[Sigvis-l] SIGVIS workshop – Hands On with the State of the Art

[JungWon Yoon]

SIGVIS will hold an interactive workshop this year in New Orleans.
While the traditional paper-presentation-and-question-period has its
uses, the speakers for last year’s SIGVIS workshop found that their
research and concerns were better presented with a more active,
hands-on approach. We found that with the participation of the
audience in the presentation everyone  benefitted from the time and
effort expended. Some speakers will present their material, then have
an extended period of discussion – not only with questions from the
audience, but with questions for the audience – about what they have
found and their thoughts concerning it. Others will use the audience
to illustrate their points, making them active parts of a dynamic
presentation. Others still will use paper and pencils (and, perhaps,
crayons) to involve the audience in discovering new ways of dealing
with old problems.

In any case, this workshop will not have the audience simply sitting
and listening to the speakers for four or five hours, clapping when
appropriate and asking a few pro forma questions before moving on to
the next speaker. In this workshop, not only will the participant’s
thoughts and opinions be welcomed, they will be sought; the research
and questions to be presented here come from research in progress, so
workshop participants will have the chance to shape and direct the
speaker’s future efforts.

We will begin with a brief introduction of the workshop, explaining
any last-minute changes brought about by either inspiration or
necessity before beginning the presentations proper. Each speaker will
have 45 minutes devoted to their research project. During this time
each speaker will make their presentation (usually five to ten
minutes), then will use the rest of the time to engage the audience.
After the first two speakers, there will be a short coffee break, then
the second set of speakers will begin. We will close with some
questions from SIGVIS about what direction future workshops should
take, then close the event.

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Dr. Sam Hastings – 3D imaging of Catawba pottery: Lessons learned and
best practices

Sam Hastings will be speaking about 3D image retrieval and her ongoing
project to digitize Catawba pottery and the implications for scholars.
She will be asking for the audience to tag images and will then seek
to discover themes and categories of description.

Dr. Elaine Menard – Back to basics: One Step Back, Two Steps Forward!

Elaine Menard will present her study exploring the behaviors of image
searchers. Firstly, the workshop participants will be asked to
complete the survey used for the experiment. Secondly, results from
the survey aiming to explore the behaviors of images searchers from
four different linguistic communities will be presented. Finally, a
discussion with the audience will take place.

Dr. Joan Beaudoin – Measuring library and information science
students’ visual literacy

Joan Beaudoin will speak about a study which examines the development
of LIS students’ skills in analyzing and describing the visual content
of a series of historical photographs. Workshop attendees will be
asked to assess a discrete set of records using a visual literacy
rubric, and comment upon its evaluative efficacy.

Dr. Andrea Copeland – What sharing images can tell us about
information selection and value estimation processes

Andrea Copeland will discuss a framework for sharing images based on
her research and the research of Joan Beaudoin. Understanding why
individuals are motivated to share information with others will
ultimately contribute to our understanding of information processes
related to information selection and value estimation. Participants
are asked to bring or send in advance via a digital file, 3 images
they have shared with other in any context.

Chris Landbeck – Describing editorial cartoons: When meaning counts

Chris Landbeck will speak about recent research in the description of
editorial cartoons and efforts to discover what aspects of such images
users consider to be important. He will be asking the workshop to
collectively describe a set of cartoons, then to discuss the various
categories of description that emerge.