Call for Papers: IASSIST 2011: Data Science Professionals: a Global Community of Sharing

CALL FOR PAPERS

IASSIST 2011: Data Science Professionals: a Global Community of Sharing

The 37th  International  Association  for  Social  Science  Information Services and Technology (IASSIST) annual conference  will be  hosted by Simon Fraser University and University of British Columbia and  will be held in Vancouver, Canada, May 31 – June 3, 2011.

The theme of this year’s conference is Data  Science  Professionals:  a Global Community of Sharing. Social science benefits from  professional practices that enable sharing of data, information, and knowledge  with a global community. This theme is  intended  to  stimulate  discussions about ways in  which  sharing  data,  information,  and  knowledge  can contribute to  research  and  to  professional  practices  that  enable scientific progress. Submissions are encouraged that offer improvements for creating, documenting, submitting, describing,  disseminating,  and preserving scientific research data.

We  seek  submissions  on  the  theme  outlined  above,  and  encourage conference participants to propose papers and sessions that would be of interest to themselves and  other  attendees.  Below  is  a  sample  of possible topics that may be considered:

  • Data sharing, access and management in the future
  • Identifying and reducing barriers to data sharing
  • Issues of confidentiality in sharing
  • Sharing professional data science skills, knowledge, and techniques within and across disciplines
  • Citation of research data and persistent identifiers
  • Metadata facilitating data sharing
  • Emerging research infrastructures and data sharing
  • New data partnerships in knowledge communities
  • Sharing resources and data through social networks
  • Identifying user needs and customizing data services to meet the needs
  • The evolving data librarian profession
  • Data science practices that support global use and understanding of research data
  • Open (linked) data and digital repositories
  • Preservation for sharing, recovering data for contemporary use

Proposals on other topics related  to  the  conference  theme  will  be considered too. Papers will be selected from a wide range  of  subjects to ensure a broad balance of topics.

The Program Committee welcomes proposals for:

  • Individual presentations (typically 15-20 minutes)
  • Sessions, which could take a variety of formats (e.g. a set of three or four presentations, a discussion panel, a discussion with the
  • audience, etc.)
  • Posters/demonstrations for the poster session
  • Workshops (pre-conference workshops that blend lecture and hands-on instruction). [Note: A separate call for workshops is forthcoming.]

Again this year we would be interested  in  receiving  submissions  for presentations  in  formats  successfully  introduced  in  last   year’s conference, in particular

  • Pecha Kucha (a presentation of 20 slides shown for 20 seconds each, with a heavy emphasis on visual content).
  • Round table discussions (as these are likely to have limited spaces, an explanation of how the discussion will be shared with the wider group should form part of the proposal).

Session formats are not limited to these ideas and  session  organizers are welcome to suggest other formats. Proposals for  complete  sessions should list the organizer or moderator and possible  participants;  the session  organizer  will  be  responsible  for  securing  both  session participants and a chair.

All submissions should include the proposed title and  an  abstract  no longer than  200  words.  Longer  abstracts  will  be  returned  to  be shortened before being considered. Please note that all presenters  are required to register and pay the registration fee for  the  conference; registration for individual days will be available.

A web form for  submission  of  proposals  will  be  available  on  the conference web site on October 18, 2010.

Deadline for submission: November 29, 2010.

Notification of acceptance: February 3, 2011.

Please note that the Conference Program Committee may not  be  able  to accept all proposals.

Conference papers will  be  considered  for  articles  in  the  IASSIST Quarterly. This applies to individual papers as well as  selections  of papers from sessions that could form  special  issues  of  the  IASSIST Quarterly.

For  more  information  about  the  conference,  including  travel  and accommodation, see the conference web site at:  http://www.rdl.sfu.ca/IASSIST/

IASSIST is an international organization of  professionals  working  in and with information technology and data services to  support  research and teaching in the social sciences. Typical  workplaces  include  data archives/libraries, statistical agencies, research centers,  libraries, academic   departments,   government   departments,   and    non-profit organizations. See http://www.iassistdata.org for further information.

IASSIST 2011
31 May – 3 June 2011
Vancouver, Canada