ISKOI: Defining the limits of classification: Pittsburgh: Oct 27

[Diane Neal]

Invitation to Participate:
SIG/CR Annual Workshop [Pittsburgh, 27 October 2010]:
Defining the Limits of Classification Research & Practice

ASIS&T 2010's conference theme, "Navigating Streams in an Information
Ecosystem" refers to the increasingly wide-ranging and expansive
nature of our field, and provides SIG/CR with a valuable opportunity
to investigate the limits of current classification research and begin
developing models for expansion. This workshop will give participants
a chance to reflect on essential questions related to information
classification, representation and organization while exploring the
future of the field. This is a full-day workshop, with morning and
afternoon sessions.

The morning session will include papers from theoreticians and
practitioners in the field, including:

-- Molly Tighe, Time Capsules Project Cataloguer, the Warhol Museum,
Pittsburgh, PA. Ms. Tighe will describe her work at the Warhol Museum,
where she is involved with a project to arrange and describe over 600
boxes of items contained in the Andy Warhol Time Capsules.

-- Grant Campbell, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Information
and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario. Professor
Campbell will present a paper "New Life for an Old Theory: Italo
Calvino, the Future of the Web, and the Theory of Integrative Levels"
This presentation will use Italo Calvino's analysis of creativity and
cybernetics to suggest that the growth of sophisticated semantic
networks in the Web of the future depends on a process that Feibleman
identified years ago with his theory of integrative levels.

-- Joe Tennis, Assistant Professor at the School of Information at the
University of Washington. His paper "Form, Intention, and Indexing:
The Liminal and Integrated Conceptions Work in Knowledge Organization"
will propose a dual conception of "the work" in knowledge
organization.

-- Tim Spalding, Founder of LibraryThing. In this presentation, Mr.
Spalding will discuss the intersection of traditional and social
cataloging, specifically how LibraryThing for Libraries allows
librarians to harness the "wisdom of the crowd" in unprecedented ways.
Traditional library OPACs currently lack the mechanisms for collecting
the knowledge and preferences of library patrons. Although the
traditional cataloging and classification model -- where a small group
of specialists describe materials for the general public -- works well
enough for the job for which it was designed, the expectations of
users have changed with the advent of web 2.0 technologies like
Wikipedia, flickr, and Amazon recommendation systems. (*Note: this is
a change from the original speaker from LibraryThing)

The afternoon session will build on the ideas presented in the morning
session and will be devoted to small group and general discussion
regarding the limits of classification research.
Specific questions include:
-- Where is classification research headed?
-- How can we best communicate our ideas and theories to researchers,
students, and practitioners?
-- What are some of the strengths of our current research methods, and
what are our weaknesses?
-- Are we working under any unexplored assumptions or biases?
-- What are the goals of classification research?
Attendees will be asked to break into small groups in the afternoon to
discuss these questions, then return for general discussion towards
the end of the workshop.

Important Information:
EARLY REGISTRATION ENDS: September 17, 2010 (register and make hotel
reservations by this date)
[http://www.asis.org/asist2010/index.html]

For more information:
http://www.asis.org/asist2010/workshop-SIGCR.html

We hope to see you there!


On behalf of the workshop's organizing committee,

Diane Neal, SIG CR Chair

Diane M. Neal, PhD
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Information and Media Studies
The University of Western Ontario
North Campus Building, Room 240
London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7
519-661-2111 ext. 81034
dneal2 at uwo.ca
www.fims.uwo.ca