About the Calendar

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The Purpose of the Calendar

The Special Interest Group on International Information Issues (SIG/III), the European (ASIST/EC) and the New England (NEASIST) Chapters of the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) have joined forces to set up this centralized, master calendar of relevant conferences being held around the world. The three primary purposes of this calendar are:

• to help information science researchers and practitioners (and their colleagues in related disciplines) to discover which conferences are planned that might fulfill their need to communicate their knowledge and experience and learn from others; and,
  
  
• to help conference organizers avoid time or topic conflicts, or coordinate with other groups, leading to more interaction and coherence among professional groups (select category of "Proposed" when adding events in planning stages), and;
  
  
• to contribute to facilitating interaction among like-minded professionals working on information problems around the world.

The conferences included in the calendar serve as opportunities to share knowledge, connect with colleagues and develop new partnerships to solve problems and improve conditions through the management, exchange and implementation of information.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is Information Science?
• What are "related disciplines"?
• How does the calendar work?
• Can I customize the calendar?
• Who can submit conferences?
• What types of conferences are included?
• How do I add an event?
• Is the calendar available in other languages?
• Can I be notified of new additions?
• Is there a community of practice associated with the calendar?
• If your question is not covered here, please Contact Us

What is Information Science?

Information Science has been defined in many ways. Among the simplest and broadest is that Information Science is the cumulative theory, methods and technology which facilitate the management, exchange and implementation of information.

• The following quotations further illuminate the topic:
  •      "...I believe information science is a science in much the same way medicine is. Medicine is an amalgam of biology, optics, nuclear physics, social science, psychology, physiology...and other disciplines. It brings together and uses the theories, principles, techniques and technologies of a multiplicity of sciences to the extent that they are useful in solving the problems of human health.
         "In a similar manner, information science brings together and uses the theories, principles, techniques and technologies of a variety of disciplines toward the solution of information problems. Among the disciplines brought together in this amalgam called information science are computer sciences, cognitive science, psychology, mathematics, logic, information theory, electronics, communications, linguistics, economics, classification science, systems science, library science and management science. They are brought to bear in solving the problems with information -- its generation, organization, representation, processing, distribution, communication and use."

    (From the _Bulletin_ of ASIS, December/January, 1988 (Volume 14, number 2, pages 17-19, in which Martha E. Williams of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, offers her considered definition.)

  •      "Information science is that discipline that investigates the properties and behavior of information, the forces governing the flow of information, and the means of processing information for optimum accessibility and usability. It is concerned with the body of knowledge relating to the origination, collection, organization, storage, retrieval, interpretation, transmission, and utilization of information."

    (Harold Borko, "What Is Information Science," American Documentation, 19(1): page 3 (January 1968).)

A more precise view of Information Science can be gained from a review of the list of Special Interest Groups of the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T):

• Arts & Humanities (AH)
• Bioinformatics (BIO)
• Classification Research (CR)
• Critical Issues (CRIT)
• Digital libraries (DL)
• Education for Information Science (ED)
• History & Foundations of Information Science (HFIS)
• Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
• Information Architecture (IA)
• Information Analysis & Evaluation (IAE)
• Information Needs, Seeking and Use (USE)
• Information Policy (IFP)
• International Information Issues (III)
• Knowledge Management (KM)
• library Technologies (LT)
• Management (MGT)
• Medical Informatics (MED)
• Metrics (MET)
• Scientific & Technical Information Systems (STI)
• Technology, Information, & Society (TIS)
• Visualization, Images & Sound (VIS)

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What are "related disciplines"?

The term "related disciplines" is meant to speak to all those practitioners and researchers that may not primarily consider themselves information scientists, but who conduct work directly related to information. This group may include those who mainly consider themselves computer scientists, librarians, web developers, archivists, information technologists, educators who actively use or teach online information resources, and journalists who report on information related topics. Some of the conferences included in the calendar therefore may topically extend to these areas of study and practice.

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How does the calendar work?

Conference Listings
- Conferences are listed on the days that they occur and include the country, title, and sponsoring organization.
- Details about the conference are available by clicking on the listing for the conference and include a description of the conference as well a link to the main web page for the conference.
- Only the conference dates will be included. No paper submission or registration deadlines will be posted. This information may be included in the description details or will undoubtedly be available on the main web site for the conference and can be linked from the details of the event.

Display Options
- The default view of the calendar is in a block, monthly format.
- You may select a different month or year to browse from the "Navigate" row at the top of the calendar.
- You may select to view by Day, Week, Month or Year from the "Display" row at the bottom of the calendar.
- You may select to view by "List" from the "Display" row at the bottom of the calendar. The "List" view displays the dates with the conference names and all the details all on the same page.

Search
- You may search the calendar by clicking on the Search link on the bottom right of the calendar. You can display only those events that meet your criteria (e.g., a certain word in the title, or a certain category of conference - categories are geographic regions or "Proposed" conference dates).

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Can I customize the calendar?

At this time we are not able to provide customization, but we hope to in the future. Updates will be announced via RSS, so be sure to subscribe to the RSS/XML feed XML. (If you are new to RSS, here are some easy instructions to get started.) If you prefer to receive e-mail notification, please Contact Us.

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Who can submit conferences?

We encourage any individual or organization to submit conference announcements for inclusion in the calendar, but we reserve the right to restrict posting to those we deem most relevant (see below). In addition to submitted conferences, SIG III, ASISTEC and NEASIST will independently monitor the world stage to identify relevant events to include.

Conference information may be submitted directly into the calendar, via the online submission form, or by attaching or pasting your information into an e-mail or through our Contact Form. If there is a problem with the form, you may send your post via e-mail to icisc@neasist.org, but you must include the same information requested by the form.

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What types of conferences are included?

We encourage any individual or organization to submit conferences for inclusion in the International Calendar of Information Science Conferences. Only actual conference dates are to be listed. No calls for papers, deadlines, or reminders will be included on the calendar, although a blog is being developed which will be appropriate for these types of messages. Responsibility for the content of any conference listing lies with the individual or organization who submits it and neither ASIS&T or the chapters or SIG can be held responsible.

The calendar is primarily focused on international events and those relevant to information science. To avoid overcrowding the calendar with too many tangential or US-centric conferences, we reserve the right to restrict postings to reflect a geographically balanced and and topically useful calendar.

Although the calendar is at the moment in English, we welcome announcements in any language that may be presented with latin characters; in that case please provide at least an English translation of the title of the conference, place and dates.

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How do I add an event?

You can add an event 3 different ways:

1. Add events directly into the calendar. Read instructions.

2. Use our Submission Form.

3. Send an email with the event information or use our Contact Form .

Anyone may submit conferences to this calendar, but we reserve the right to restrict postings.
See types of conferences above for content guidelines.

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Is the calendar available in other languages?

The International Calendar of Information Science Conferences is being launched in English in the Summer of 2005, but we hope to make it available other languages soon. Although the calendar is at the moment in English, we welcome announcements in any language that may be presented with Latin characters; in that case please provide at least an English translation of placeCountry, place and title of the conference.

Volunteers are needed to assist with generating mirror sites in other languages. Please Contact Us if you are able to help with this development.

NOTE: Due to system and human limitations we are sorry that diacritics may not be properly shown.

Updates will be announced via RSS, so be sure to subscribe to the RSS/XML feed XML. (If you are new to RSS, here are some easy instructions to get started.) If you prefer to receive e-mail notification, please Contact Us.

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Can I be notified of new additions?

New events and other site-related updates (new languages, customization options, etc.) will be announced via RSS, so be sure to subscribe to the RSS/XML feed XML. (If you are new to RSS, here are some easy instructions to get started.) If you prefer to receive e-mail notification, please Contact Us.

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Is there a community of practice associated with the calendar?

There will be a blog associated with the International Calendar of Information Science Conferences. The blog will enable a variety of posting about events and encourage communication about them. It is expected that practitioners and researchers will be able to share experiences, ask questions, offer advice, and coordinate activities related to a given conference or international information science issues in general. Conference organizers will be able to communicate calls for papers, deadlines and other reminders.

At this time, technical and security details are being worked at. The launch of the blog will be announced via RSS, so be sure to subscribe to the RSS/XML feed XML. (If you are new to RSS, here are some easy instructions to get started.) If you prefer to receive e-mail notification, please Contact Us.

If your question has not been answered, please Contact Us.

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