Call for Games

Games programmed using languages such as Macromedia Flash and Macromedia Shockwave have become increasingly common. Usually modest in scope, with limited graphics and sound, these so-called "Flash" games often appear in banner ads positioned at the top or on the right-hand margins of commercial sites. In return for accomplishing an ostensibly simple objective such as "shooting 20 ducks," "roping a bull, " or "striking oil," these games redirect players to sponsor's websites with the promise of rewards such as a free IPod, Xbox 360, or laptop. Flash games are also used for political purposes. One of the best examples of this practice can be found in September 12th: a Toy World < http://www.newsgaming.com/games/index12.htm>. A self-described simulation designed to "explore some aspects of the war on terror," September 12th positions players above a fictional Middle-Eastern city town and asks them to "shoot or not shoot" the terrorists that roam the streets. As with the games embedded in the banner ads of commercial sites, players discover that playing the game does not produce the expected results.

In order to explore the critical and pedagogical possibilities of Flash games, the 2007 Computers and Writing Online conference invites submissions of games that directly or indirectly address the conference theme of "Technoculture" . Ideally, these games should be no more than approximately two megabytes in size and able to be embedded in a webpage. Games submitted to the conference will be displayed on the conference website. In addition, the conference will sponsor a synchronous discussion centered on the games. This discussion will take place as part of the conference and will be held in AcadianaMOO .

Please submit finished games to cwonline2007@yahoo.com by January 5, 2007. If you have any questions about this call, please do not hesitate to contact the CWOnline 2007 conference organizers at cwonline2007@yahoo.com.


Computers and Writing Online 2007
Conference Co-Chairs:
Keith Dorwick, The University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Kevin Moberly, St Cloud State University
http://acadianamoo.org/cwonline2007

CFP: Special issue Misuse And Abuse Of Interactive Technologies for the journal Interaction Studies

CFP: Special issue Misuse And Abuse Of Interactive Technologies for the journal Interaction Studies: Social Behaviour and Communication in Biological and Artificial Systems http://www.agentabuse.org

Current HCI research is witnessing a shift from a materialistic perspective of viewing the computer as a tool for cognition to an experiential vision where the computer becomes a medium for emotion. So far, investigations into the user emotional engagement in
computing have mainly addressed the elicitation of positive feelings, including enjoyment, happiness, and fun. Research in Funology (Blythe, Monk, Overbeeke, &
Wright, 2003) echoes Norman's conclusions about aesthetics: fun matters­–fun interfaces work better. Unfortunately, enjoyment is not something added to an emotionally neutral computing experience. The user's experiences are colored by a host of emotions, many of them negative.

Workshops held at Interact2005 and CHI2006 (De Angeli, Brahnam, & Wallis, 2005; De Angeli, Brahnam, Wallis, & Dix, 2006) suggested that interface design and metaphors can inadvertently rouse more than user dissatisfaction and angry reactions: they can promote a wide range of negative behaviors that are directed not only towards the machine but also towards other people. The idea of a medium for emotion implies the possibility of harming the user,
designing computer programs which generate anger, sadness, fear, and grieves.

The goal of this special issue is to address the darker side of HCI by examining how computers sometimes bring about the expression of negative emotions and disinhibited behaviour. We are interested, for example, in the phenomena of human beings abusing their computers. Is it
truly a form of abuse? What consequences does it have on user’s performance and interaction design? Disinhibited behaviours directed against computers can take many forms, ranging from verbally abusing a machine to physically attacking it. In some cases, particularly in the case of
embodied conversational agents, there are questions about how the machine should respond to user abuses. We are also interested in understanding the psychological underpinnings of computer-mediated abuse and in exploring how HCI factors influence human-to-human abuse in computer mediated communication. Key issues include, but are not limited to:

*How does the misuse and abuse of the interface affect the user's experience?
*How do different interface metaphors (embodied conversational characters, windows, desktops, robots) shape a propensity to misuse or abuse the interface?
*What design factors trigger or restrain disinhibited behaviors?
*How does technology-mediated abuse differ from other forms of abuse, e.g., the abuse of people, symbols, flags sacred objects, and personal property?
*How can we develop embodied conversational characters or robots that learn to constrain users who engage in verbal abuse? Should ethical values for human societies and HCI be identical? Do we even need to diffuse it?
*What social norms and values play a role on technology misuse and what influence does the power distance between the agent/robot and the user have?

Guest Editors:
Antonella De Angeli (University of Manchester), UK
Sheryl Brahnam (Missouri State University), US
Christoph Bartneck (Eindhoven University of Technology), NL
Catherine Pelachaud (Université de Paris 8), FR

Submissions:
Research articles should not exceed 8000 words. Contributions should be in British or American English and should follow the American Psychological Association (APA) style. Please submit an electronic file of your paper (preferably in PDF), double spaced, with margins of 3 cm all round to
Antonella.de-angeli@manchester.ac.uk

The first page of a manuscript should contain the title of the article, the name, affiliation, email and postal address of each author. Followed by a self-contained abstract in English (max. 150 words) that includes the keywords pertaining to your article, and a biographical note about the author(s) of not more than 100 words.

Important Dates: Authors intending to submit are encouraged to contact Antonella De Angeli as soon as possible to discuss paper ideas and suitability for this issue.

January 19th, 2007: Submission
March 9th, 2007: Notification of acceptance
April 6th, 2007: Submission of camera­-ready version
Journal Details:
Interaction Studies aims to advance knowledge in the growing and strongly interdisciplinary area of interaction studies in biological and artificial systems. It intends to act as a medium for dialogues across the boundaries of academic disciplines for research into social behaviour and communication that has traditionally been presented in separate specialist journals.

Journal Details:
Editor-in-Chief: Kerstin Dautenhahn and James Hurford
Department of Computer Science, University of Hertfordshire, UK
University of Edinburgh, UK
ISSN: 1572-0373
E-ISSN: 1572-0381
http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/t_seriesview.cgi?series=IS


Websites:
http://www.agenagbuse.org
http://www.bartneck.de/journal/is/


References:
Blythe, M., Monk, A., Overbeeke, K., & Wright, P. (Eds.). (2003). Funology: From Usability to Enjoyment. Boston: Kluwer, Academic Publisher. DOI 10.1007/1-4020-2967-5
De Angeli, A., Brahnam, S., & Wallis, P. (Eds.). (2005). Proceedings of the Interact 2005 Workshop on Abuse: The dark side of Human-Computer Interaction. Rome September 12. Download PDF
De Angeli, A., Brahnam, S., Wallis, P., & Dix, A. (Eds.). (2006). Proceedings of the CHI2006 workshop on Misuse and Abuse of Interactive Technologies. Montreal, April 22. DOI 10.1145/1125451.1125753
Guest Editors:

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

CFP: 2007 LITA National Forum (Denver, Colorado - October 4-7, 2007)

CFP: 2007 LITA National Forum (Denver, Colorado - October 4-7, 2007)

Due Date for proposals: December 15, 2006

The 2007 National Forum Committee seeks proposals for high quality concurrent sessions and poster sessions for the 10th annual LITA National Forum to be held at the Denver Marriott City Center hotel in Denver, Colorado from October 4-7, 2007. Speaker participation in the entire Forum enhances the learning and networking for all participants and up to two speakers for each accepted proposal will receive a reduced registration rate.

Theme: Technology with Altitude: 10 Years of the LITA National Forum

Come join us in the 'mile-high' city of Denver to celebrate 10 years of the LITA National Forum. Explore the peaks and valleys of library and information technology. Share the ascents and descents of applying new technologies in your library. Explore the possibilities of the heights we
will reach with new technologies. Let technology take your breath away at the LITA Forum in Denver!

The Forum Committee is interested in presentations that highlight specific technology implementations; just over-the-horizon technologies that aren't quite ready for implementation; or information technology research. We are interested in all types of libraries: public, government, school, academic, special, and corporate. Proposals on any aspect of library and information technology are welcome.

Some possible ideas for proposals might include:

1. Social Computing: social tools, collaborative software, gaming technologies...
2. New Media: wireless connectivity, iPods, handhelds...
3. Future and Emerging Technologies: wireless technologies, assistive technologies, new user services, new communities; what will the next 10 years bring?...
4. Open Source Software: creative uses of OSS, technology on a budget...
5. Federated and Meta-Searching: design and management, integrated access to resources, search engines...
6. Digital Libraries: developments in resource linking, preservation, maintenance, web services
7. Authentication and Authorization: Digital Rights Management (DRM), authentication, privacy, services for remote patrons...
8. Web design: information architecture, activity-centered design, user-centered design, usability testing...
9. Technology Management: project management, geek management, budgeting, knowledge sharing applications...
10. Internet Law: privacy, copyright, filtering...

Presentations must have a technological focus and pertain to libraries and/or be of interest to librarians. Concurrent sessions are approximately 75 minutes in length. Forum 2007 will also accept a limited number of poster session proposals.

Presenters are required to submit handouts one month in advance for the Forum notebook, and handouts will be made available on the Web site after the event.

Your proposals are welcome and much appreciated! To submit a proposal, send the following information via email (in ASCII, PDF, or RTF format):

-Title
-Abstract and brief outline
-Level indicator (basic, intermediate, or advanced)
-Brief biographical information. Include experience as a presenter and expertise in the topic
-Full contact information
-Is this proposal for a concurrent session?
-Is this proposal for a poster session?
-If this proposal is for a concurrent session, might it be considered for a poster session?
-How did you hear about the 2007 Forum call for proposals?

The 2007 Forum Planning Committee will review proposals at the ALA Midwinter
Conference in January 2007. You will be contacted about the status of your
proposal by the end of February 2007.

Submit proposals (in ASCII, PDF, or RTF) by December 15, 2006 to:
Mary Taylor
mtaylor@ala.org
Executive Director
Library and Information Technology Association.

We look forward to hearing from you!


Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) members are
information technology professionals dedicated to educating, serving, and
reaching out to the entire library and information community. LITA is a
division of the American Library Association.

-------------------------

Anne Liebst
Assistant Director for Technical Services
Washburn University
Mabee Library
1700 SW College Ave.
Topeka, KS 66621
(785) 670-1983
(785) 670-3223 (fax)
anne.liebst@washburn.edu

CFP: Online Information Security (Online Information Review - Emerald Journal)

CFP: Online Information Security (Online Information Review - Emerald Journal)

Online Information Review
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/info/journals/oir/oir.jsp

About Online Information Review (OIR)
Online Information Review is a refereed journal devoted to research in the
broad field of online information, including both transactional and
transformational aspects, in the academic, corporate, scientific and
commercial contexts. It addresses issues related to online resources,
systems and services, information quality, content and software
evaluation, with a primary focus on online and digital information
creation, storage, retrieval and applications. Coverage is intentionally
international, with contributions from both developed and developing
countries.

About the special issue
Online Information Review invites the submission of articles that address
aspects of the theme, “Online Information Security”. In recent times there
has been considerable popular interest in such issues as identity theft,
denial of service attacks, and worms that thrive on the anonymity of the
Internet. Behind these more dramatic issues lies considerable research
activity, and it is this work that OIR seeks to bring to the fore.

Accordingly, this issue of OIR seeks original research and critical
thinking that provides a basis for understanding the dangers of and
possible solutions to online information security across the spectrum of
online activity. Although all perspectives are welcome, papers that offer
strong theoretical foundations and empirical focus will be preferred.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

- Online shopping security
- Secure online banking transactions
- Personal security in the online environment
- Online trust
- Maintaining digital document integrity
- The world of hacking
- Controlling viruses and worms
- Online lures and scams
- Scam Websites for stealing personal information
- New information security threats

Submission information
All papers will be double-blind peer reviewed. Author guidelines for
prospective contributors are available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/info/journals/oir/notes.jsp Papers will be
reviewed in accordance with OIR guidelines. Papers will be reviewed within
two weeks of the submission deadline, and all authors informed of
decisions within a month of the submission deadline. The accepted papers
will be published in Online Information Review Vol 31, No 4 (July-August
2007)

Authors should submit an electronic copy of their manuscript as a Word
file to the Editor via e-mail attachment: Dr G E Gorman,
mailto:gary.gorman@vuw.ac.nz

Dates
Submission deadline: 1 April 2007
Acceptance decision: 1 May 2007
Date of publication: July-August 2007.

*************************************
Eileen Breen
Publisher
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
60/62 Toller Lane
Bradford BD8 9BY
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 1274 777700
Fax: +44 (0) 1274 785200
mailto:ebreen@emeraldinsight.com
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/info/librarians/How_to_get_Published/perish.jsp
for advice on writing for publication

Monday, November 06, 2006

Special Issue of IJDL on Very Large Digital Libraries (VLDL)

Special Issue of IJDL on Very Large Digital Libraries (VLDL)

CALL FOR PAPERS:
Special Issue on Very Large Digital Libraries (VLDL)
Int'l J. of Digital Libraries (IJDL)
http://pike.psu.edu/ijdl07/

As the number of digital libraries increases and their scale grows rapidly, it is timely and critical to address research issues in such large-scale digital libraries. This is evidenced by the recent proliferation of articles and talks that concern scaling issues in the context of digital libraries, and the growing interests of other areas of computer science investigating problems that are of interest to the DL community.

Very large digital libraries also emerge from the commercial sector in recent years. These are examples of digital libraries with a very large number of digital objects (i.e., articles and their metadata). One can also imagine a meta digital library that consists of a very large number of independent digital libraries, or a digital library that draws a very large number of users (e.g., SkyServer). Itis also quite possible for a digital library to have all of these scaling perspectives - large number of objects, underlying digital libraries, and users.

Recognizing the importance of research in this area, the International Journal on Digital Libraries is organizing a special issue on VeryLarge Digital Libraries (VLDL). The special issue will focus on high-quality original unpublished research, case studies as well as implementation experiences and survey articles in the area of computational aspects of Digital Libraries that emphasize on techniques that have been or can be applied to the creation, maintenance and usage of large-scale digital libraries.

Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

- Automated collection development
- Automated metadata extraction, classification, cleaning, matching and maintenance
- Automated terminological and named entity processing
- Automated analysis of patrons' queries
- Creation and maintenance of large DLs
- Efficient data distribution and transmission of DL resources
- Recommendation in DLs
- Design frameworks and architectural issues of large DLs
- Collaborative environments in DLs
- Large scale integration and federation of DLs
- User interface design for dealing with complexity of DLs
- Quality of service and load balancing in large multimedia DLs
- Heterogeneity issues with respect to structure, media or language in DLs
- Interoperability and service-oriented architecture
- Role of government initiatives in the generation of VLDLs

Instructions for submitting manuscripts:

Manuscripts must be written in English and should include a cover page with title, name and address (including e-mail address) of author(s),an abstract, and a list of identifying keywords. In particular, the special issue solicits two types of original and unpublished manuscripts:

- Regular article reports completed VLDLs works (8-10 pages)- Short or Vision article covers recent, work-in-progress, high impact work of VLDLs (2-4 pages)Submission must be properly formatted in the IJDL format. Papers will be subject to two rounds of review. Please indicate that you are submitting to the special issue on Very Large Digital Libraries. Manuscripts must be submitted directly to the guest editors by email.

Important Dates:

- July 1, 2007 : Due date for submission of manuscripts
- October 1, 2007 : Notification of acceptance/rejection
- December 10, 2007 : Due date for camera-ready version
- March, 2008 : Tentative date for publication of Special Issue

Editors of the Special Issue:
Min-Yen Kan
National University of Singapore
kanmy@comp.nus.edu.sg

Dongwon Lee
Penn State University
dongwon@psu.edu

Ee-Peng Lim
Nanyang Technological University
aseplim@ntu.edu.sg

About the Journal:

The aim of IJDL is to advance the theory and practice of acquisition, definition, organization, management and dissemination of digital information via global networking. In particular, the journal will emphasize technical issues in digital information production, management and use, issues in high-speed networks and connectivity, inter-operability, and seamless integration of information, people, profiles, tasks and needs, security and privacy of individuals and business transactions and effective business processes in the Information Age.

More information about the journal can be found at http://www.dljournal.org/

MLA (Medical Library Association) News Technology section seeks authors for 2007

MLA (Medical Library Association) News Technology section seeks authors for 2007

For more information visit:
http://www.mlanet.org/publications/mlanews/index.html

General information on writing for MLA News:
http://www.mlanet.org/publications/mlanews/newseds.html

Choose either of two formats:

1. INTERNET RESOURCES columns are annotated lists of Web sites on topics relevant to health science librarians and their patrons. These can be on health, clinical, or technology topics. Columns generally contain six to 10 URLs, with one- to three- sentence annotations each. Maximum total length: 500 words.

Examples of possible topics include:

* Medical multimedia sites - professional and consumer health
* Resources for improved efficiency, convenience, and getting organized (lifehacker.com, 43folders.com)
* Collection development resources for medical librarians
* Comparison shopping Web sites for technology items (cnet.com, brighthand.com, pricegrabber.com, bizrate.com)

2. TECHNOLOGY articles can be topic reviews, case studies, or "state of the technology" pieces. Maximum total length: 700 words.

Examples of possible topics include:

* Latest in screen technology and electronic paper
* Best values in SmartBoards or projectors
* Data mining
* Web-based alternatives to local citation management and style formatting applications

Other topics are welcome and will be seriously considered. Please contact one of us if you know of great resources you'd like to share with your colleagues or have a topic in mind that you'd enjoy investigating. MLA News is published 10 times a year, so there are plenty of opportunities.


Pat Weiss, pwf@pitt.edu
Lynne Fox, Lynne.Fox@UCHSC.edu
Technology Co-Editors, MLA News

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia M. Weiss, MLIS
Reference and Information Technology Librarian
Technology Editor, MLA News
Falk Library - Health Sciences Library System - 200 Scaife Hall - University of Pittsburgh
3550 Terrace Street - Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Health Sciences Library System - http://www.hsls.pitt.edu

pwf@pitt.edu - Phone 412.648.2040 - Fax 412.648.8819
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CFP: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

CFP: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

Proposal Deadline is 11/8/2006
http://www.socialscienceconf.org (Go to website for more information)
December 9-11, 2006 Marriott Hotel, Vancouver Canada


ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
This third interdisciplinary conference will draw together faculty members, research
scientists, and professionals from the social sciences, and provide them with
the opportunity to interact with colleagues from the same field and from other,
related fields. Cross-disciplinary submissions are particularly encouraged as is
participation by international scholars. The disciplines represented include:
Anthropology,
Area Studies/International Studies,
Criminology,
Economics,
Environmental studies,
Geography,
Gender Studies,
Law,
History,
Political Science,
Policy/Public Administration/Public Health,
Psychology,
Race/Ethnic Studies,
Sociology, and
Urban Studies


VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA
Because it is on the west coast, the weather is mild. Vancouver is a remarkable
combination of urban chic with the beauties of nature never more than a few steps
away. Key things to see while visiting Vancouver include the Capilano Suspension
Bridge, which is a walking bridge suspended 450 feet across and 230 feed above the
Capilano River. Cross over to Treetops Adventure and walk from one magnificent
Douglas fir to another via a series of seven elevated suspension bridges, some
reaching as high as 100 feet above the forest floor. If you like heights and nature
even more, you can visit Grouse Mountain and escape from city streets to snowy
slopes in just 15 minutes. Let the Skyride whisk you on a one mile aerial journey
to The Peak of Vancouver, where you can experience a outdoor adventures including:
skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, snowshoeing, and more. From art galleries, to
the Aquarium, to the Botanical Garden, to the first authentic classical Chinese
Garden built outside of China, there are many things to do.


MARRIOTT HOTEL IN VANCOUVER
The Marriott Pinnacle Downtown is a Four Diamond property. Located in the heart of
downtown Vancouver, near Stanley Park, museums and Vancouver's best restaurants,
it has an inviting atmosphere with high quality service, the Show Case Restaurant
and Bar, as well as wireless internet service and a health club. The hotel is
located at 1128 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC. For reservations, call
1-800-228-9290.


REGISTERING FOR THE CONFERENCE
Like most academic conference, everyone who attends or presents must register.
The prices are discounted for graduate students and if you stay in the conference
hotel. The rates are also lower if you register early.
Registration includes two breakfasts, two lunches and a reception. The registration
form can be downloaded from the conference website: www.socialscienceconf.org

CENTRE FOR POLICY AND PRACTICE
The Centre is an independent organization that supports research and its application
to real world questions. This work is inter-disciplinary in nature. The Director of
the Centre is William Morgan. Though a political scientist by training, most of his
research is interdisciplinary in orientation. Will received the Points of Light Award
from the Points of Light Foundation, and was also recognized by the Fund for Social
Entrepreneurs at Youth Serve America. Most recently, he was named a Fellow at the
John Glenn Institute.


COMMENTS FROM PREVIOUS ATTENDEES
"I particularly enjoyed the interdisciplinary nature of the meeting, and that it
draws so many international scholars - it provides a wonderful perspective."
"The quality of the food was the best that I have experienced at a professional
meeting."
"I appreciated the many opportunities to network with other researchers -
at meals, during receptions and during sessions."
"The conference ran very smoothly."
"The meeting was professionally helpful, but it was also a lot of fun."

CFP: Special issue of Dichtung Digital

CFP: Special issue of Dichtung Digital

Abstracts are now invited for the 2007 special issue of Dichtung Digital (http://www.dichtung-digital.com/), one of the leading international journals on digital literature and aesthetics. As the title 'New Perspectives on Digital Literature: Criticism and Analysis' suggests, the focus of this issue is on how examples of digital narrative, poetry and drama may be close-read and analysed in such a way as to show that electronic forms of literature can and indeed must be examined by means of both conventional and innovative analytical heuristics, to give exemplary evidence that digital 'literature' deserves to be categorised as such, less on the grounds of introspective subjectivity than theoretically well-argued, systematic textual investigation, and to contextualise digital literature with previous, non-digital forms of 'written art' in such a way as to demonstrate intertextual canonicity. Recent developments in the domain of digital literature include, for instance, fan and slash fiction, blogs, computer games, interactive narrative, as well as hybrid, multimodal forms of hypertext, hypermedia and cybertext. On the theoretical side, hypermedia theorists such as Marie Laure Ryan, Espen Aarseth, Roberto Simanowski, N. K. Hayles, George Landow, J.D. Bolter, Michael Joyce and Stuart Moulthrop have been developing approaches in Text World/Possible Worlds Theory, Game Theory, Poststructuralism, Deconstruction, Postcolonialism, Post/Cyberfeminism and Media Theory more generally to establish a critical debate suitable for such hybrid and liminal literary forms as digital narrative, poetry and drama. Similarly, efforts have been made both bottom-up and top-down to take aesthetic texts-on-screen in a distinctly user-/reader-friendly direction.

The forthcoming Dichtung Digital issue is situated in the context of those new developments, and we warmly invite contributions that take (some of) them into account as well as provide (monofocal and comparative) analyses of individual texts.

We are asking that potential authors express their interest by replying informally to Dr. Astrid Ensslin Astrid.Ensslin@manchester.ac.uk or Dr. Alice Bell a.m.bell@sheffield.ac.uk.

The deadline for abstracts (ca. 250 words) is 30th November, 2006.
The deadline for full papers (3,000-5,000 words) is 28 February, 2007.

We look forward to your reply.

Best wishes,


Dr. Astrid Ensslin and Dr. Alice Bell,

The Editors

CFP: Evaluation of Digital Libraries (Library Hi Tech)

CFP: Evaluation of Digital Libraries (Library Hi Tech)

Library Hi Tech http://www.emeraldinsight.com/info/journals/lht/lht.jsp seeks authors for a theme issue on the “Evaluation of Digital Libraries". Authors may present substantial studies with formal methodologies and detailed results, or may describe methodologies and techniques for evaluation. The latter can be illustrated with actual examples, including ones involving collaborative projects, but need not emphasize any particular digital library.

Evaluation is a broad topic that can have to do with the look and feel of the Web presence, the content and mix of content, the technologies used to manage the digital library, legal issues, or long-term stability (including archiving). Authors should feel free to interpret the theme
broadly.

Articles for Library Hi Tech should be 4000-8000 words long and should follow the Emerald style guide http://www.emeraldinsight.com/info/journals/lht/notes.jsp . Library Hi Tech is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal that is indexed in Current Contents/Social and Behavioral Sciences, Social Sciences Citation Index, Social Scisearch and Journal Citation Reports/Social Sciences Edition.

Those interested in contributing should submit a brief (300 word) abstract to Michael Seadle. E-mail: seadle@ibi.hu-berlin.de by 30 November 2006. Articles would be due in March 2007. Articles must be in English in their final form.

*************************************
Eileen Breen
Publisher
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
60/62 Toller Lane
Bradford BD8 9BY
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 1274 777700
Fax: +44 (0) 1274 785200
mailto:ebreen@emeraldinsight.com
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/info/librarians/How_to_get_Published/perish.jsp
for advice on writing for publication