[Asis-l] [Fwd: [ciresearchers] a Prato event in October 2006]

[Michel J. Menou]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[ciresearchers] a Prato event in October 2006
Date: 	Sat, 13 Aug 2005 15:02:12 +1000
From: 	Graeme Johanson <Graeme.Johanson at sims.monash.edu.au>
Reply-To: 	ciresearchers at vancouvercommunity.net, Graeme Johanson 
<Graeme.Johanson at sims.monash.edu.au>
To: 	ciresearchers at vancouvercommunity.net



Join us in

Constructing and sharing memory: community informatics, identity and
empowerment: 3rd Prato International Community Informatics Conference;
CIRN 2006.

9 - 11 October 2006.

Contact:  prato2006 at fastmail.fm. Website: http://www.ccnr.net/

We are seeking feedback and early expressions of interest (250 word
abstracts) for a conference and workshop event at the Monash Centre,
Prato Italy, 9-11 October 2006. The Centre for Community Networking
Research, Monash, in conjunction with the Community Informatics Research
Network, has held highly successful events there in 2003 and 2004. The Prato campus is an exceptional environment in which to exchange ideas and enjoy Tuscan culture.  It is close to Italian transport hubs.

Program.

We propose that ‘Constructing and sharing memory: community informatics,
identity and empowerment’, 3rd Prato International Community Informatics
Conference; CIRN 2006, will include the following components:

1)  Ph.D. colloquium.
2)  Refereed paper stream, for publication.
3)  Research/Practitioner workshops.
4)  Intensive one-day workshop on community-based research with Prof 
Randy Stoecker, author of 'Research Methods for Community Change' (Sage
2005).
5)  Social program, including a conference banquet on a Tuscan hill-top.
6)  Meeting of the Community Informatics Research Network.

The use of blogs/wikis and video/audio multimedia will lead to a
real-time conversation as well as online documentation for the
conference.

Rationale.

Community informatics research and practice engages in the conscious and
unconscious creation and transmission of memory. The Oxford English
Dictionary refers to memory as a function, as an abstract form of
knowledge, as a process, as a thing, and as a concrete representation of
an abstract recollection or remembrance.

>From Durkheim on, sociologists have analysed collective memory, and have
had an interest in the role of technology in the storage of information.
Anthony Giddens has argued that social and institutional structures
(such as community networks) are best conceptualised as memory traces or
cultures that draw upon stored information. He does not look to the
minutiae of information or evidence directly, but does recognise the
importance of new technologies in being a means to transmit memory
across time and space in particular in ways that have never previously
existed.

The characteristics of particular technologies have a role in shaping
the ways in which memories are reproduced (consider the growth of blogs
and wikis as 'instant history'). How do we constitute memory? Is it
linked to institutions and structures, or is community informatics
supporting a separate public sphere (Habermas)?  What is the place and
role of community informatics in the development of new means to capture
private and public memory?

This conference will focus on how information and communications
technologies assist communities to use memory for the purposes of
bridging and bonding, over time and space. The construction of personal
and social memory can be facilitated or hindered by modern technologies,
and in turn the technologies themselves help to shape memory, and the
loss of it.

Potential themes for papers and presentations.

* The documentation of oral community memory through innovative
community technologies.
* Whose memory resides in community technology projects?
* Memory in disputed communities.
* Participatory research, techniques and community memory.
* Who has the responsibility for public  memory?  
* Intellectual property rights and community memory.
* Community history and community informatics.
* Community organisations: electronic memory?
* Theorising community memory.
* Public libraries, archives, museums, community memory, and
community technology.
* Local identity, regional space, and community memory.
* Community amnesia and community technology.
* Multilingual and multicultural memory as minorities in dominant
cultures.
* Qualitative and Quantitative Dimensions of Memory.
* Memory ethics.

Important Dates/Processes:

1 February: all abstracts due for consideration
1 March: acceptance/rejection of abstracts
1 June: papers due
1 August: final version of papers after refereeing. 

Papers (up to 5,000 words) in the peer-reviewed stream will be
blind-reviewed by at least two referees and only accepted upon the
recommendation of referees.  Abstracts must be written in English,
though papers can be written in English, French, Spanish or Italian.

Related event.

This conference will be held after another in Prato, the ‘Memories,
Communities and Technologies Conference’, scheduled for 4-6 October. It
is already fully subscribed. Monash University and Kings College London
have organised it, with archivists and public historians concerned with
understanding the role of E-research in documentation of public
knowledge. The objectives of this conference are:

* To explore the nexus between the humanities, sciences and information
technology by focussing on E-Research relating to the interplay between
memories, communities and technologies;
* To build an international community of researchers, industry partners
and community stakeholders interested in trans-disciplinary research and
development initiatives;
* To develop a research agenda to identify possible research projects
and funding;
* To explore E-Research issues, design, methods and techniques.

It is hoped that the two conferences will open an opportunity for a new
discourse about the relationship of the worlds of E-research and the
worlds of community informatics and community technologies.

Registration/Accommodation/Travel.

We anticipate that full registrations will be in the region of €270,
including the conference banquet. Concessions will be available for
students.

We suggest that you book promptly through our agent to ensure local
accommodation. Information will be made available on the conference
website at www.ccnr.net. 

At this time, we are unable to offer any bursaries or scholarships for
attendance. Delegates must seek their own funds, and secure
appropriate visas to attend. 

Some preliminary information is available on the website. 

Contact: prato2006 at fastmail.fm.

If you are interested in being put on an announcement list, and/or have
any specific suggestions for workshops, speakers, or keynotes, please
contact us. If you are interested in an institutional partnership
(including sponsorship or participation of Ph.D. students) for the
event, also contact us.




All the best, 

Dr. Graeme Johanson,
Director, Centre for Community Networking Research (www.ccnr.net). 
School of Information Management and Systems,
Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University.
P.O.Box 197, Caulfield East, Victoria 3145, Australia.
Room S712, level 7, in building S, "The Tower", the tallest building on campus.
E-mail: graeme.johanson at sims.monash.edu.au.
Phone: 9903 2414.
Fax: 9903 2005.


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-- 
=================================================================
Dr. Michel J. Menou
Consultant in ICT policies and Knowledge & Information Management
Adviser of Somos at Telecentros board http://www.tele-centros.org
Member of the founding steering committee of 
Telecenters of the Americas Partnership http://www.tele-centers.net/
B.P. 15
49350 Les Rosiers sur Loire, France
Email: Michel.Menou at wanadoo.fr
Phone: +33 (0)2 41511043
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ciber/peoplemenou.php
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