As the internet spans the globe, we are beginning to see the growth of a truly global economy fueled by the exchange of information and information-based products. In this new economy there is an ever-increasing and critical need to provide access to the information available. Information and knowledge are rapidly becoming available to anyone, located anywhere, at any time.

Information science has provided many of the key elements in making this global information accessible to those who need it. The ASIS 1998 Annual meeting will examine information access and what it means in a global information economy. The topics that will be examined include:

• Producing and delivering information resources. Who will be the information producers of tomorrow? How will the face of publishing and information services change in a global marketplace where individuals are able to offer information services directly to consumers? What will be the effects of the lack of quality control exercised by traditional publishers in a world where authors provide access to their own works?
• What are the social effects of global information access? How will the information economy develop and what is the economic value of information? Who will benefit, and who might be harmed by global information access and how? What is the role of information and access to information in defining cultural values, social standing, and political power? Will global information access lead to a homogenization of culture around the world? What new forms of commerce might emerge to support information access and interchange?
• What new structures for information organization and access will emerge? How will effective access to the ever-growing contents of the world's information resources be provided? How can effective information retrieval methods be applied across the entire range of information resources, including video, images, sounds and multimedia objects as well as texts, in a global network environment? How should information resources be managed to promote global access and accessibility? How should organizations and individuals manage the entire information life cycle (creation, organization, management, retrieval, use and disposal) in this emerging global network environment.
• How will people access and use information? How will people seek out and use the information resources they need for work, school and leisure? How will users judge the quality, authenticity, and value of information resources? How will teaching and learning change in this new environment? How will the interface to global information resources change to adapt to the needs of the user and the ever-changing nature of the network environment? How can information resources help people work smarter, faster, and more productively? How will people collaborate and interact in this global information environment?

These themes will be explored by keynote and invited speakers, and through refereed papers, panels and technical sessions. We invite participation through submission of papers and proposals for panels and technical sessions on topics associated with the general themes outlined above.

TYPES OF SUBMISSIONS

Please include ALL information as requested on the submission form to facilitate our consideration of your proposal. Use the form, copy it, create a reasonable electronic version, send a message requesting a copy to rhill@asis.org or retrieve it from the ASIS web site at the ASIS Conference Page.

Submit your proposal by e-mail to the appropriate address:
AM98panels@asis.org or AM98papers@asis.org also submit proposals on paper or in ASCII on a 3-½ inch disk along with hard copy to the appropriate address below.

CONTRIBUTED PAPERS should present research contributions in the areas outlined above. All papers will be refereed and accepted papers will be published in the proceedings and will be presented at the meeting.