IRLIST Digest ISSN 1064-6965 August 5, 1997 Volume XIV, Number 28 Issue 366 ********************************************************** I. QUERIES 1. Use and Understanding of Cross-Reference Structures by Users II. JOBS 1. Dalhousie U.: Killam Chair, Business Informatics 2. Vanderbilt U. Medical Ctr.: Research Information Scientist III. NOTICES A. Publications 1. Washington Update July 25, 1997 B. Meetings 1. Electronic Publishing Symposium Announcement 2. European Internet Conference 3. International Course on Information Management 4. ISIC-98 5. International Conference in Beijing 6. IBERAMIA'98 ********************************************************** I. QUERIES I.1. Fr: Gerry McKiernan Re: Use and Understanding of Cross-Reference Structures by Users _Use and Understanding of Cross-Reference Structures by Users_ For my review of 'neo-conventional thesauri that is part of of a larger review of Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) [which I have interpreted in both the technical sense as well as in a broader philosophical and theoretical sense, I am am interested in learning of any research that has documented and/or analyzed the use of syndectic mechanisms in OPACS or other electronic bibliographic databases by users. [For individuals who are not familiar with Data Mining and/or KDD, I have established a link to a good review article on Data Mining as well as one to _the_ Web clearinghouse on KDD at my 4T9R(sm) site. It's accessible at: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/4T9R.htm ] I am particularly interested in user understanding of these mechanisms as well as their use for effective searching. [I have found _ a few_ references from the late 1980s and early 1990s, but no recent [last five years?] studies about the use of cross-references [e.g. BT, NT, RT,] by users] I am also interested in key review papers that document the value of 'associative' term relationships, other than the conventional BT/NT/RT structure, for effective retrieval [ I am aware of the work of Steve Pollitt CeDAR at Huddersfield University with his HIBROWSE and VUSE systems and their associated applications, as well as that of Tamas Doszkocs at NLM] As always, any and all leads, insights, suggestions, comments, critiques, opinions, attitudes, donations {:-], are most welcome! Regards, Gerry McKiernan Curator, CyberStacks(sm) Iowa State University Ames IA 50011 gerrymck@iastate.edu http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/ ********************************************************** II. JOBS II.1. Fr: Elaine G. Toms Re: Vanderbilt U. Medical Ctr.: Research Information Scientist Research Information Scientist (Position restructured) The Eskind Biomedical Library, Vanderbilt University Medical Center is currently seeking applications for the position of Research Information Scientist. The position reports to the Deputy Director of the Library and the Chair of the Division of Biomedical Informatics. This is a dual appointment within the Informatics Center with a staff appointment in the Library and a faculty appointment in the Division of Biomedical Informatics, School of Medicine. Successful applicants will be able to translate theoretical underpinnings of information science and engineering into practice within a dynamic, project-based environment. The position requires broad familiarity with the use of technology as a tool to facilitate the archiving and communication of biomedical information. Individuals should have knowledge of publishing and the publishing industry, copyright laws, fair use, database licensing issues, database design, and search engines. The Research Information Scientist develops strategies for new projects and programs in the Library. Specifically, the person recruited for this position will provide an overarching strategy for providing access to electronic resources including developing and maintaining appropriate consortia relationships. Successful applicants should have research interest or experience in the area of new and innovative models relative to knowledge transfer. This includes, but is not limited to, addressing the paradigmatic shift in the scientific communication continuum. Requirements: MD or PhD in library science or informatics-related field, relevant professional publications and presentations. Salary: negotiable, depending upon qualifications. For more information, contact Nunzia B. Giuse, MD, MLS, Deputy Director, Eskind Biomedical Library, Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Library Administration Suite, Room 212, Eskind Biomedical Library, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232-8340, (800) 854-0451) or via e-mail at nunzia.giuse@mcmail.vanderbilt.edu. ********************************************************** III. NOTICES III.A.1. Fr: Garret Sern Re: Washington Update July 25, 1997 FARNET's WASHINGTON UPDATE --- JULY 25, 1997 IN THIS ISSUE: Status of funding for the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) Safe Act (S.R.695) passes House International Relations Committee markup >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Written from FARNET's Washington office, "FARNET's Washington Update" is a service to FARNET members and other interested subscribers. We gratefully acknowledge EDUCOM's NTTF and the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) for additional support. If you would like more information about the Update or would like to offer comments or suggestions, please contact Garret Sern at garret@farnet.org. ********** III.B.1. From: Richard Hill Subject: ASIS Annual Meeting - Digital Collections DIGITAL COLLECTIONS: Implications for Users, Funders, Developers and Maintainers ASIS 1997 Annual Meeting November 2-6, 1997 Washington, DC PRELIMINARY PROGRAM: The ASIS 1997 annual meeting will deal broadly with the emerging phenomenon of collections of digital objects -- text, image, sound, and multimedia -- accumulated in central as well as distributed repositories or virtual collections. Following are representative topics. For up-to-date information, session descriptions, schedule, registration information, and more, please see the ASIS Web site at or contact ASIS at the address below. PLENARY SESSIONS: * Tom Kalil, Director of Science and Technology for the National Economic Council, The White House. "Clinton-Gore Policies and Networked Information * Funders' Forum: Private/Public Support for Digitization Projects. The 1997 Funding Forum is a platform for representatives of a variety of programs to discuss their expectations for projects to be funded, currently funded initiatives, the relative success of past projects, and hopes for future collaborative efforts. TECHNICAL PROGRAM: * Digital Library Evaluation * Digital Collections for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises * Linking Government Data Producers to the Intermediary User Communities. * Search Engines as Intelligent Agents (Knowbots) * Web User Assessment * Interfaces for Digital Special Collections * Multilingual Databases In the Networking Age * Networked Distribution of Electronic Publications * Retrieval Designs Affecting Digital Collections * Organizing and Representing Knowledge Graphically * Image Retrieval * Library Resources via the World Wide Web: User Studies * Electronic Publication in the Sciences * Metadata, the Uniform Resource Characteristic, and Access * Classification and Indexing for Image Collections * Interface Design * Demonstration of Iterative Prototyping. * Diffusion Theory & Electronic Publishing * Semiotic Approaches to Information Science * Networking in Less-Developed Countries * Communities & Electronic Networks * Faculty Transition To the Use of Electronic Information Resources * Time as a Factor in the Evaluation of Information Quality * Public Interest and Fair Use * Classificatory Structures * Information Retrieval Interaction * Information Technology Projects at the National Library of Medicine CONTINUING EDUCATION/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SEMINARS: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31 (all courses 9:00am - 5:00pm): * Delivering Databases via the World Wide Web * Thesauri for Indexing and Retrieval SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1 (all courses 9:00 - 5:00): * Copyright in an Electronic World * Introduction to Computer and Network Security * Data Communications: Understanding the Basics * Introduction to Image Databases * Harnessing New Technologies for Collaboration * Digital Libraries: Concepts & Technologies for Managing Library Collections * Introduction to SGML * Building the Virtual "Intranet" Knowledge Center SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2 (9:00 am - 1:00pm unless noted): * Beyond HTML: Cognition, Information Design, and the Computer Interface * Finding the Right Stuff: Using and Evaluating Internet Search Engines * Law and the Internet * 8th SIG CR Classification Research Workshop (8:30am - 5:00pm) * ASIS Leadership Development Program: Meeting Facilitation (10:00am - Noon) * Pamoja: A Training Simulation for International Information Flow.(1:00pm - 5:30pm) MEETING VENUE: JW Marriott Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20004 (202) 393-2000 Fax: (202) 626-6991 1-800 228-9290 http://www.marriott.com/marriott/dc-042.htm CONTACT the American Society for Information Science 8720 Georgia Avenue, Suite 501 Silver Spring, MD 20910 FAX: (301) 495-0810 VOICE: (301) 495-0900 asis@asis.org http://www.asis.org ********** III.B.2. Fr: Leslie Chan Re: Electronic Publishing Symposium Announcement Symposium Announcement SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING AND COMMUNICATION IN THE ELECTRONIC ENVIRONMENT September 26-27, 1997 University of Toronto at Scarborough New information technologies, and in particular the World-Wide Web, are offering tremendous diversity of channels and media for scholarly and scientific communication. At the same time, traditional paper-based publishing is being rapidly transformed and severely challenged by economic shortfalls and networking technologies. It is timely and critical to examine how elements of the established scholarly communication vehicle, the journal, can best be combined with the new elements of distributed network publishing. The Centre for Instructional Technology Development at the Bladen Library, University of Toronto at Scarborough, is hosting an international symposium to examine the changes in research practices and implications of electronic publishing. WHO SHOULD ATTEND: This symposium is intended for all stakeholders in the scholarly communication processes, from academics and researchers from across the disciplines, who are primary producers and consumers of published knowledge, to librarians and publishers, who add value and order to intellectual products, and to computer specialists, who are increasingly called upon to design and maintain the conduits for information exchange. GOALS OF THE SYMPOSIUM: o Promote knowledge of distributed network publishing among faculty and graduate students in the university and research communities, o Draw attention to the wealth of scholarly and scientific information and peer-reviewed electronic journals already present on the Internet, o Bring together librarians, computer specialists, publishers and academics to consider collaborative models that would further facilitate the scholarly communication process, o Explore the emerging cooperative research, resource sharing and teaching models enabled by networked technologies, o Examine the limitations and advantages of scholarly electronic publishing. KEY ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION: o The role of Government Agencies and University Administrations in promoting electronic publishing o Peer review and Quality Control o Legal and Copyright Issues o Archive and Retrieval of digital material o Searching, linking and New Tools for scholarship o Learning to Publish in the Electronic Milieu o Electronic Publishing in the Sciences o Electronic Publishing in the Humanities and Social Sciences SPEAKERS AT THE SYMPOSIUM: Keynote speaker: Stevan Harnad (Professor of Psychology, University of Southampton). INVITED SPEAKERS: Gregory Crane (Professor of Classics, Tufts University), Peter Boyce (Senior Associate of Electronic Publishing, American Astronomical Society), Jean-Claude Guedon (Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Montreal), Carole Moore (Chief Librarian, University of Toronto), Leslie Ellen Harris (author of Canadian Copyright Law), Katherine Denning (Editor of Assemblage), David McCallum (Principal consultant of the Electronic Publishing Promotion Project, Industry Canada), Anne Marie Corrigan (Vice President, Journals and Creative Services, University of Toronto Press), Sally Brown (Senior Vice-President, AUCC) and more. FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION, SEE: http://citd.scar.utoronto.ca/Epub/1997.html OR CONTACT: symposium co-ordinators Leslie Chan (chan@scar.utoronto.ca) or William Barek (Barek@scar.utoronto.ca) The symposium is supported by the Connaught Committee and the Snider Visiting Professorships of the University of Toronto. ********** III.B.3. Fr: Louise Fisch Re: European Internet Conference The European Commission, through a project called Euro@Internet, is co-sponsoring a three-day informational conference November 19 through 21 aimed at initiating collaborative meetings between high technology companies. "The meetings are about the possibility to build agreements for trade, and technical and industrial projects," said a Euro@Internet spokesman. One of the scheduled conference events is a seminar comparing the Internet markets of such countries as Italy, Spain, Austria, and Sweden. In addition to holding seminars, conference chairs will also arrange business meetings between interested institutions. Further information on the conference can be obtained by emailing or by calling 39 41 5267585. ********** III.B.4. Fr: Vanouplines Patrick Re: International Course on Information Management in Belgium Preliminary announcement: 1 December 1997- 31 March 1998 in Brussels, BELGIUM: an international training course on KNOWLEDGE ORGANIZATION FOR WATER-SCIENCES - HYDROLOGY, OCEANOGRAPHY, WATER-RESOURCES MANAGEMENT ( KNOW-HOW ) FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION: : http://www.vub.ac.be/BIBLIO/mistknow.htm CONTACT: Tel. ++32-2-629 24 29 Fax ++32-2-629 26 93 (or 22 82) Telex 61051 vubco-b, E-mail (Internet): PVOUPLIN@VUB.AC.BE, PNIEUWEN@VUB.AC.BE Mail: Paul NIEUWENHUYSEN or Patrick VANOUPLINES KNOW-HOW, University Library Free University Brussels Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels BELGIUM Approved by the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR) Sponsored by the Belgian Administration for Development Cooperation (BADC or ABOS) and by UNESCO PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME: - Orientation tour of the University and the Library - Microcomputer systems: hardware - Microcomputer operating systems - Microcomputer systems: applications software - Text editing; word processing - Presentation of data, using a microcomputer - Selecting and procuring a computer system - ISBD = International Standard Bibliographic Description - MARC formats - National libraries and national bibliographies - Subject classification schemes and thesaurus systems - Document collection development - Telematics; data communication; computer networks - Internet - Internet services - Internet information resources - Data-communications networks and librarians - Electronic mail. - World-Wide Web; hypertext and hypermedia - Online information retrieval and database searching - CD-ROM - Bibliographic databases related to water and the environment - Patent information - Search strategies - Online systems versus CD-ROM - Software packages for local storage and retrieval of bibliographic information - Introduction to the CDS/ISIS software package for information storage and retrieval - The application of CDS/ISIS: searching - The application of CDS/ISIS: editing data in a database - The application of CDS/ISIS: output of selected data to file or printer - The application of CDS/ISIS: developing a database structure - The application of CDS/ISIS: indexing data for fast retrieval - Downloading of information and record format conversion: principles - Downloading of information and record format conversion: application of Fangorn with CDS/ISIS - Implementing integrated database-design in CDS/ISIS - History and future of CDS/ISIS - Programming in CDS/ISIS - Statistics for information science - Queuing theory - Citation analysis - The bibliometric laws - Scientometrics - Theoretical and quantitative aspects of information retrieval - Evaluation of information retrieval systems - Artificial intelligence in information science - Library automation - Online Public Access Catalogues (OPACs) - Management of a library and information service - Orientation of information users; relations with information users - Archives and records management - Interlibrary lending and co-operation; document delivery - Geographic Information Systems (GIS) - Development of a national or regional information network - The information society - Cultural aspects of the information society and information technology transfer - Copyright; information security; transborder data flow - Case studies in various libraries and information centres ... POSSIBLE STUDY VISITS: - Library of the University of Antwerp (U.I.A.) + Inter-university Postgraduate School for Information and Library Science at the University of Antwerp (Belgium). - The Royal (National) Library (Brussels, Belgium) - Documentation centre of the national association for the prevention of accidents (in Brussels, Belgium) - Information service of the Geology Department of the Royal Museum on Africa (in Tervuren near Brussels, Belgium) - Documentation Department of the KIT (in Amsterdam, The Netherlands) - European Patent Office (in Brussels, Belgium) PERSONAL PROJECT: Related to the trainee's personal interest, based on the newly acquired knowledge. LOCATION: The training is mainly organized at the University Library of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), close to the rich cultural city of Brussels, Belgium. LANGUAGE USED: English. The course director is Dr. Paul Nieuwenhuysen, Lecturer at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and at the Universitaire Instelling Antwerpen, Science and technology librarian, and Head of information and documentation, of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Assistant director is Patrick Vanouplines, hydrologist, scientific information intermediary at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. ********** III.B.5. Fr: D.K.Allen Re: ISIC-98 Information Seeking in Context : an International Conference on Information Needs, Seeking and Use in Different Contexts.: Sheffield, United Kingdom, August 14 -17 1998: Hosted by: The Department of Information Studies at Sheffield University. CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION: The first ISIC conference was held in Tampere, Finland in August 1996 and was a considerable success with 136 participants from 17 countries. The Second Information Seeking in Context conference is intended to build on and develop the themes debated at the first meeting. The Conference will offer an opportunity to hear results of the latest research in the field of information seeking, to debate methodological issues, and to identify areas for further research. All participants at the first ISIC meeting will be welcome in 1998 and we hope that many researchers for whom this will be their first Conference will be attracted. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: Information Behaviour and Electronic Environments Information Requirements and Information Systems Design Theoretical and methodological issues Information Seeking in Educational, Business and Health Sectors Longitudinal Studies Contributions from cognate disciplines such as Marketing, Consumer Studies, Media Studies, Communication Studies, Information Systems and Computer Science are welcome and may lead to seperate sessions. CALL FOR PROPOSALS AND PAPERS: Contributors are requested to submit a copy of an extended abstract of about 600 words to the conference secretary. The authors' name, organization and the complete mailing address with phone and fax numbers and e-mail address should be typed on a separate sheet. The papers will be selected on the basis of the extended abstracts. Electronic submissions will be accepted. For detailed instructions on electronic submission of papers please send an e-mail to m.x.walker@sheffield.ac.uk In the Subject Line of the message type: ICIS-98-Electronic All documents should be sent by September 1, 1997 to Professor Tom Wilson, Conference Committee Chair, at the address below. Note: Preference will be given to papers that report research or debate underlying methodological and philosophical issues, rather than those that report on plans yet to be implemented. DEADLINES AND SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Deadline for submission of abstracts: 01.09.1997 Notification of acceptance: 31.12.1997 Manuscript due: 31.5.1998 FURTHER INFORMATION: Please check periodically the website for ISIC-98, under construction at: http://panizzi.shef.ac.uk/david_allen/ISIC/isic.html Also, join the Official ISIC-98 e-mail list for e-mail alerts concerning updated information on the conference, paper acceptances, keynote speaker updates and logistical details and deadlines. To do so, send an e-mail message to mailto: m.x.walker@sheffield.ac.uk In the Subject Line of the message type: ISIC-98-SUB In the body type: Your full name and the name of your organization. FURTHER INFORMATION: ISIC 98 /Department of Information Studies, Regent Court, 211 Portobello Street, Sheffield, S1 4DP, Telephone: 0114 222 2630 Fax: 0114 278 0300 ********** III.B.6. Fr: heting_chu Re: International Conference in Beijing Second International Conference and Exhibition on Information Infrastructure ( Information Super Highway) ICII'98-Beijing April 26-29, Beijing, CHINA Endorsed and Approved by State Council, China. Sponsored by Ministry of Electronics Industry, China and Chinese Association for Science and Technology (CAST). Technical Sponsored by IEEE Communications Society. Supported by Secretariat of State Council Steering Committee of National Information Infrastructure, P. R. China, Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC), International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP), The Institute of Electrical and Electrinics Engineers (IEEE), The Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE). Organized by Chinese Institue of Electronics (CIE), Beijing University of Posts & Telecommunications (BUPT), IEEE Beijing Section, IEE Beijing Centre. The world is now entering into the information age. To explore better approaches more feasible to the building up of the social infrastructure for the new age and the creating of a more satisfactory life for people all over the world, the second International Conference on Information Infrastructure, ICII'98, will be held from April 26 (Sunday) to 29 (Wednesday), 1998, in Beijing. As the first and successful conference in 1996, ICII'96, the objective of this conference is to provide forums for disseminating, sharing and exchanging the latest progress and experiences in information infrastructure planning, research, development, implementation, and applications among countries. The working language of the conference is English. Perspective authors or delegates are encouraged to submit papers to the conference. Government's representatives and industry authorities from all countries are invited to present their plans and activities toward information infrastructure, either national or regional. In the mean time, discussions on variety of hot points, both in theoretical research and in practical experiments related to the themes of information infrastructure will also be organized, attempting to lay common mutual understanding bases, channels and criteria for future practice and cooperation. The topics will be focused on, but not limited to, the following: FORUM A: Planning, Policy, and Cooperation: This forum is provided mainly for goverments, organizations and scientists to exchange opinions and experiences on planning, policy and cooperation in implementations of information infrastructure. SESSION A-1: PLANNING 1. National or Regional Plan for Information Infrastructure 2. Enterprises' Plan for High-speed Information Network SESSION A-2: POLICIES 1. The Impact of Information Infrastructure to Societies 2. National and International Information Security 3. Information Sharing and Privacy Protections 4. Regulations Governing Telecommunication, Broadcasting, and Computer Networks SESSION A-3: COOPERATION 1. Principles for Cooperation Leading to the Reducction of the Gap between Developed and Developing Countries 2. International Coordinations: Channels and Mechanisms FORUM B: Problems, Advances and Trends in Technology: This forum is designed for scientists and engineers to analyse and discuss the problems faced, progress made, and future trends of the technical development in information infrastructure. SESSION B-1: ARCHITECTURES AND STANDARDS 1. Conceptual Model of Information Infrastructure 2. Technical Architecture of Information Networks 3. Technical Standards for High-speed Information Networks 4. Standards for Integration of Voice, Data, and Video Networks 5. High-speed Information Networks Test-Beds Progress SESSION B-2: PROBLEMS, PROGRESS AND TRENDS IN COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY 1. SDH Lightwave Systems and Mobile Satellite Communications 2. ATM Switching and IP Swithing 3. CDMA and GSM 4. CATV, INTERNET and B-ISDN 5. Multimedia Communications 6. Intelligent Network and Intelligent Services 7. Access Networks Technologies SESSION B-3: PROBLEMS, PROGRESS, AND TRENDS IN NETWORK COMPUTING 1. Mobile Computing and Network Computing 2. Internet, Internet-II, and Intranet 3. Indexing, search, and Browsing in computer network 4. Common Network Language and Machine Translation 5. Intelligent Man-Machine Interfaces 6. LANs/MANs/WANs Interworking and Interoperability SESSION B-4 PROBLEMS, PROGRESS, AND TRENDS IN BASIC TECHNOLOGIES 1. Information Security Technology 2. Information Network Management 3. Software Engineering and Information Systems Integration 4. TCP/IP and OSI 5. New Technologies in Signal and Information Processing 6. Information Resources and Information Bases Forum C: Applications and Applicabilities: This forum is aimed at exhibiting and examing, from every possible angle of views, the variety of applications as well as the applicabilities provided by information infrastructure to the society. SESSION C-1: APPLICATIONAL PROJECTS FROM GIIC AND FROM OTHER BIG COMPANIES OVER THE WORLD SESSION C-2: PROGRESS OF TEST-BEDS FROM DEVELOPED COUNTRIES AND FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES SESSION C-3: EXPERIMENTAL APPLICATIONS FROM MAJOR UNIVERSITIES AND FROM VARIOUS INSTITUTIONS IMPORTANT DATES: * Deadline for paper submitting December 31, 1997 * Notification for paper acceptance February 15, 1998 * Early registration Before March 25, 1998 Authors are requested to submit 4 copies, at least one of which should be camera-ready copy, to the Program Commitee Chairman: Prof Yi X. ZHONG, President Office, Beijing Univ of Posts & Telecom (BUPT), Beijing 100088, CHINA. Tel: (8610) 6228-2023, Fax: (8610)6228-5008, e-mail: zyx@bupt.edu.cn Papers submitted to the conference should in first page contain the following information: title, author's name, author's organization, correspondence address, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address, and abstract, followed by an introduction and then the content, ended by conclusion and references. Papers should be printed clearly (by using laser printer) on one side of A4 white sheets with 2.54 cm (1 inch) margin on each of the four edges. The length of each paper is limited to 4 pages and the extra page(s) will cause an extra charge. Papers either not meeting the formal requirements or with low quality in content will immediately be rejected. For further information, please contact the secretariate : Mr. Jian GENG Secretariate of ICII'98, President Office, Beijing Univ of Posts & Telecom (BUPT), Beijing 100088, CHINA Tel: (8610)6228-2023, 6228-2659, Fax: (8610)6228-5008, e-mail:zyx@bupt.edu.cn ********** III.B.7. Fr: Joao Balsa da Silva Re: IBERAMIA'98 SIXTH IBEROAMERICAN CONFERENCE ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Lisbon, Portugal, October 5-9, 1998 for Artificial Intelligence) THE AGE OF AI ATLANTIC DISCOVERIES: "The Portuguese dared to engage the great oceanic sea. They entered it fearlessly. They discovered new islands, new lands, new seas, new peoples, and what is more important, new heavens and new stars ... Now it is clear that these discoveries ... were not achieved through guesswork: our seamen set off well trained and provided with instruments and rules of astronomy and geometry." from Pedro Nunes, 1537 The Sixth IberoAmerican Conference on Artificial Intelligence will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, on October 5-9, 1998, under the auspices of the Portuguese Association for Artificial Intelligence (APPIA), in a unique cultural environment, precisely the headquarters of Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian (two museums, one for Modern Art and another for Classical Art, covering also the private collection of the founder, a library, permanent exhibitions, and a beautiful garden). At the same time the World Exposition (Expo'98), around the main topic of Oceans and commemorating the Portuguese sea discovery of India (1498), will be open in the eastern side of Lisbon, creating a historic context for discussing the cooperation within the sciences of the artificial among the countries of the Atlantic rein, and under the theme of AI Atlantic discoveries. Established in 1988 (Barcelona) by three IberoAmerican Associations of AI (AEPIA, SMIA and APPIA), after a first meeting in Morelia (Mexico) in 1986 of SMIA and AEPIA, the event was organized every two-years since then in Morelia (1990), La Habana (1992), Caracas (1994) and Cholula (1996), taking Portuguese and Spanish as official languages and with the aim to promote and diffuse the research and development carried out in the countries associated with those two Latin languages and connected by strong historical links from XVI century. Along the years, the Executive Committee of IBERAMIA was enlarged with the inclusion of AVINTA (Venezuela), SMC (Cuba) and SBC (Brazil). IBERAMIA-98 will run for the first time in a decade with a paper track in English (for submission and presentation) in order to close the links now with other AI communities where AI is more developed and explored. STRUCTURE: The scientific program will be structured along two main modules, the open discussion and the paper track. October 5, a holiday in Portugal, may be dedicated to visit the World Fair Expo'98. The first day of the Conference (Tuesday) is organized with tutorials directed to informatics professionals, the formal opening, the IBERAMIA lecture delivered by a distinguished IberoAmerican researcher, and the declaration of the prize Jose Negrete awarded by the Scientific Committee to the best paper submitted. Also, and in parallel, working groups will be organized in order to discuss general topics (e.g. scientific and industrial joint cooperation). The open discussion track (Wednesday) will be composed by working sessions devoted to the most important areas of research in IberoAmerican countries, the AI Education Symposium dedicated to confront ideas about the best ways to teach AI, a session to present the best M. Sc. or Ph.D. thesis of the whole region, and a video conference panel to establish bridges between Europe and America (involving those unable to attend this panel). The paper track (Thursday and Friday) will be composed by invited talks and paper presentations from all over the world on the full range of AI research and covering both theoretical and foundational issues, and applications as well. Some Workshops will be organized the week before, namely one on Distributed Artificial Intelligence (following the first one in Xalapa (Mexico) in 1996, before IBERAMIA-96, and on any other topics to be proposed by those interested in activating the current research. During the Conference there will be an exposition of books written by IberoAmerican researchers and academics, access to the WWW pages of the AI associations sponsoring the event, and demonstrations of AI industrial products designed in IberoAmerican countries. The portuguese association (APPIA) will organize the week before the Sixth Advanced School on AI (EAIA-98) adopting English as the official language. PAPER PRESENTATIONS: The first track will be held mainly in Latin languages (Portuguese and Spanish), but also in English (depending on the preference of the authors). The papers may be written in English. The second track will be conducted only in English. PUBLICATION: The invited lecture and the papers of the open discussion track will be published in the Proceedings of the Conference. The organizers intend to arrange the publication of the contributions to the paper track by some international publishing house. SUBMISSION: Submissions are namely requested in the following topics: Agent-oriented programming * Case-based reasoning * Computer vision * Constraint programming * Database mining tools and applications * Explanation mechanisms * Foundations issues * Genetic algorithms * Hypothetical reasoning * Intelligent information retrieval * Intelligent tutoring and learning environments * Knowledge acquisition * Knowledge representation * Knowledge-based systems validation * Model-based reasoning * Multi-agent and distributed problem-solving * Natural language processing * Neural nets * Robotics * Temporal and spatial reasoning * Symbolic learning IMPORTANT DATES: Deadline for submission of papers (Open Discussion and Full International tracks): FEBRUARY, 1, 1998 Deadline for submission of tutorials, working groups and Workshops proposals: APRIL 2, 1998 Deadline for submission of proposals for the concourse of the best thesis (M. Sc. or Ph.D.): (Chair: Dr. Jaime Sichman, Escola Politecnica, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Av. Professor Luciano Gualberto, no 158, travessa 3, CEPO 5508-900 Sao Paulo, SP, Brasil, jaime@pcs.usp.br) APRIL 2, 1998 Notification of acceptance of papers: MAY 15, 1998 Notification of acceptance of tutorials, working groups, and workshops: JUNE 1, 1998 Deadline for receipt of paper's final version: JUNE 15, 1998 FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION, CONTACT: E-mail: iberamia@di.fct.unl.pt OR SEE WWW: http://www-ia.di.fct.unl.pt/~iberamia/ ********************************************************** IRLIST Digest is distributed from the University of California, Division of Library Automation, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA. 94612-3550. Send subscription requests and submissions to: NCGUR@UCCMVSA.UCOP.EDU Editorial Staff: Nancy Gusack ncgur@uccmvsa.ucop.edu The IRLIST Archives is set up for anonymous FTP. 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