The American Society for Information Science (ASIS), International Information Issues Special Interest Group, is holding a competition for papers to be submitted for the Annual Conference in Chicago, IL, 13-16 November 2000.

The Theme is:

Practical collaborative applications of digital library or information science and technology in advancing communications, information and knowledge in the developing world.?

The paper topic could be at the country or regional level, and could include projects supported by government, non government organizations, international organizations, professional associations and/or academic institutions. Papers could present practical experiences in areas such as, but not limited to, the following: development of electronic resources across networks, cooperative projects to avoid duplication of efforts, sharing of resources between information institutions and providers, bringing access to information to distant and disadvantaged communities.

There will be six winners. Winners will be selected by a panel of judges, consisting of Dr. Trudi Bellardo, Hahn, University of Maryland; Dr. Ben-Ami Lipetz, State University of New York at Albany; and Dr. Bahaa El Hadidy, Professor Emeritus, University of South Florida. The prize for each winner is a two-year individual membership in ASIS. In the case of multiple authors, the principal author will be awarded the ASIS membership.

Paper Presentation:
Winning papers will be presented at a Conference Session, moderated by Nathalie Leroy, Dag Hammarskjold Library, United Nations. Discussion leader will be Ms Sylvia Piggott, of the Joint World Bank-International Monetary Fund Library, Washington, D.C. If winners cannot attend the Conference, their paper will be read on their behalf by an ASIS member.

Other Publishing Opportunities:
Submitted papers will be considered for posting on the SIG III web site as pre-publications. In addition they will also be considered for inclusion in the ASIS Bulletin, based on the decision of Editor-in-Chief, Irene Travis, Ph.D. Papers will also be reviewed for inclusion in such publications as a special issue of the International Information and Library Review, subject to the usual peer refereeing process.

Information for authors:
Only papers by a principal author who is a citizen of a developing country are eligible. The papers should be original, unpublished, and in English. We encourage submissions from librarians, information and network specialists, and educators involved in the creation, representation, maintenance, exchange, discovery, delivery, and use of digital information.

ASIS Copyright Policy:
ASIS will have the non-exclusive right to publish any of the papers submitted on its web site or in print, with ownership and all other rights remaining with the author.

Deadline for Submission of Full Papers:
Authors are invited to submit manuscripts, not to exceed 6000 words, by August 31, 2000. Authors are encouraged to submit papers electronically. For more information or to submit manuscripts, please contact Nathalie Leroy by e-mail at the following address: leroyn@un.org

Susan O. Johnson, Chair, ASIS SIG III
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Susan O. Johnson, Information Officer
The World Bank
Information and Knowledge Sharing Solutions, Information Solutions Group www.worldbank.org sjohnson3@worldbank.org

Toni Carbo
Dean and Professor
School of Information Sciences
University of Pittsburgh

Dear ASIS member,

In the last two years developing countries increasingly have recognized the need for planning and implementing digital libraries for access to bibliographic and full text information on the Internet. In some developing nations libraries have been suppressed because of political reasons, or actually been bombed or burned out during war, and library staff have been killed. Libraries throughout the developing world suffer from a severe shortage of funds. Digital libraries are seen as a way of leap-frogging all these problems in order to reconstitute the library systems. They will bring quality information and collections across borders and into rural and urban areas suffering a lack of resources.

International Information Issues SIG (III) has put together a plan, a competition for papers on digital library projects in the developing world. (enclosed is a flier describing the competition. Please pass it on to your colleagues in developing countries). This could be the first step in: Enabling ASIS to take the lead in collecting and identifying quality projects in these countries; Encouraging leading information scientists and librarians to become ASIS members; Helping internationalize ASIS; and, Beginning an archive of papers on development on the SIG III web site.

Submitted papers will be considered for inclusion on the SIG III web site, to develop a knowledge base of digital library information on developing countries. In addition, the top six authors will have their papers read at the Annual Conference in Chicago in November, and will be recognized for excellence by the award of two year memberships in ASIS. In addition all papers will be reviewed for inclusion in Bulletin of ASIS, and for a special issue of International Information and Library Review. All authors will be invited to subscribe to the SIG III listserv, where we expect to have knowledgeable interchanges on international digital library issues, and where opportunities for practitioners and scholars will be made available.

We are creating a fund for this effort, the SIG III Digital Scholars Fund. We need your help. Let's get all ASIS members involved. If we can raise $10,000 we can cover two-year memberships in ASIS, and pay the expenses to bring the top winners to the Conference. We especially urge Chapters and SIGs to discuss how they would like to support this effort. SIG III will pledge supporting a two year membership in ASIS for one of the winners. For individual support, we would greatly appreciate donations of $10, $25 or $50 to this worthy cause.

As a leading society in the information field, ASIS aims to play an important role in identifying digital library initiatives in developing countries. Our objective is to accelerate the process of providing these countries with their information needs necessary for their socio-economic and industrial development. In a global electronic society, digital libraries may be the effective means to reduce the gap between the information-rich and information-poor societies.

Please send your donation at the earliest possible time. We thank you for your generosity in contributing to this noble effort.

Sincerely,
Eugene and Toni

Sue O. Johnson, SIG III Chair, ASIS
8720 Georgia Ave, Suite 501
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Please accept my individual tax deductible donation for:

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Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

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