[Siguse-l] Be Part of the Action: Celebrating SIG USE's 10th birthday with a Special Symposium

[Soo Young Rieh]

Be Part of the Action: Celebrating SIG USE's 10th birthday with a Special Symposium on Collaborative Information Seeking and Sharing
Position Paper Deadline: September 25 (Friday), 2009. 
 
Symposium: Saturday, November 7, 2009, 1:30pm-6:00pm. Hyatt Regency, Vancouver, BC.
 
ASIS&T 2009's conference theme, “Thriving on Diversity,” provides an important opportunity for our Annual Symposium in
celebration of SIG USE’s 10th Anniversary. Building on our people-centered approach, the reflective moment to be offered by this
year's Symposium will be used to consider the particular challenges of Collaborative Information Seeking and Sharing. This
symposium will offer guided reflection on essential questions around information behavior research and practice in social and
collaborative information environments: Where is collaborative information behavior research headed? How are we to communicate
our insights to researchers and practitioners in related areas of study and design? How can and should our models, theories and
findings inform the design and delivery of collaborative and innovative information products and services?
 
The symposium consists of two keynote speeches as well as intensive seminar discussions. Our speakers include:
* Dr. Diane H. Sonnenwald, Head of School, UCD School of Information and Library Studies (SILS) University College Dublin,
Dublin, Ireland. Diane will share insights gained from her research regarding the challenges, opportunities and new ways of
conducting multidisciplinary research to facilitate information sharing and knowledge transfer to better enable our models, theories
and findings to inform the design and implementation of collaboration technology.
* Dr. David McDonald, Associate Professor, the Information School, University of Washington, and NSF Program Officer in the
CISE/IIS Human-Centered Computing program. Dave will discuss some of the challenges inherent in conducting computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) and collaborative systems design, as well as the new trends contemplated by NSF.
 
Submission: Attendees will be asked to submit a short Position Paper (not a formal paper). The Symposium will follow a seminar
format focusing on rich and stimulating participant discussions. Researchers and professionals interested in participating should
submit a 1-page position paper (about 300 words) reflecting upon critical questions for collaborative information behavior research to the Symposium Organizers not later than September 25, 2009. Please send your position papers to Nadia Caidi and Soo Young Rieh (nadia.caidi at utoronto.ca; rieh at umich.edu). Applicants are invited to reflect on the four questions that will frame the symposium and present ways that their research addresses them:
* How does our research address the transformative relationship between people and information?
* What are the fundamental questions that we should be looking at in our research?
* How are we to move towards making a greater impact on organizations and designers?
* How can or should collaborative information behavior research be presented to translate effectively into the language of other
information research communities?
 
Experienced researchers may share information about their current research and insights from lessons learned through past projects, while those new to the field may describe their research or professional interests related to the Symposium themes. Upon acceptance, position papers will be posted on a wiki accessible through the SIG USE website (www.siguse.org) prior to the Symposium. Small discussion groups will be organized around symposium questions and themes emerging from position papers. In keeping with the theme of the Symposium, we will also maintain a Twitter stream for the Symposium, thus encouraging people to exchange information and contribute their musings before, during and after the Symposium.
 
Participants must register with ASIS&T at www.asis.org for the Symposium. Symposium participants are invited to attend a SIG
SI/USE networking lunch during the time between the SIG SI and USE symposia. Cost: Pay-on-your-own.
The SIG USE 10th Anniversary Reception will follow the Symposium at 6:30pm.
 
Fees: Before September 25, 2009, members: $95, non-members: $105. After September 25, 2009 members $105, non-members:
$115. SIG USE members attending both SIG SI (Morning of Saturday, Nov. 7) and SIG USE symposiums will receive a $10 discount.
 
Symposium Organizers:
Nadia Caidi, University of Toronto, Canada. Email: nadia.caidi at utoronto.ca
Soo Young Rieh, University of Michigan. Email: rieh at umich.edu
Guillermo Oyarce, University of North Texas. Email: oyga at unt.edu