International UDC Seminar 2015 "Classification and Authority Control: Expanding Resource Discovery" - CALL FOR PAPERS

DATE:     29-30 October 2015
VENUE:    National Library of Portugal - Lisbon
WEBSITE:    http://seminar.udcc.org/2015/
CONTACT:    seminar2015@udcc.org

Linked data practices and techniques have opened new possibilities in exploiting controlled vocabularies and improving resource discovery. Authority data held in library systems, including classification schemes find new ways of expanding its potential as shared knowledge structures across the linked data environment. The objective of this conference is to explore such a potential, expanding the value and use of classification as authority controlled vocabulary, from the local perspective to the global environment.

We invite experts in authority control, classification schemes and linked data to provide overviews, illustrations and analysis of classification data management and exploitation. Contributions are welcome on high quality, innovative research and practice on the following topics:

•    Classification as a component of subject authority control
•    Classification authority data formats and modeling
•    Classification and multilingual subject access
•    Sharing classification data from authority files
•    Classification data in the open linked data context

CONTRIBUTIONS:

Two kinds of contributions are invited: conference papers and posters. Authors should submit a paper proposal in the form of an extended abstract (1000-1200 words, including references, for papers; and 500-600 words for posters). The submission form is provided on the conference website.

Proposals will be reviewed by the Programme Committee consisting of an international panel of experts. Each submission will undergo a blind review by at least three reviewers. The Conference proceedings will be published by Ergon Verlag and will be distributed at the conference.

IMPORTANT DATES
    28 February 2015    Paper proposal submission deadline
    23 March 2015    Notification of acceptance & paper submission instructions
    15 May 2015 Papers submission (camera ready copy)

ORGANIZER: Classification & Authority Control: Expanding Resource Discovery is the fifth biennial conference in a series of International UDC Seminars organized by the UDC Consortium (UDCC). UDCC is a not-for-profit organization, based in The Hague, established to maintain and distribute the Universal Decimal Classification and to support its use and development. UDC is one of the most widely used knowledge organization systems in the bibliographic domain.

CFP: International UDC Seminar 2013, The Hague, 24-25 October

Classification & Visualization: Interfaces to Knowledge

VENUE: The Hague, National Library of the Netherlands (Koninklijke Bibliotheek)
DATE: 24-25 October 2013
WEBSITE: http://seminar.udcc.org/2013/
CONTACT: seminar2013@udcc.org

Bibliographic or documentary classifications are the oldest 'interfaces' to the world of information and knowledge. They provide a meaningful display of concepts and their relationships in a visual and an understandable way, enabling linear ordering of complex hierarchical structures.

The objective of this conference is to explore cutting edge advances and techniques in the visualization of knowledge across various fields of application and their potential impacts on thinking about developments in the more main stream bibliographic and documentary classifications. 

We invite overviews, illustrations and analysis of approaches to and models of the visualization of knowledge that can help advance the application of documentary and bibliographic classification in information and knowledge discovery. 

We welcome high quality, innovative research contributions from various fields of application including: 

• visualization of knowledge orders (e.g. scientific taxonomies, Wikipedia) 
• visualization of collection content, large datasets
• visualization of knowledge classifications for the purpose of managing the classifications and working with them 
• visualization of knowledge to support interactive searching, users browsing behaviour (IR) and classification as an aid to information navigation

Specific topics may include:

1. Issues and challenges in visualization of conceptual structures and knowledge in general (e.g. development of knowledge over time, shift in knowledge structures (dynamic knowledge), interactions between knowledge structures, socio-cultural issues, technical challenges (incl. animation, simulation)
2. Knowledge visualization models and metaphors: theory, methods, overviews, analysis 
3. Visualization of classification in: information searching and browsing (e.g. search expansion, result display); visualization of knowledge in relation to user information needs
4. Presentation and visualization related to specific types of knowledge classification structure (e.g. faceted and enumerative hierarchies, polyhierarchical and/or aspect classifications etc.) 
5. Classification as an aid in presenting and navigating large datasets, or providing an overview of collection content for resource discovery or management purposes 
6. Visualization as an aid to cross-collection, cross-language, cross-vocabulary knowledge browsing 
7. Relationships between classification data formats and classification visualization 

We will accept two kinds of contributions: conference papers and posters. Authors should submit a paper proposal in the form of an extended abstract (1000-1200 words including references for papers and 500-600 words for posters). The submission form is provided on the conference website. 

Conference proceedings will be published by Ergon Verlag and will be distributed at the conference. 

IMPORTANT DATES:

15 Jan 2013 Paper proposal submission deadline
15 Feb 2013 Notification of acceptance 
15 Apr 2013 Paper submission 

ORGANIZER: Classification & Visualization is the fourth biennial conference in a series of International UDC Seminars organized by the UDC Consortium (UDCC) and hosted by Koninklijke Bibliotheek (The National Library of Netherlands). UDCC is a not-for-profit organization, based in The Hague, established to maintain and distribute the Universal Decimal Classification and to support its use and development. UDC is one of the most widely used knowledge organization systems in the bibliographic domain.

Classification & Ontology - another successful International UDC Seminar

Classification & Ontology: Formal Approaches and Access to Knowledge

The International UDC Seminar 2011 took place on 19-20 September in The Hague and was attended by 141 delegates from 30 countries from Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Australia.

The keynote address by Patrick Hayes kick-started a two-day programme consisting of 21 talks and two poster presentations.

Following the opening talk, speakers from different domains expanded on their particular view of what ontologies and knowledge structures may mean in their specialised areas of work and what aspects of ontological analysis or formal ontology modelling are relevant in the world of knowledge classifications. A number of talks stressed the urgency for knowledge classification schemes to be published as linked data and the limitations of the existing web ontology standards, SKOS specifically, were revisited a number of times. Presentations about particular schemes illustrated that classifications may indeed require more thought with regards to modelling.

* Slides and audio recordings can be accessed from the conference programme page.

* Proceedings, published by Ergon, can be purchased online on the conference website.

Classification & Ontology was the third biennial conference in a series of UDC Seminars organized by the UDC Consortium and hosted by Koninklijke Bibliotheek (National Library of the Netherlands).

Classification & Ontology conference proceedings

Proceedings of the International UDC Seminar 2011 are published by Ergon Verlag.

Classification and ontology: formal approaches and access to knowledge: proceedings of the International UDC Seminar, 19-20 September 2011, The Hague, The Netherlands. Edited by Aida Slavic and Edgardo Civallero. Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2011. 328 pages. ISBN: 978-3-89913-865-8.

The book will be distributed in delegate packs at the conference in September and will be available for purchase following the event.

CLASSIFICATION AND ONTOLOGY:
Formal Approaches and Access to Knowledge
19-20 September, The Hague
Venue: Koninklijke Bibliotheek
Fee: 200 EUR (secure your place at this event)

Ontology-like representations of classifications are recognized as potentially important facilitators in creating a web of linked data.

The conference keynote speaker is Professor Patrick Hayes, one of the key players in the Semantic Web initiative and the development of RDF, OWL and SPARQL. His talk entitled "On being the same" will remind us of some oddities and internal inconsistencies in data found on the Web, as the Semantic web starts to take shape with the rise of linked data.

Following the keynote address we will hear a selection of speakers from the domains of web technology, ontology, knowledge organization and bibliographic classification, including Dan Brickley, Guus Schreiber, Thomas Baker, Dagobert Soergel, Roberto Poli, Ingetraut Dahlberg, Barbara Kwasnik, Rebecca Green, Michael Panzer, Marcia Zeng, Daniel Kless, Joan Mitchell, Richard Smiraglia, Vanda Broughton, Devika Madalli, Claudio Gnoli and more...

The International UDC Seminar 2011 is followed by DC-2011 - 11th International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Applications "Metadata Harmonization: Bridging Languages and Description", 21-23 September.

Programme announcement - Classification & Ontology Conference

CLASSIFICATION AND ONTOLOGY: FORMAL APPROACHES AND ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE

International UDC Seminar 2011
The Hague, 19-20 September

We are pleased to announce that the "Classification and Ontology" programme is available on the conference website.

The conference focuses on knowledge classification systems and their role in the development of the Semantic Web, bringing together stakeholders from the web ontology and knowledge organization fields.

The conference opens with a keynote address by Prof. Patrick Hayes, who participated in the W3C Working Groups responsible for the RDF, OWL and SPARQL standards and has been a key player in the Semantic Web initiative.

The programme that follows has an outstanding selection of speakers from the domains of web technology, ontology, knowledge organization and bibliographic classification: Dan Brickley, Guus Schreiber, Thomas Baker, Dagobert Soergel, Roberto Poli, Ingetraut Dahlberg, Barbara Kwasnik, Rebecca Green, etc.

The two-day conference will take place in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. The programme includes 21 talks organized into seven sessions:

• The role of classification and ontology in accessing and processing data on the Web
• Classifications and ontologies on their own terms
• Classification meets the Web
• Classification and ontology in specific subjects
• Categories and relations: key elements of ontologies
• Modelling concepts and structures in analytico-synthetic classifications
• Transforming and extending classification systems

See the full programme, accompanied by abstracts and speakers biographies.

We look forward to seeing you in September.

Announcement: Classification & Ontology: International UDC Seminar 2011

Classification & Ontology:
Formal Approaches and Access to Knowledge
The Hague, 19-20 September 2011

Following the success of the 2009 conference we are very pleased to announce the next in the series of biennial conferences devoted to the advancement of bibliographic classification research, organized by the UDC Consortium and hosted by Koninklijke Bibliotheek.

The difference between bibliographic knowledge classification schemes and ontologies resides in their particular purpose and levels of formality. However, they are both based on observation and reasoning and share some structural principles and elements: categories, concepts, properties, class relationships, roles.

The objective of this conference is to promote collaboration and exchange of expertise between different fields dealing with knowledge classifications: bibliographic, web and AI. We hope to learn more about methods in ontology modelling and whether these may be used to improve and formalise data models of bibliographic classifications and enhance their value in information discovery.

Papers are now invited covering the following topics:

1. Modelling and representation of knowledge classifications
2. Standards and solutions for innovative and high-quality classification data processing
3. Applications and implementations of classification structures as ontologies
4. Theoretical considerations of the role of knowledge classifications

The proposals should be of interest to academic and research communities dealing with conceptual modelling, information systems design, knowledge organization, knowledge engineering, semantic interoperability & information integration, and natural-language processing.

To read more about the invited topics and to submit contribution go to the conference website.

Paper proposal submission deadline: 30 January 2011.

Conference outputs - Classification at a Crossroads

The International UDC Seminar 2009 entitled "Classification at a Crossroads: multiple directions to usability" took place in The Hague on 29-30 October 2009.

The conference was very successful in bringing together speakers and audience from different communities interested in, and working with, classification schemes. There were 135 delegates in attendance from 32 countries and from various kinds of information services and institutions, libraries, museums, academia and research institutes. The focus of the conference was on technical and technological issues on how to make classification work in a networked environment.

Talks provoked interesting discussions and left us all with the feeling that we need more events of this kind which would give opportunities to technical, software and standards specialists to interact with classificationists, classification owners and practitioners. The panel discussion at the end of the conference stressed again how the application environment for classification has changed significantly for both those who publish and distribute classification and for those who apply it. The commitment to open sharing and linking of data is a shared responsibility.

It transpires that many issues that deal with classification use are not entirely to do with funding or programming expertise as much as a matter of 'know how' and there is a great responsibility on gatekeepers of this knowledge and expertise to share it and make it accessible.

We have now published talk slides and mp3 recordings. The proceedigns of the conference will be published in the Extensions & Corrections ot the UDC, issue 31 (2009) and the selections of papers will be published in the Knowledge Organization journal.

Registration open

CLASSIFICATION AT A CROSSROADS
Multiple Directions to Usability
International UDC Seminar 2009
29-30 October 2009, The Hague

VENUE: Koninklijke Bibliotheek.
URL: http://www.udcc.org/seminar2009/index.htm
FEE: €110 (student discount: €90)

The conference programme includes a selection of over twenty papers representing classification research in 14 countries. Speakers will address the potential of classification, in supporting information organization, management and resource discovery in the networked environment and will explore solutions for better subject access control and vocabulary sharing services.

Two eminent keynote speakers will address the conference: Prof. Dagobert Soergel, College of Information Studies, University of Maryland (USA) and Dan Brickley, an advocate and developer of W3C Semantic Web technologies (UK).

The conference is the second in a series of International UDC Seminars organized by the UDC Consortium and hosted by The National Library of The Netherlands (Koninklijke Bibliotheek). The UDCC is a self-funded, non-commercial organization, based in The Hague, established to maintain and distribute the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) and supports its use and development.

To take advantage of the early bird discount, you can register and pay online at the conference website.

The new issue of the Extensions and Corrections to the UDC

The new 29 (2007) issue of the Extensions and Corrections to the UDC has now been published.

The Annex of the issue (pages 159-321) contains Proceedings of the International Seminar “Information Access for the Global Community”, 4-5 June 2007.

See the table of contents and ordering information.

Press release - UDC Seminar, The Hague

A two day International Seminar on the UDC, organized by UDC Consortium, was held at the UDC Headquarters in the The Hague 4-5 June 2007. The event was entitled "Information Access for the Global community" and its aim was to explore the latest developments and applications of the Universal Decimal Classification. The Seminar brought together UDC publishers, editors of the scheme and UDC users and offered an opportunity for information exchange and discussion of future developments.

There were around seventy participants from over thirty countries including librarians, subject specialists, editors of national editions of the scheme, university lecturers, researchers and LIS students. The conference programme included eleven invited talks on the topics of user experiences and applications, innovative approaches in UDC use and UDC education and training (see programme). Papers will be published in the forthcoming Extensions and Corrections to the UDC, in November 2007 and will be also made available online from the UDC website.

The UDC Consortium chairman Alan Hopkinson and the UDC Editor in Chief Maria Inês Cordeiro invited greater input from users and announced a newly formed international editorial team and new editorial system that will support the collaborative input of an international team of UDC revision experts. The UDC MRF file will be moved to a new database with extended functionality, including improved and more diversified UDC exports in 2007. The UDC Consortium announced that this successful seminar would be the first in the series of similar events it plans to organize in the future.