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Overview of the Conference |
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CaSTA 2006 will bring together Computer Scientists and Humanities Computing researchers to share their work on the central issues driving current scholarly research on the linguistic, visual, and aural manifestations of text. Over the course of three days, participants will discuss their research into text analysis (Humanities Computing perspective), interface design and usability issues, and applying Computer Science research to textual questions. The conference will also offer a series of pre-conference workshops, presentations based on peer reviewed papers, keynote talks, and a closing discussion on research questions of common interest to Humanists, Computer and Information Scientists.
Past CaSTA conferences have included:
CaSTA 2002, Inaugural Symposium at the Université de Montréal
CaSTA 2003, University of Victoria
CaSTA 2004, McMaster University
CaSTA 2005, University of Alberta
Each day of the Conference will be devoted to one of the three themes with morning and afternoon sessions being opened by international researchers presenting on such topics as:
·Leading edge Computer Science research on approaches to data organization with relevance to text analysis; including techniques for reducing the time required for large scale searching;
·Prospects for the use of visualization techniques, traditionally used for presenting quantifiable information, in the interpretation of subjective information inherent in humanities materials;
·The challenges in analysing vast amounts of electronic information in the humanities and social sciences by applying techniques of supercomputing and artificial intelligence.
Keynote speakers include: William Y. Arms, Computer Science, Cornell University; Willard McCarty, Reader in Humanities Computing, King’s College London; Johanna Drucker, Robertson Professor of Media Studies, University of Virginia; Ian Munro, Professor of Computer Science and Canada Research Chair in Algorithm Design, University of Waterloo; and Peter Shillingsburg, Professor of English, De Montfort University. The day preceding the conference, October 11, 2006 will be devoted to pre-conference workshops. Instructors will offer hands-on workshops on such topics as: (a) how to publish documents directly and efficiently to the Web using the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and cascading style sheets (CSS); (b) using tools to prepare and analyse texts based on their phonetic content; (c) looking at a scripting language (PERL) to automate some Humanities Computing text analysis tasks; and (d) how to design and conduct a usability test, including an introduction to appropriate testing techniques; how to select and recruit participants, and how to assess and use results.
The CaSTA Program Committee invites submissions that focus on the ways in which researchers mine, manipulate and use electronic texts, where “texts” are understood in a broad sense to extend to and include multimedia. The field of enquiry extends to computer science, information science, cognitive science, new media and the humanities.
The Program Committee welcomes and encourages papers from disciplines that speak to one or more of the conference themes. All submissions will undergo a blind review process by a minimum of three peer reviewers.
Accepted papers, posters, and panels will be published in the conference proceedings. Abstracts will be posted on the Web site prior to the start of the conference. Print copies of the proceedings will be distributed at the conference to participants. Following the conference, an electronic version of the complete proceedings will be available under open access licensing through the conference Web site. Selected original papers will be included in a special issue of Text Technology (TT), a peer reviewed journal, published at McMaster University. The chosen papers will be reviewed and included in the print journal or in the online Web supplement to Text Technology.
Some of the questions expected to be addressed at the Conference are:
·What textual research methodologies can be automated or assisted by computing?
·How can computing assist us in visualizing electronic texts?
·What data mining techniques are there for answering interesting questions relevant to humanist enquiry within large bodies of texts?
·How can text analysis research benefit and learn from applied text systems in such areas as science, law, and digital libraries?
·What new models are there for navigating and displaying textual information, including multimedia?
·What is some of the current research in computer science that may have an application in humanist enquiry?
·What roles do genres (both traditional and digital) play in the development of
and use of digital text?
·How are new interaction devices (from handhelds to tabletops, wall displays and
wearable devices) changing the way that we interact with text?
·How are they changing design models for digital text?
·How do we evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of new methodologies and
technologies for using and studying text?
·What open questions in Humanities Computing can be addressed by further computer science research?
IMPORTANT DATES:
Submission Deadline: April 13, 2006
Notification of Acceptance: May 31, 2006
Poster Submission Deadline: June 30, 2006
Poster Notification of Acceptance: August 4, 2006
Author Registration Deadline: August 15, 2006
Final Manuscript Due: August 15, 2006
Conference Dates: October 11 - 15, 2006
Papers, panels and poster submissions are invited. Graduate students are encouraged to make a submission. Some financial support is available for graduate students on a competitive basis.
The CaSTA Organizing Committee looks forward to welcoming conference participants to Fredericton, New Brunswick, the Capital City of the Province. Situated along the banks of the picturesque Saint John River, Fredericton offers visitors many historic and cultural events to enjoy at a beautiful time of year.
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