[CONF] 1998 3rd ACM Conference on Digital Libraries (June 23-26, 1998: Pittsburgh, PA, USA)

Mon Aug 25 12:35:13 EDT 1997

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Digital Libraries '98 - The Third ACM Conference on Digital Libraries

Pittsburgh, PA, USA, June 23-26, 1998

(Sponsored by ACM through SIGIR and SIGLINK)

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Digital libraries will likely figure amongst the most important and
influential institutions of the 21st Century. Long a dream, the early
prognostications of visionaries such as Bush, Nelson, and Licklider of
large-scale, sustainable digital libraries are progressively becoming a
reality with the initiation of major DL projects at national levels. Future
digital libraries will not only improve access to the world's knowledge
dramatically, but also act as 'collaboratories' out of which new knowledge
is crafted and refined by widely-distributed teams and organizations --
knowledge that right from conception is fully interconnected with previous
work.

But daunting challenges stand in the way. No amount of rhetoric can finesse
the plethora of thorny issues that need addressing. While visions are cheap
-- useable, scaleable, sustainable, and interoperable solutions demand
intensive collaboration from researchers in many disciplines, and
substantial commitments from imaginative and resourceful practitioners.
Olympian though they may be, digital library initiatives will not escape the
agonizing ground-level tradeoffs that characterize any large-scale practical
endeavor. So what are the key outstanding problems? How can we best begin to
address them? What are the major competing paradigms that claim value and
vie for our support? How can the digital library community work together in
synergetic ways, and avoid the endless fragmentation and oneupmanship that
so often afflicts rapidly evolving fields?

At Digital Libraries '98, we will build on the foundation laid by earlier
conferences in this series, as well as the hard work of the many individuals
who helped bring our field to fruition. We will strive to unite all players
that have a stake in the future of digital libraries: librarians, computer
scientists, social scientists, administrators, ... academic, government and
commercial organizations, ... tool builders, evaluators and users. We will
continue to foster their participation as on-going members of the digital
library community. Thus we invite you to participate and contribute to this
very important field. Please send us your ideas for planning, your papers
and other proposals for participation -- and most of all for DL98 -- be
there!

Held immediately following Hypertext '98, Digital Libraries '98 will provide
a common setting for researchers, practicing professionals and students to
share experiences and to present results about system construction,
human-computer interaction, hypertext, information retrieval, digital
librarianship, digital identifiers and many other topics related to the
field of digital libraries. The conference attracts distinguished attendees
from a diverse range of fields. Digital Libraries '98 will provide a forum
for presentation and discussion of exciting and original developments in
digital libraries through a variety of formats. The Proceedings of Digital
Libraries '98 will be published by ACM Press.

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TECHNICAL PROGRAM

Digital Libraries '98 will provide a common setting for researchers and
practicing professionals to share experiences and compare notes about
authoring, publishing, system construction, human-computer interaction,
copyright issues, digital library services, electronic journals, evaluation,
and many other topics. Attendees come with backgrounds in computing, library
science, psychology, literature, sociology, engineering, law, medicine --
many different fields -- and we warmly invite your participation. Digital
Libraries '98 will provide a forum for presentation and discussion of
exciting and original developments in digital libraries through several
formats: papers, panels, short papers, demonstrations, posters, tutorials,
and workshops.

Topics for the conference encompass anything of relevance to the field of
Digital Libraries. Possible topics include, but are not limited to: DL
projects, user experience, DL technologies, search engines, name spaces,
indexing, collection development and management, user support, digital
librarianship, requirements for DLs, economics of DLs, lessons learned,
collaborative libraries, information summarization and visualization,
metadata issues, multimedia collections and many others.

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CRITICAL DATES

15 Jan 98: Papers due, Proposals for Panels, Workshops, and Tutorials due.

31 Mar 98: Notification of acceptance for Papers, Panels, Workshops, and
Tutorials.

13 Apr 98: Short Papers due. Proposals for Posters and Demos due.

20 Apr 98: Final versions of accepted papers due. Notification of acceptance
for Short Papers, Posters, and Demos.

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PAPERS

Technical papers present integrative reviews or original reports of
substantive new work in areas that are theoretical (e.g., models), empirical
(experiments, case studies, ...), or implementation-oriented (new systems).
Papers should provide a clear, concise message to the audience, situate the
work within the field, cite related work and clearly indicate the innovative
aspects of the work and its contribution to the field.

Papers must be written in English and formatted single-spaced,
double-columned, using the specifications at the DL98 web site
(www.ks.com/DL98). In no case should they exceed 10 pages. Please submit 3
copies of the paper and one copy of a cover page. On the cover page include
the title, author name(s) and affiliation(s), an abstract of about 200
words, several topical keywords, and complete address (including telephone,
fax, email) for the author to whom correspondence should be addressed. The
title, author name(s) and affiliation(s), abstract, and keywords should also
appear on the first page of the paper itself.

Submission: Submit to Robert M. Akscyn, Knowledge Systems, RD2 213A Evans
Road, Export, PA 15632 USA. Submissions must be received by 15 January 1998.
All enquiries about submission should be directed to rma at ks.com.

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PANELS

Panels represent an opportunity for in-depth exploration of current issues
and emerging opportunities. Panels provide an interactive forum that will
engage the panelists and audience in lively discussion of important and
often controversial issues.

Proposals (approx. 1500 words) should outline the issues and points that
will be addressed in the panel. The proposal must also contain the title of
the panel, names, affiliations, and complete mailing address (including
phone, fax, and email) of the participants.

Submission: Submit by email as plain text to rma at ks.com by 15 January 1998.

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SHORT PAPERS

Short papers report late-breaking research or interesting results that do
not justify a full paper. Short papers can be on a similar range of topics
to full papers, but will appear as extended abstracts in the proceedings
(max 2 pages). Short papers will be given modest presentation time (10
minutes) at the conference. Because of their limited length, extra care must
be given to presenting a single clear idea, and why it is important.

Short papers must be written in English and formatted single-spaced,
double-columned, using the specifications at the DL98 web site
(www.ks.com/DL98). In no case should they exceed 2 pages. The paper must
include a title, author name(s) and affiliation(s), and the complete address
of one contact person (phone, fax, email). Please submit 3 copies of the
paper.

Submission: Submit to Robert M. Akscyn, Knowledge Systems, RD2 213A Evans
Road, Export, PA 15632 USA. Submissions must be received by 13 April 1998.

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DEMONSTRATIONS

Demonstrations allow attendees to get first-hand views of innovative
technology and applications, and talk informally with system developers and
authors. Presenters should be individuals who have been directly involved
with the development of the system and are aware of the novel ideas that it
embodies. Information about the demonstrations will not appear in the
Proceedings, but authors are encouraged to distribute copies of a handout at
the conference.

Proposals should describe the planned demonstration and include a
description of noteworthy and distinguishing ideas or approaches your demo
will illustrate; an explanation of how your demo will illustrate these ideas
or approaches; information about the person(s) who will present the demo;
and a 100-word summary for inclusion in a program description. Please
provide the following cover information: title, author name(s) and
affiliation(s), and complete address (including telephone, fax, email) for
the author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Tables, electricity, and possibly network connectivity will be provided --
but you must bring your own equipment. Submission: Submit by email as plain
text to rma at ks.com by 13 April 1998.

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POSTERS

Poster presentations enable researchers to present late-breaking results,
significant work in progress, or work that is best communicated through
conversation. Poster sessions let conference attendees exchange ideas
one-on-one with authors, and enable authors to discuss their work in detail
with those attendees most deeply interested in the same topic. Extended
abstracts of posters (max 1000 words) will appear in the Proceedings.

Submit an extended abstract of at most 1000 words emphasizing the problem,
what was done, and why the work is important. Please also provide the
following cover information: title, author name(s) and affiliation(s), and
complete address (including telephone, fax, email) for the author to whom
correspondence should be addressed.

Submission: Submit by email as plain text to rma at ks.com by 13 April 1998.

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TUTORIALS

Tutorials precede the conference and allow attendees to become familiar with
basic principles of the field, to receive technical training in a DL-related
area, or to explore advanced topics in depth. They are taught by experts in
the area and cover topics at beginning, intermediate and advanced levels.

Proposals should include a 200-word abstract for publicity purposes and a
topical outline of the course content. They should describe the course
objectives, intended audience, length (half- or full-day), facilities
required (note that it will not be possible to provide hands-on laboratory
facilities), and instructor's qualifications. Proposals will be evaluated on
the basis of the instructor's qualifications for teaching the proposed
course and the contribution of the course to the overall conference program.

Descriptions of the courses will be published in conference programs, but
will not appear in the Conference Proceedings. Proposers are encouraged to
contact the tutorial chairman to discuss their planned proposals.

Submission: Submit by email as plain text to rma at ks.com by 15 January 1998.

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WORKSHOPS

Workshops provide an opportunity for a group of up to 20 participants to
discuss issues in both research and applied areas -- from one half day to
two days in duration. Workshop attendance is normally by invitation, based
on each attendee's response to a call for workshop participation. In
general, the organizer drafts a call describing the workshop, and invites
participants based on submitted position papers. The organizer should also
develop an agenda in advance of the event. Keep in mind that workshops are
different from paper sessions in that ideas are not just to be presented;
they are to be discussed in depth.

Submit a proposal containing: an outline of the theme and goals of the
workshop, its relevance to the field and the intended audience; a
description of the activities planned for the workshop, including duration,
number of participants, selection process, workshop agenda and other pre- or
post-workshop activities; and a brief description of each organizer's
background, including past experience with workshops.

Submission: Submit by email as plain text to rma at ks.com by 15 January 1998.

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PROPRIETARY OR CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

The purpose of scientific meetings like DL98 is to share and disseminate
information; papers which make claims that are not fully disclosed or that
assert that their results may not be used in other work should not be
considered acceptable. Therefore, your submission should contain no
proprietary or confidential material and should cite no proprietary or
confidential publications.

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CONFIRMATION OF RECEIPT OF PROPOSALS

Receipt of all submitted proposals will be confirmed by communique with the
submitting author. If you do not receive such confirmation (probably most
will be email) then assume the worst and check in. We will continue to send
you confirmations -- until we hear back from you.

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CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

Conference Chair
Robert M. Akscyn Knowledge Systems
rma at ks.com

Program Chair Ian Witten
Professor of Computer Science
University of Waikato, NZ
ihw at rimu.cs.waikato.ac.nz

Associate Conference Chair
David L. Hicks
Knowledge Systems
hicks at ks.com

Publications Chair
Frank Shipman
Texas A&M University
shipman at csdl.cs.tamu.edu

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JOINING THE TEAM

If you would like to be a member of the DL98 conference team, we would
heartily welcome your help. There are many opportunities to contribute to
the success of the conference. Your help would be much appreciated.

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Version of 15August97