Call for Papers & Presentations:
ASIS&T Special Interest Group/Classification Research (SIG/CR) Workshop on
Culture, Community, and Voice in Knowledge Organization Systems
Saturday, November 10, 2018 from 1 pm – 5 pm
ASIS&T Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC – Nov. 10 – 14, 2018
Hyatt Regency Vancouver
Call for Papers & Presentations:
RATIONALE
In response to the theme of this year’s conference, SIG/CR seeks to more-deeply examine the ethical and human- and community-centered implications of knowledge organization (KO) systems as they are embedded in technological and institutional spaces. We seek to answer: how do KO systems define, liberate, or restrict the capacities (access to information, creation of identity, ability to mobilize, etc.) of communities and/or individuals?
Given the location of the conference and the opportunities available for this important discussion, First Nations and indigenous communities will be of particular concern, but participants need not feel limited to this topic. We welcome submissions from the point of view of any communities, including, marginalized, ethnic, and immigrant populations; economic, sexual, gender, disabled, and other minorities. “Community” can also reference professional, educational, or other situated communities or groups that are affected by knowledge organizing structures in some capacity. Perspectives on ecological communities would also be very welcome, broadening our discussion into domains often overlooked in studies of KO and technology.
TOPICS
Potential topics for submission include:
- Examination of the authorial voice in knowledge organizing systems;
- Imposition of classifications in diverse spaces;
- Linguistic analyses of KO systems and language revitalization efforts;
- Knowledge organization as a form of advocacy;
- Domain- and community-specific KO systems and their interrelationship to other systems;
- Case studies in building knowledge organization systems in multiple environments;
- Theoretical critiques of KO systems (such as postcolonial or other critical approaches);
- The ethics of KO as they relate to the topic;
- Practitioner and technical perspectives on KO systems;
- KO systems as creative, subversive, or liberating acts.
There are many potential issues to be discussed here, including,
- In what ways do builders of KO systems solicit community involvement for their systems?
- What are the feedback mechanisms for KO systems, and what are the avenues to change structures/concepts/relationships that are inappropriate or have been defined?
- How do we build flexible systems from a technological point of view? Builders of taxonomies and technology experts are especially welcome in this regard.
- Who authors KO systems and what implications does this have on various communities?
We solicit papers from a wide variety of individuals, including scholars, theoreticians, builders of classification systems, and those who have technical expertise in these types of systems. Our aim is to include representation from many communities of practice in the discussion so as to provide a more balanced, nuanced, and informed discussion. In this context, knowledge organization systems are broadly conceived and can potentially include, classification systems, taxonomies, ontologies, linked data structures, algorithms, documentary artifact organizational systems, and other classificatory structures. We encourage submissions that examine KO systems as they are embedded in not only documentary organizations, but scientific and professional KOSes as well. The domain of the classification is also open and can include library classification, distributed computational spaces, museums, professional domains, and beyond.
Concept papers for non-academic contributions and product demonstrations based on the main themes are also welcome. A prize will be awarded to the best paper. For more information visit the SIG/CR site at https://sigcr.wordpress.com.
IMPORTANT DATES
August 15 Paper submissions due
August 31 Author notifications
September 30 Revised papers due
November 1 Participants receive copies of all papers as pre-reads
November 1 Presentation slides due
November 10 Workshop
SUBMISSION: To submit a paper (maximum 1,500 words), please email sigcr.asist@gmail.com.
WORKSHOP CO-CHAIRS
Robert D. Montoya, Indiana University Bloomington
Lala Hajibayova, Kent State University
Shavonn Matsuda, University of Hawaiʻi Maui College
Laura Ridenour, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Maayan Zhitomirsky-Geffet, Bar-Ilan University
ASIS&T SIG/CR 