2008 INTERNATIONAL PAPER CONTEST

The Special Interest Group on International Information Issues (SIG-III) of the American Society for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) is pleased to announce its ninth competition for papers to be submitted for the 2008 Annual Meeting, which will take place in Columbus, Ohio, October 24-29, 2008.

The theme of this year’s paper contest is: "People Transforming Information – Information Transforming People"

The theme may be addressed at either the country or regional level issues. Papers could discuss issues, policies and case studies on specific aspects of the theme, such as, but not limited to the following (some adopted from the conference theme):

• Individual identities and how they are transformed by the impact of information technologies
• The societal archive – is it disappearing and/or being marginalized?
• Societal attentions and how emphasis on information technology either allows or hinders these
• Openness, access and privacy issues
• Generational, economic, and socio-cultural dimensions of impact of information on people’s lives
• Cognitive and emotional aspects of interactions with information
• Reshaping the boundary between personal and public information space
• The effect of collective information creation on authority and trust
• Information by the people for the people
• The role of information in connecting people and community building
• How well is current technology meeting human needs, and what should future technology research and development involve to better meet our needs?
• How transformable and transferable is indigenous information from "peripheral countries"?
• The ratio of conduct size to contents richness in less connected countries.

There will be up to six winners who will be selected by a panel of judges including Judy Jeng (Chair), Jonathan Levitt (Co-Chair), Aaron Bowen, Yunfei Du, Julian Warner, and Yin Zhang.

Selection Criteria

Papers will be selected through a peer review process. The judging criteria will be based on:

• Originality of paper in the developing world environment (originality of the project described, etc.)
• Relevance to the Paper contest.
• Presentation and organization.
• Style. The international paper contest committee requires that submissions follow the International Information and Library Review instructions to authors. Detailed information is available under the heading, Guide for Authors at: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622845/authorinstructions 

The prize for each winner is a two-year individual membership in ASIS&T. In the case of multiple authors, the principal author will be awarded the ASIS&T membership. In addition, depending on SIG III fundraising for this competition, the first place winner will be rewarded a minimum of $1,000 toward travel, conference registration, and accommodations while attending the ASIS&T Annual Conference in Columbus, Ohio, October 24-29, 2008.

Publishing opportunities

Submitted papers will be considered for inclusion in a special issue of the International Information and Library Review, subject to the usual peer refereeing process, for that journal.

Information for authors

Only papers by a principal author who is a citizen of, and resides in a developing country are eligible. Winners in the 2004-2007 contests are not eligible. The papers should be original, unpublished, and ONLY 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&T Copyright Policy

ASIS&T 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 5,000 words, by March 31, 2008, to jjeng@njcu.edu, preferably as Microsoft Word attachments.

 Please check the SIG III website (http://www.asis.org/SIG/SIGIII/index.htm) for more information about the SIG III International Paper Contest, including Frequently Asked Questions, past CFPs, previous winners and winning papers, and stories from previous winners.

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