[Sigcr-l] NASKO 2009 Call for Participation

[Elin K Jacob]

Please excuse cross-postings.


North American Symposium on Knowledge Organization
June 18-19, 2009
Syracuse University School of Information Studies
Syracuse, NY

We invite proposals for papers and posters for the 2009 North  
American Symposium on Knowledge Organization, sponsored by the  
Canadian and U.S. chapter of the International Society for Knowledge  
Organization (ISKO). This will be our first official meeting as a  
chapter. Accordingly, it serves as a fitting occasion for us to take  
stock of our past in light of the present and with an eye to how this  
living heritage might be leveraged for the future. We hope that it  
will serve as a springboard for future symposia and lay the  
groundwork for possible research agendas in the years to come.  In  
the spirit of these objectives, the theme of NASKO 2009 will be  
“Pioneering North American Contributions to Knowledge Organization.”

The theme "Pioneering North American Contributions" borrows from the  
approach adopted by W. Boyd Rayward for the special Library Trends  
issue (Vol. 52, No.4, Spring 2004), a collection of essays on people,  
events, theories, movements, policies, and publications that were  
“pioneering” in the field of Library and Information Science.  In his  
introduction, Rayward explained the overarching goal of the collection 
—to present evidence-based narratives that are not primarily  
celebratory, but that offer an opportunity for “detailed critical  
assessments of matters of importance” (p. 676). Following Rayward’s  
lead, we have intentionally left the notions of “contribution” and  
“pioneering” negotiable (p. 676): Each paper or poster may follow its  
own approach and use its own methodology for marshalling evidence in  
its own voice. Proposals taking an historical approach should not  
only provide an interesting narrative, but should also “function as  
an heuristic for detailed analysis of aspects of the past in the  
light of present trends of development and vice versa”(p. 679). Thus,  
we hope that historical submissions will not be purely celebratory of  
past accomplishments, but will provide reflective and substantive  
evaluations of these accomplishments that do justice both to their  
historical context and to current perspectives.

Proposals for papers and posters may address any of the following  
aspects of North American contributions to knowledge organization,  
broadly understood:
Individuals and organizations that are/were influential in knowledge  
organization, not only as representatives of their times, but also in  
terms of their influence on future developments;

* Individuals and organizations that are either being reconsidered or  
should be reconsidered in light of new thinking and advances in  
technology.

* The role of policies, standards, consortia, movements,  
technologies, etc., in developments relevant to knowledge organization.

* Evaluation (or re-evaluation) of long-held beliefs and theories in  
light of their influence on the field of knowledge organization.

* Important services, institutional developments, or educational  
trends that serve or have served as contributions to knowledge  
organization.

* The influence of North American initiatives on the field of  
knowledge organization around the world.

* Any other North American contribution or pioneering effort deemed  
relevant to knowledge organization.

Proposals for papers and posters are due by December 15, 2008. The  
proposal should be no more than 600 words and should include a title  
but no other identifying information to ensure anonymity in  
reviewing. The proposal should be accompanied by a cover page that  
includes the name(s) of the author(s), the title, and a full mailing  
address and telephone and fax numbers for the corresponding author as  
well as e-mail addresses for all other authors. All proposals must be  
in Word or RTF format and should be submitted electronically to  
Nicolas George <nasko2009 at gmail.com>.

Proposals will be refereed by the members of the Program Committee.  
Authors of papers will be notified of the committee’s decision no  
later than January 30, 2009; authors of posters will be notified no  
later than February 15, 2009. All accepted papers will be published  
online. Final papers to appear in the electronic proceedings must be  
submitted no later than May 15, 2009. With permission of the authors,  
the most highly ranked papers will be submitted for publication in  
Knowledge Organization.

We extend special encouragement to students to contribute proposals  
for papers and posters, so please distribute this call to doctoral  
and masters-level students.

Important dates for papers:
January 1, 2009      Submission of proposal (600 words maximum)
January 30, 2009     Notification of authors
March 15, 2009       Final paper due (3000 words maximum)
May 1, 2009          Reviewed papers returned to authors for editing
May 15, 2009         Revised final papers due

Important dates for posters:
January 1, 2009      Submission of proposal (600 words maximum)
February 15, 2009    Authors notified of acceptance

Program Committee:
Clement Arsenault, Universite de Montreal
Thomas Dousa, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Nicolas L. George, Indiana University Bloomington
Michele Hudon, Universite de Montreal
Elin K. Jacob, Indiana University Bloomington, Co-Chair
Barbara Kwasnik, Syracuse University, Co-Chair
Kathryn La Barre, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Shawne Miksa, University of North Texas, Denton
David M. Pimentel, Syracuse University
Richard Smiraglia, Long Island University
Joseph T. Tennis, University of Washington

Questions regarding this call should be directed to Elin Jacob at  
nasko2009 at gmail.com.