[Air-l] CFP: Persistent Conversation Minitrack (15 March: abstracts due)

[Tom Erickson]

One week until optional-but-strongly-recommended abstracts due.
The curious may be interested in pictures of the  2004
minitrack and workshop, and a link to a cumulative list of the
previous five years' papers at:
http://www.pliant.org/personal/Tom_Erickson/HICSS38pc.html

* * * Please forward as appropriate * * *

CALL FOR PAPERS
Sixth Annual Minitrack on Persistent Conversation
    at the Hawai'i International Conference on Systems Science
    on the Big Island of Hawaii, January 3-6, 2005
 
*** AT A GLANCE ***

* Topic Area
    Conversation via digital media such as email, chat, IM, texting, web
    boards, blogs, wikis, mailing lists, 3-D VR, multimedia
    computer-mediated communication, etc. The focus of work may range
    from the analysis of structural characteristics of conversation such
    as turn-taking and threading, to the use of digital conversation in
    domains such as distance learning, knowledge management, and
    workplace collaboration, to the design of novel systems for
    supporting computer-mediated conversation.
    
  * Who
    Researchers and designers from fields such as anthropology,
    computer-mediated communication, HCI, interaction design,
    linguistics, psychology, rhetoric, sociology, and so forth.
    
* Chairs
    Thomas Erickson, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
    Susan Herring, School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University
    
*  Important Dates
     Abstract submission - Monday, March 15, 2004 [instructions below]
     Abstract feedback - by Wednesday, March 31, 2004
     Paper submission - Tuesday, June 15, 2004 [instructions below]
     Accept/Reject notice - Sunday, August 15, 2004
     Final papers due - Friday, October 1, 2004
     One author must register for HICSS - Friday, October 1, 2004
     Deadline for conference-negotiated hotel rates - Wednesday, 
December 1, 2004
    
 
*  For More Information
   - The online call, including pictures of the 2004 minitrack,
      and a list of previous years' papers:
      http://www.pliant.org/personal/Tom_Erickson/HICSS38pc.html
    - Contacts: snowfall at acm.org, herring at indiana.edu
    - About the HICSS conference: http://www.hicss.org/
    

*** DETAILS ***

* About the Minitrack

This interdisciplinary minitrack and workshop brings designers and
researchers together to explore persistent conversation, the
transposition of ordinarily ephemeral conversation into the
potentially persistent digital medium. The phenomena of interest
include human-to-human interactions carried out using chat, instant
messaging, text messaging, email, weblogs, mailing lists, news
groups, bulletin board systems, multi-authored Web documents,
structured conversation systems, textual and graphical virtual
worlds, etc. Computer-mediated conversations blend characteristics of
oral conversation with those of written text: they may be synchronous
or asynchronous; their audience may be small or vast; they may be
highly structured or almost amorphous; etc. The persistence of such
conversations gives them the potential to be searched, browsed,
replayed, annotated, visualized, restructured, and recontextualized,
thus opening the door to a variety of new uses and practices.
    
The particular aim of the minitrack and workshop is to bring
together researchers who analyze existing computer-mediated
conversational practices and sites, with designers who propose,
implement, or deploy new types of conversational systems. By bringing
together participants from such diverse areas as anthropology,
computer-mediated communication, HCI, interaction design,
linguistics, psychology, rhetoric, sociology, managment, and the
like, we hope that the work of each may inform the others, suggesting
new questions, methods, perspectives, and design approaches.
    

*  About Paper Topics
We are seeking papers that address one or both of the following two
general areas:
    
Understanding Practice. The burgeoning popularity of the internet
(and intranets) provides an opportunity to study and characterize new
forms of conversational practice. Questions of interest range from
how various features of conversations (e.g., turn-taking, topic
organization, expression of paralinguistic information) have adapted
in response to the digital medium, to new roles played by persistent
conversation in domains such as education, business, and
entertainment.
    
Design. Digital systems do not currently support conversation well:
it is difficult to converse with grace, clarity, depth and coherence
over networks. But this need not remain the case. Toward this end, we
welcome analyses of existing systems as well as designs for new
systems which better support conversation. Also of interest are
inquiries into how participants design their own conversations within
the digital medium -- that is, how they make use of system features
to create, structure, and regulate their discourse.
    
Examples of appropriate topics include, but are not limited to:
   Turn-taking, threading and other structural features of CMC
   The dynamics of large scale conversation systems (e.g. USENET)
   Methods for summarizing or visualizing conversation archives
   Studies of virtual communities or other sites of digital talk
   The roles of mediated conversation in knowledge management
   Studies of the use of instant messaging in large organizations
   Novel designs for computer-mediated conversation systems
   Analyses of or designs for distance learning systems
For other examples of appropriate topics see the list of previous
years' papers:
http://www.pliant.org/personal/Tom_Erickson/HICSS_PC_History.html
    

*  The Workshop [tentative]
For the past five years the minitrack has been preceded by a half-day
workshop; we hope this will be continued for 2005, but will not know
for sure until April. The intent of the the workshop is as follows:
The workshop will provide a background for the sessions and set the
stage for a dialog between researchers and designers that will
continue during the minitrack. The minitrack co-chairs will select in
advance a publicly accessible CMC site, which each author will be
asked to analyze, critique, redesign, or otherwise examine using
their disciplinary tools and techniques before the workshop convenes;
the workshop will include presentations and discussions of the
participants' examinations of the site and its content. The workshop
is primarily intended for minitrack authors, although other
participants are welcome provided they are willing to prepare for it
as described above.
    

* Instructions for Abstract Submission
1.   Submit a 250 word abstract of your proposed paper via
       email to the chairs: Tom Erickson <snowfall at acm.org>,
      Susan Herring <herring at indiana.edu> by the deadline noted above.
2.   We will send you feedback on the suitability of your
      abstract shortly thereafter.
    

*  Instructions for Paper Submission
1.  HICSS papers must contain original material not
      previously published, or currently submitted elsewhere
2.  Do not submit the manuscript to more than one
      Minitrack Chair. If unsure which Minitrack is appropriate, submit
      the abstract to the Track Chair for guidance.
3.  Submit your full paper according to the detailed
      formatting and submission instructions found on the HICSS website.
      Note: All papers will be submitted in double column publication
      format and limited to 10 pages including diagrams and references.

* About the HICSS Conference
Since 1968 the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
(HICSS) has become a respected a forum for the substantive
interchange of ideas in all areas of information systems and
technology. The objective of HICSS is to provide a unique environment
in which researchers and practitioners in the information, computer
and system sciences can frankly exchange and discuss their research
ideas, techniques and applications. Comments and feedback from each
HICSS conference indicate that the conference format continues to be
professionally rewarding and stimulating to everyone who attends.
More information about the HICSS conference can be found at
http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/.
    

*  Conference Administration:
Ralph Sprague, Conference Chair, sprague at hawaii.edu
Sandra Laney, Conference Administrator, hicss at hawaii.edu
Eileen Dennis, Track Administrator, eidennis at indiana.edu
    

*  2005 Conference Venue
Hilton Waikoloa Village (on the Big Island of Hawaii)
425 Waikoloa Beach Drive
Waikoloa, Hawaii 96738
Tel: 1-808-886-1234
Fax: 1-808-886-2900
http://www.hiltonwaikoloavillage.com
-- 
------------------------------------------
Tom Erickson
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
Email: snowfall at acm.org (preferred); snowfall at us.ibm.com(IBM confidential)
http://www.pliant.org/personal/Tom_Erickson/