Information Retrieval List Digest 072 (July 9, 1991) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/irld/irld-072 IRLIST Digest July 9, 1991 Volume VIII, Number 29 Issue 72 ********************************************************** I. NOTICES A. Meeting Announcements/Calls for Papers 1. 1992 International Workshop on Natural Language Generation 2. Translation and the European Communities ********************************************************** I. NOTICES I.A.1. Fr: Robert Dale Re: Call for Papers: International NLG Workshop 1992 The Sixth International Workshop on Natural Language Generation Castel Ivano, Trento, Italy, 5th7th April 1992 PURPOSE AND SCOPE: Following on from the five previous International Workshops on Natural Language Generation, this workshop aims to bring together researchers in a rapidly consolidating field. We intend to structure the workshop around a number of emerging topic areas: Multi-modality: the practical and theoretical issues underlying the development of systems that integrate language generation with other media (such as graphics, maps, and forms). The representation and use of syntactic knowledge: we particularly welcome papers which attempt to bridge the gap between earlier phrase structure grammar based approaches, systemic approaches, and newer constraint-based approaches, and discussions of how these approaches address the motivation of syntactic choice. Approaches to text planning: a number of approaches to discourse structure (such as RST, DRT and schemas) have relevance to text planning. What are their respective strengths and, especially, weaknesses? In what areas do we need additional theories? Applications of NLG: the use of language generation techniques in, for example, expert system explanation, machine translation, dialogue systems, and report generation; their implications for more theoretical issues. Multi-linguality: the effects upon system architecture and underlying representation of building systems which generate text in more than one language. To what extent is it possible to build plug-and-play realization components for different languages for use with generic text planners? SUBMISSIONS: It is our intention to publish a book consisting of the workshop papers in time for the workshop itself; contributors interested in participating in this workshop are initially requested to submit A PAPER OF BETWEEN 10 AND 20 PAGES in length. Accepted papers will be returned for final polishing and revision into full length papers before inclusion into the workshop proceedings. The cover page of the draft paper should include the title, the name(s) of the author(s), complete addresses (including email address and fax number if available), a short (10 line) summary, and a specification of the topic area. Send to: Mail:Robert Dale Centre for Cognitive Science, University of Edinburgh 2 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh EH8 9LW Scotland Tel: (+44) 31 650 4416 Fax:(+44) 31 662 4912 Email:R.Dale@uk.ac.edinburgh SCHEDULE: Submissions are due at the above address NO LATER THAN 15TH SEPTEMBER 1991, either by paper mail, email (in LaTeX form), or fax; notifications of acceptance should be received by authors BY 1ST DECEMBER 1991; camera ready versions of the final papers are due 15TH JANUARY 1992. Approximately 15 papers will be accepted for presentation at the workshop and inclusion in the book. WORKSHOP INFORMATION: Attendance at the workshop will be limited to around 50 people. The workshop has been timed to follow the Third Conference on Applied Natural Language Processing, being held in Trento, Italy from 1st--3rd April 1991. Details of this conference can be obtained from Oliviero Stock, IRST, 38050 Povo (Trento), Italy; Tel: (+39) 461 81444, email: stock@irst.it. The cost of the workshop, including accommodation and meals, is expected to be in the region of $300 per person. Financial support for the workshop is being sought. The workshop is co-sponsored by the Esprit Basic Research Actions and the Special Interest Group on Generation of the Association for Computational Linguistics. Organising Committee: Robert Dale, Eduard Hovy, Dietmar R\"osner and Oliviero Stock. ********** I.A.2. Fr: Don Walker Re: Translation and the European Communities TRANSLATION AND THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES CONFERENCE 22-23 June 1992 Biskops Arnoe Manor near Stockholm, Sweden New scale, New problems, New challenges, New openings - and first and last: Changes! The deeper integration and the wider geographical scope of the European Communities are rapidly creating a very different Europe. Not least, the language situation is being radically remodeled. The first to be affected are the professional translators, along with those who buy or organize translation or provide tools and services for the purpose. Also, the translators are among the few who can immediately affect the galloping development - and give early warnings. There are some worries. Thus, "old" members of the communities report that the convergence has given rise to new linguistic barriers: bureaucrats and politicians have in many domains developed a "Eurospeak", with different versions claimed to be English, French, German etc, which are just barely intelligible to unspoilt native readers and writers of thenational languages of Europe. What are the effects of these converging and diverging tendencies on the political, economic and social life in Europe? And on the national languages? No European country will escape the consequences of this bureaucracy-based revolution. Thus, Sweden, not yet a member country, is translating a set of community documents tantamount to ten years' yield of statutory law in the country. Can the Swedish language with impunity assimilate this influx of new texts, concepts and words? Without - as is the case now in Sweden and in most "new" member countries - a co-ordinated planned terminological effort? The peaceful amalgamation of autonomous countries into a unified albeit pluralingual entity without Herrenvolk and lingua franca seems to be unique in history. Will it remain so? Is it an experiment worth observing for other regions which contemplate becoming more of one region than a multitude of neighbours? When is multilingualism a recommendable proposal? To address questions like these, the Swedish Association of Authorized Translators, FAT, in conjunction with the Committee for Linguistics (FID/LD) within the International Federation for Information and Documentation, FID, is organizing a conference, 22-23 June 1992, at Biskops Arnoe, just outside Stockholm, Sweden. Papers focussing on some specific aspect of this theme are invited. In particular, we welcome comments on the following issues: * A pluralingual community and its impact on the national languages * Terminological support and language control * The translation market after 1992 * Translation aids in a multilingual environment The spoken language at the conference will be English: we regret that we shall not have the resources to provide interpretation. Accepted papers will be discussed at the conference and included in revised form in a book summarizing the findings and results of the conference meetings. Papers may be submitted in any official language of the Communities and a summary in some other language of the Communities should be appended. Whether presenting a paper or not, participants with experience of translating and translation-related problems are welcome. To warrant an atmosphere promoting interaction rather than soliloquies attendance is restricted to about 70 persons from all countries, so please indicate your interest at your earliest convenience. DATES: * Submission of draft of papers: before January 15, 1992. * Decision by Programme Committee: before March 1, 1992. * Delivery of camera-ready text of paper: before May 15, 1992. * Payment of subscription dues: before April 15, 1992. * Arrival at conference venue: Sunday evening, June 21, 1992. * Working sessions: Monday and Tuesday, June 22 and 23, 1992. * Departure: Wednesday, June 24, 1992. PRELIMINARY CONFERENCE SCHEDULE: Friday & Saturday June 19-20: Pre-conference Social Programme Sunday June 21: From 1 p.m. Arrival & Registration From 7 p.m. Informal Gathering Monday June 22: Presentation of papers; discussions Evening: Panel discussion Tuesday June 23: Presentation of papers; discussions Evening: Banquet. Wednesday June 24: Breakfast & Departure Thursday June 25: Study visits to translation companies and documentation departments in Sweden THE CONFERENCE PROGRAMME: Papers to be considered for inclusion in the conference programme should be sent to the Programme Committee. Please send a draft of the full text - not more than 12,000 characters - as a plain ASCII text to e-mail COLING@COM.QZ.SE or on paper in quintuplicate. The Programme Committee, after reviewal, will make its decision not later than 1 March and notify the author(s) by e-mail, fax or telex at the address indicated for that paper in the heading of the paper. Each paper should focus on some specific issue of translation in the new Europe. It should report about a recent or expected change in the organization, conditions and market for translation, describe, suggest or criticize tools and methodware for translation or debate crucial problems of language policy and planning influencing or influenced by translation activities. We shall not have space on this occasion for papers, whatever their merits, on translation theory or practice in general. Accepted papers will be reproduced and distributed to the partipants on arrival and discussed at the conference. The papers, after revision, together with the results emerging from the conference will be published in the form of a book which is expected to become a work of reference for everybody interested in translation and language problems in Europe. Resources will be available for software demonstrations during the meeting. Proposals for demonstrations should be submitted to the programme committee in the manner described for papers. Please indicate what computational environment your demonstration will require. All participants as well as non-participating persons or organizations are invited to exhibit relevant literature and reports at a book show during the conference. If possible, bring copies for participants to pick up. One copy of each item presented will be retained by the organizers for future reference. For possible commercial exhibition and demonstration of products or services, please contact the organizers about terms and conditions. CONFERENCE TIMES AND VENUE: The conference will be held at an old manor, Biskops Arnoe, built on the site of anancient castle - the Bishop's Eagle Isle, to translate the name - some 14th century vaults ofwhich are still, as we shall see, extant. It belongs today to "Norden", an Intra-Scandinavian cultural association which organizes training courses and meetings on topics of mutual interest to the whole Scandinavian area (and which finds the topic of this conference on the linguistic situation in Europe, including Scandinavia, highly pertinent). For the purpose of such activities, a building for meetings and a number of bungalows for accommodation have been added. The facilities are modest but modern, with a bathroom in each room or in every 4-roomed bungalow. Biskops Arnoe is situated in a rural environment, on a small island of its own in the large lake Maelaren, about an hour's drive from Stockholm City and about the same distance from Arlanda International Airport. The dates for the conference were chosen because Scandinavia is very bright and attractive at that time, so that the business visit can be combined with a tourist trip in Sweden. Accompanying persons can be accommodated on the conference site at a moderate extra charge, and they will be given ample opportunity to explore the surroundings, fraught with historical memories. Within a few miles of friendly land- and seascape visitors will find runic stones, medieval churches, castles, and Sweden's oldest city; within less than 70 km they will also find Sweden's oldest university as well as its present capital. The conference begins on the Monday following Midsummer, which is celebrated during two intense days and nights in Scandinavia. The participants are expected to drop in during the Sunday, and enjoy an informal gathering in the evening. PRE-CONFERENCE REGISTRATION: To warrant an intimate atmosphere for open-minded constructive discussion, attendance is restricted to about 70 persons. Place will be reserved on a first-order-first-served basis. To be valid, registration must be followed by payment for the full conference documentation not later than April 15. One set of the documentation must be purchased and paid for by each participant. No additional participation fee is required. If for any reason a subscriber cannot attend the meeting, the documentation will be mailed to his address. The payment will not be refunded. Active participants will be provided with accommodation, meals and transportation on a complimentary basis. They are expected to pay for their own transportation to Biskops Arnoe, for beverages and for telephone and similar personal expenses. For accompanying persons a minor charge, 250 ecu, for meals will be made. The price for all relevant documentation, including the printed after-conference report on "Translation in the New Europe", is 500 ecu for subscribers paying before April 15. Otherwise the price is 750 ecu. The final report will be distributed through a commercial publisher. All payments should be credited to Eurofat AB, Account number 333 14 31, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, Stockholm, clearing number 5244. For subscribers in Sweden, VAT must be added. If you wish to be billed for the amount, please instruct us on the appropriate receiver and address of such a bill. ADDRESSES: All correspondence concerning the conference prior to the meeting should be addressed to Eurofat AB, which is a company formed by FAT for this particular purpose. Its addresses are: EUROFAT AB: e-mail: COLING@COM.QZ.SE, telex: 15 440 KVAL S fax: +46 8 796 96 39 voice: +46 8789 66 83 paper mail: Skeppsbron 26, S-111 30 Stockholm, Sweden ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: President of FAT: Leif Oestling; Coordinator: Hans Karlgren; Liaison Officers: Joachim Wesseloh, David Knight, Jean Heyum; Press Officer: Kerstin Ingmansson; Conference Treasurer: Bo Widegren; Conference Secretary: Katrin Sundius-Nordin; Post-Conference Study Visit Manager: Matti Jaernare; Travel and Pre- & Post-conference Tours Advisor: Heidemarie Nyrn; Cultural Programme: Adolf Dahl; Registration: Gerd Mller-Nordin During the conference, participants can be reached using the following address: Folkhogskolan; Biskops Arnoe; S-198 00 Baalsta, Sweden; Phone: +46-171-522 60 ********************************************************** IRLIST Digest is distributed from the University of California, Division of Library Automation, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA. 94612-3550. 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