2006 INTERNATIONAL PAPER CONTEST on International Digital Libraries and Information Science & Technology Advances in Developing Countries

The American Society for Information Science & Technology (ASIST), International Information Issues Special Interest Group (SIG-III), is pleased to announce its seventh competition for papers to be submitted for the 2006 Annual Meeting, which will take place in Austin, Texas, November 3-9, 2006.

The theme of this paper contest is:
"Information Realities: Shaping the digital future for all?"

The paper topic may address either the country or regional level issues. Papers could discuss issues, policies and case studies on specific aspects of this theme, such as, but not limited to the following:
•Egovernance in developing countries,
•Factors, issues, case studies etc pertaining to rural/urban digital divide and the information infrastructure (connectivity, access, hardware, cost implications, emerging trends etc) in developing countries.
•Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and digital libraries – Collecting,
preserving and disseminating IK.
•Social, ethical, political, legal, and economic and cultural issues: issues related to the role of information in society, such as information policy, access, security, privacy, and intellectual property, as well as the social uses and abuses of information technologies such as the Internet and World Wide Web in bridging or
separating diverse communities.
•Information organization, management, access, and retrieval.
•Information seeking and use: the role of information in professional and daily lives, use of various types of information technology, and social contexts of information seeking.
•Information technology, social equity and development: IT and governance, IT & and the new economy, including the future of work and implications of technological hardware and software developments; the role of ICTs in conflict management, etc.

There will be six winners who will be selected by a panel of judges including Duncan Omole (chair), Jonathan Levitt (Co-Chair), Yunfei Du, Yin Zhang, Nadia Caidi, Sue Johnson, Liwen Vaughan, Nathalie Leroy and J.K.Vijayakumar.

The prize for each winner is a two-year individual membership in ASIST. In the case of multiple authors, the principal author will be awarded the ASIST membership. In addition, depending on SIG III fundraising for this competition, the first place winner will be rewarded a minimum of $1,000 toward travel, conference registration, and accommodations while attending the ASIST Annual Conference in Texas, Austin, November 3-9, 2006.

Visit contest's website