[Sigiii-l] Soliciting ideas for a half-day, pre-conference, workshop and conference panels

[Rorissa, Abebe]

*** Apologies for cross posting ***

Dear SIG-III Members,

It is exactly two weeks until the proposals for panels and workshops for the 2013 ASIS&T Annual Meeting are due. We need to make a decision as soon as possible and assemble teams of contributors to the panel and workshop proposals. So far, #3 & #5 below have the most votes as panels while we have some members interested in contributing to #1, #5, and #6. Most people said #6 should be a pre-conference workshop.

This doesn't mean that we shouldn't put together proposals for the others (or even additional ones). I hope you will let me know if you are submitting other proposals.

If you would like to be part of any of the panels  and/or the pre-conference workshop, please send me a short note off list by Thursday, April 4, so that we would have enough time to write the 2-4 page proposal for submission on the 15th.

I really need your full participation on this so that SIG-III will have a strong presence in Montreal. Thank you!

Abebe

From: Rorissa, Abebe
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2013 6:55 AM
To: sigiii-l at asis.org<mailto:sigiii-l at asis.org>
Subject: Soliciting ideas for a half-day, pre-conference, workshop and conference panels

*** Apologies for cross posting ***

Dear SIG-III members,

A few weeks back, we sent an email to solicit ideas for a half-day, pre-conference, workshop and conference panels. We would like to thank those of you who sent some excellent suggestions. The following are the suggestions received (in no particular order).

1. "The future of Internet governance: An international perspective." Especially after the December 2012 World Conference on International telecommunications in Dubai, and after some countries signed a treaty to regulate the Internet, there is a big fear that the future of Internet may be in danger. I thought this could be one topic that aligns with the mission of SIG-III. I have read works by Lawrence Lessig and other folks at Harvard Law school and Berkman center who specialize on Internet Law and computer science, including Jonathan Zittrain. If we have the money and they agree to speak at ASIS&T, that would be great.

2. Very few winning papers of the ASIS&T SIG III paper contest, especially those that could meet the requirements of the  International Information and Library Review (IILR), end up getting published. Additional journals and their editors could be approached to accommodate some of the papers. This will further attract information professionals from developing countries to fully participate in the paper contest. It will also serve as an avenue for ASIS&T to get more members from developing countries. Perhaps a workshop on publishing research and other papers by authors from developing countries in international LIS publications/journals could help. We could have a panel of 3 to 4 current and/or former editors of LIS publications/journals as speakers for a couple of hours and dedicate another hour or so to questions/answers/discussions.

3. Library and Information science schools in developing countries could be invited to participate in the activities and events of SIG III. This could serve as a checking mechanism on the activities of these schools and they can easily be assisted in the review of their curriculum to reflect the information age.

4. As some of you know, last year's ASIS&T Annual Meeting was not very well attended due to Hurricane Sandy. As a result, our SIG's 30th Anniversary celebrations didn't go as well as we planned (I know those of us who were in Baltimore did our utmost best to make it a success). Although we had a panel discussion on the past and future of SIG-III, in the light of the ASIS&T name change (there was an almost unanimous consensus that the SIG is still more than relevant), we may continue to discuss the challenges and opportunities for SIG-III.  We may ask some of the founders (Michel, Toni, Tefko, etc.) to be the scheduled speakers and to reflect on the SIG's beginnings and development, but also on their perceptions of what it has and has not accomplished. Also, what do they see as desirable and doable in the years ahead?  Then there could be a panel discussion of their presentations/talks by a diverse but small group of members (old and young) and possibly one "outsider" (concerned nonmember) as well.

5. A panel on "Scholarly communication in the international context: Trends, challenges, opportunities".

6. "Development of Open Access: An International Perspective". UNESCO published recently guidelines for Open Access authored by Alma Swan (Swan, Alma (2012). Policy guidelines for the development and promotion of open access. UNESCO, Paris, 2012. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002158/215863e.pdf). She could be a keynote speaker, but I'm sure we can identify other people. This is a topic ASIS&T and SIG-III members would love to learn more about.

The SIG-III Officers would like to know what you think of these suggestions. Also, please let us know which one should be a pre-conference workshop and which ones should be developed as conference panels.

I would be grateful if you can email me by March 15 so that we have enough time to put together the proposals/submissions (which are due on April 15).

Additional panel suggestions are more than welcome.

Thank you for keeping SIG-III strong.

Abebe Rorissa
Chair, SIG-III (2012/13)
____________________________________________
Abebe Rorissa, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Information Studies
College of Computing and Information
University at Albany, State University of New York
Draper Hall, Room 116
135 Western Avenue
Albany, NY 12222
E-mail: arorissa at albany.edu<mailto:arorissa at albany.edu>
Tel.: (518) 442-5123
Fax:  (518) 442-5367
________________________________________________

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