[Sigmed-l] Fwd: ASIST pre-conference announcement

[Catherine Arnott Smith]

Pre-conference event for ASIST!

******************************
SIG SI, DL, HFIS and MED are pleased to announce a day of joint
pre-conference events at the Nov 2006 ASIST in Austin

Saturday November 4th:

== 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM ==
Pre-conference Research Symposia at ASIST:
"Interrogating the social realities of information and communications
systems"

To present at the symposium, submit a 1000 word abstract by September
15th. 
See details and submission instructions at:
http://slisweb.lis.wisc.edu/~kreschen/symposia.htm 

== 1:30 PM to 5:30 PM ==
Workshop - Doing Ethnography: Examining ICT Use in Context
with discussants: Elizabeth Davenport, Brenda Dervin, Elisabeth Figa

Note, both the symposia and the workshop require seperate
registration.
 See the ASIST site for details
http://www.asis.org/Conferences/AM06/seminars.html 

== Followed by a social informaticians and friends birds of a feather
dinner Saturday night!

************** DETAILS*********************************

==1.  Research Symposia at ASIST:
Interrogating the social realities of information and communications
systems

The purpose of the symposium is to showcase and disseminate current
projects and research in progress that investigates the social aspects
of information and communications technologies (ICT) across all ASIST
SIG areas.

The symposia encourages all ASIST members interested in social aspects
of ICT (broadly defined), to share their work by submitting an
extended
abstract (1000 words) and attending the mini-conference. Submissions
may
include empirical, critical and theoretical work, as well as richly
described practice cases and demonstrations.

 Submission Requirements

*1000 word extended abstract due September 15th
*Extended abstracts should be submitted via the dLIST open access
e-print repository (submission instructions coming soon!)
* Abstracts will be lightly reviewed for suitability, but the mission
of
the symposium is to accept as much work as time will allow.
*Late abstracts will be considered on a space available basis
*The symposia organizers will publish all abstracts on the Web prior
to
the symposia.
*All abstracts will receive helpful constructive feedback - all
submitters will be assigned one other abstract to comment on prior to
the conference (more details soon).



==2. Doing Ethnography: Examining ICT Use in Context
Half Day Seminar, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2006, 1:30am-5:30pm (separate fee)

This 1/2 day workshop aims to help participants to devise and/or
enhance
(enrich) ethnographic techniques for investigating the complex
interplay
between people, technology and information given time and resource
constraints. It offers an opportunity to researchers to share their
experiences in the field and/or learn from the prior experiences of
others. The workshop will address the following methodological
problems
or goals:

1.Increase understanding of how the ideals of an ethnographic approach
to be translated into specific project goals.

2.Increase understanding of how a researcher can develop the
appropriate
skill set to investigate and understand the critical processes taking
place in the situation under study whilst remaining true to the
'methodological holism'(Hirsch & Gellner, 2001: 7) that is the
defining
quality of ethnography?
  
3.In view of the limited time and resources faced by many researchers,
compare best practices for how researchers employ ethnographic
approaches with efficiency and expediency.

The workshop will offer participants the opportunity to work with
three
eminent discussants:  Elizabeth Davenport, Brenda Dervin, and
Elisabeth
Figa. The discussants will draw on their own research experiences in
the
field to serve as commentators on the themes raised in the problem
statements of participants.




Kristin Eschenfelder
Assistant Professor
School of Library and Information Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison
eschenfelder at wisc.edu 
1-608-263-2105
http://slisweb.lis.wisc.edu/~kreschen

Catherine Arnott Smith

email: casmit07REPLACETHISTEXTWITHATSYMBOLsyr.edu 

***
The machine does not isolate us from the great problems of nature but
plunges us more deeply into them.
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
***
Form is never more than the extension of content.
Robert Creely [quoted in C. Olson, "Projective Verse", 1950.]