[Sigtis-l] 2nd CFP: History & Foundations of Information Science

[Shawne Miksa]

ASIS&T SIG/HFIS -- the American Society for Information Science and Technology's Special Interest Group on the History and Foundations of  Information Science -- invites proposals for panel sessions at the society's next annual conference.

The deadline for submission of proposals to SIG/HFIS is ***January 10,  2004***. Proposals are invited both for full sessions, and for individuals' participation in sessions.

ASIS&T 2004 will be held in Providence, RI, on November 13-18, 2004. The conference theme is "Managing and Enhancing Information: Cultures and Conflicts," and a full call for papers will be available shortly at http://www.asis.org/. 

The conference committee accepts submissions of four major types: contributed papers; posters; proposals for special or technical panel sessions; and preconference sessions, which may be submitted through a sponsoring SIG.

Proposals for SIG/HFIS-sponsored special or technical panel sessions are invited in any area of historical or theoretical interest, including (but in no sense limited to) the following:

-	application of fuzzy sets theory in information science
-	effect of immigration on the field
-	history of visualization of information (possibly co-sponsor with SIG/VIS)
-	tribute to Patrick Wilson (possibly co-sponsor with SIG/CR)
-	the unit of analysis: document, work, record? 
-	pioneering women in information science, part II
-	methodological blindness-the object of study, methodological commitments, tangible outcomes…
-	influence of outside theorists on information science, e.g., Foucault, Durkheim, etc. (possibly co-sponsor
               with SIG/USE and SIG/CR)
-	the concept of information community (see attached discussion)

Proposals should be submitted by email to smiksa at unt.edu  no later than January 10, 2003, and should include the following:

-	a title;
-	your name, address, telephone, fax, and email address;
-	names and affiliations of presenters and any other session participants (moderators, reactors, etc.) besides
               yourself; 
-	a 500-word descriptive abstract of the session, or (if the proposal is for a single individual's participation in
               a session) a 100-word abstract of your proposed contribution..

Notification of acceptance of technical panel sessions will be made by the ASIS&T conference committee by April 2, 2004. Camera-ready copy of a two-page description of the session will then be due by June 1, 2004.

Alternative panel formats--such as one structured as a debate--are welcomed. 


SIG/HFIS encourages and supports work on the history and theoretical development of information science. It serves as a forum for the interaction of all fields of study that have the potential for increasing the understanding of the history, theories, fundamental concepts, and models of information science, with the ultimate aim of improving information systems and services. The range of topics of interest to SIG/HFIS members is  very broad: the group embraces philosophical, semiological, mathematical, physical, biological, psychological and sociological disciplines, and its members take historiographical, social, cultural, critical, and scientific approaches (among others) to the study of people, events, documents,  and ideas.

Shawne Miksa
Chair, SIG/HFIS (2003-04)

Assistant Professor; School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas, P.O. Box  311068, Denton, TX, 76203-1068, office: 940-565-3560, fax: 940-565-3101; smiksa at unt.edu