Information Retrieval List Digest 351 (April 14, 1997) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/irld/irld-351.txt IRLIST Digest ISSN 1064-6965 April 14, 1997 Volume XIV, Number 13 Issue 351 ********************************************************** II. JOBS 1. Microsoft: Software Developers in Multimedia Retrieval Capabilities III. NOTICES A. Publications 1. Economics of Digital Information: Conference Papers and Notes 2. Sociological Research Online 2:1 3. The Information Society 12(4) ToC B. Meetings 1. SOFSEM '97 1st CFP C. Miscellaneous 1. Internet Society: New Domain Names 2. Long Island U.: New Ph.D. Program at Palmer School IV. PROJECTS C. Fellowships, Grants, & Scholarships 1. OERI Funding D. Initiatives & Proposals 1. CNI Federal Information Paper ********************************************************** II. JOBS II.1. Fr: Kurt Geisel Re: Microsoft: Software Developers in Multimedia Retrieval Capabilities Microsoft is looking for software developers to build leading multimedia retrieval capabilities to be exposed across Microsoft's product line. You could create a world of change as we move toward the next generation of our products. Specifically you will have the opportunity to raise the bar in retrieval technology to help casual users of web authoring and multimedia creation tools find the content they need to produce professional results. Applicants should have experience in designing and developing database or retrieval systems, extensive experience in C++, and a desire to work on shipping products. A BA/BS or an MS degree in Computer Science or equivalent work experience required. Experience with Win32 and COM development strongly preferred. A research background in multimedia retrieval is a plus. There are multiple positions open, so please share the information with someone as good as you are. If you are interested, please email/fax your resume to the attention of Claudia Gonzalez: claudigo@microsoft.com fax (206)936-7329 Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. ********************************************************** III. NOTICES III.A.1. Fr: Gerry Bernbom Re: Economics of Digital Information: Conference Papers and Notes The Coalition for Networked Information, along with the Council on Library Resources, the Kennedy School of Government, and Harvard Law School, co-sponsored the conference, "Economics of Digital Information and Intellectual Property," January 21-23, 1997. It was an objective of this symposium "to broaden and deepen understanding of emerging economic and business models for global publishing and information access and the attendant transformation of...information markets, institutions, and businesses." Conference Papers and Session Notes from this meeting are now available at: . Gerry Bernbom Visiting Program Officer Coalition for Networked Information 21 Dupont Circle, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 296-5098 FAX: (202) 872-0884 Internet: gerry@cni.org ********** III.A.2 Fr: Stuart Peters Re: Sociological Research Online 2:1 SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH ONLINE Editor: Liz Stanley Book Review Editors: Victoria Alexander and Sue Heath Editorial and IT Officer: Stuart Peters Department of Sociology http://www.socresonline.org.uk/socresonline/ University of Surrey email: socres@soc.surrey.ac.uk Guildford, Surrey GU2 5XH tel: (+44) (0)1483 259292 United Kingdom fax: (+44) (0)1483 259356 ********** III.A.3. Fr: Rob Kling Re: The Information Society 12(4) ToC The Information Society Letter from Rob Kling Editor-in-Chief For TIS Issue 12(4) (Oct-Dec, 1996) TABLE of CONTENTS Letter from the Editor-in-Chief "The Virtual College: Computer-Mediated Communication and Scientific Work," by John Walsh and Todd Bayma. "If I Want it, It s OK: Usenet and the (Outer) Limits of Free Speech," by Bryan Pfaffenberger "Engendering Democratic Participation via the Net: Access, Voice and Dialogue," by Nancy Kurland and Terri Egan "Controlling Access: Demographic Characteristics of Unlisted/Nonpublished Subscribers," by James E. Katz. "Regulatory Reform and the Promise of New Telecommunications Infrastructure in New Jersey" by Jan L. Youtie and William Read Forum "Short-term memories: A death in the Information Age," by Van Korenegay "The End of University," by Majid Tehranian "The Demise of Meaning-Making and Social Agency as Critical Concepts in the Rhetoric of an Information Age," by Suzanne Iacono Book Reviews: Reviewed by Deborah Sprague. "In Search of the Virtual Class: Education in an Information Society," by J. Tiffin and L. Rajasingham. Reviewed by George Ritzer. "The Dynamics of Service: Reflections on the Changing Nature of Customer/Provider Interactions," by Barbara Gutek. Rob Kling http://php.ucs.indiana.edu/~kling The Information Society (journal) http://www.slis.indiana.edu/TIS Center for Social Informatics http://www.slis.indiana.edu/CSI Indiana University 10th & Jordan, Room 005C Bloomington, IN 47405-1801 812-855-9763 // Fax: 855-6166 ********** III.B.1. Fr: Jan Staudek Re: SOFSEM '97 1st CFP 1st CALL FOR PAPERS := SOFSEM'97 XXIV-th Seminar on Current Trends in Theory and Practice of Informatics November 22 - November 29, 1997 Devet-skal hotel, Milovy Czech Republic ORGANIZED BY: Czech Society for Computer Science * Slovak Society for Computer Science * Czech ACM Chapter * Czech Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics SUBJECT: SOFSEM (SOFtware SEMinar) is an eight-day international seminar devoted to the theory and the practice of software systems. Its program consists of a series of invited talks given by prominent academic professionals and researchers. Contributed talks and posters of participants are also included in the program of SOFSEM. The working language is English. Invited talks and contributed talks are published by Springer-Verlag in the "Lecture Notes in Computer Science" series and distributed at the seminar. Sofsem'97 is the 24th in the series of Sofsem seminars held annually. It is intended to foster cooperation among people working in various areas of computer science. Its scientific program offers a unique opportunity to gain a relatively quick and representative overview about the selected parts of computer science, presented by top researchers. Its social program provides an optimal framework for discussions, meetings, contact establishing, and socializing. Especially suited for young computer scientists. TABLE OF CONTENTSa: Topics Committees Submissions Contributed Talks Posters Deadlines Contact Addresses, Sofsem www-page Fees Cancellation Financial support Exhibitions Sponsors Local Arrangements, Venue, History Registration REGISTRATION FORM AND PAYMENT NOTICE TOPICS: A. Fundamentals, B. Distributed and parallel systems, C. Software engineering and methodology, D. Databases and Information Systems. PROGRAM OF INVITED TALKS includes: A. FUNDAMENTALS Reiner Feldmann, University of Paderborn, DE: Computer Chess: The Importance of a Deep Look into the Future Marc van Kreveld, Utrecht University, NL: Algorithms for Trangulated Terrains Klaus-Joern Lange, University of Tuebingen, DE: On the Distributed Realisation of Parallel Algorithms Johann Makowsky, Technion, Haifa, IL: The Fundamental Problem of Data Modeling Jaroslav Nesetril, Daniel Turzik, VSCHT, Prague, CZ: Travelling Salesman and MAX-CUT - key problems of Combinatorial Optimization Pekka Orponen, University of Jyvaskyla, FI: A Survey of Continuous-Time Computation Theory Klaus Weihrauch, Fernuniversitaet, Hagen, DE: A Foundation for Computable Analysis Jiri Wiedermann, Institute of Computer Science, Academy of Sciences, Prague, CZ: Towards Machines That Can Think Henryk Wozniakowski, University of Warsaw/Columbia University, PL/USA: Complexity of Multivariate Problems Shmuel Zaks, Technion, Haifa, IL: Path layout in ATM Networks B. DISTRIBUTED AND PARALLEL SYSTEMS Barret Bryant, Prakash Kumar Muthukrishnan, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA: Automatic Generation of Parallelizing Compilers for Object-Oriented Programming Languages from Denotational Semantics Specifications David Duce, CLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, UK: Theory and practice in interactionally rich distributed systems Valerie Issarny, INRIA/IRISA Rennes, F: Configuration-Based programming Systems C. SOFTWARE ENGINEERING AND METHODOLOGY Dines Bjorner, International Institute for Software Technology, United Nations, University, Macau: Signatures of Large-scale Infrastructure Systems Annie Kuntzmann-Combelles, Objectif Technologie, F: Software Process Improvement Helmut Krcmar, University Hohenheim, Stuttgart, DE: Telecooperation and Workflow Architecture Wolfgang Pree, JKU Linz, A: Design Patterns for Object-Oriented Software Development D. DATABASES AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS Klaus Dittrich, University of Zurich, CH: Object-oriented database systems and beyond Maria Orlowska, University of Queensland, Brisbane, AUS: Distributed Databases - From Theory to Practice Howard Williams, Herriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK: From OO through deduction to active DB - ROCK, ROLL and RAP Jiri Zara, Czech Technical University, Prague, CR: An Introduction to Virtual Reality Modeling Language Jiri Zlatuska, Masaryk University, Brno, CR: The information Society SUBMISSIONS: The categories for submissions include Contributed Talks and Posters. Each submission should have a title giving the following information: - name, address, e-mail address, and phone/fax number of each author; - specification of one of the authors as the contact person. To submit, please send via e-amil a postscript file or via s-mail five printed copies of your contribution. With each submission, please e-mail also an abstract in plain ASCII. Any other form of electronic submission should be consulted in advance with the PC sectretary. CONTRIBUTED TALKS: 8-page drafts in English are expected. A full camera-ready copy of contributed talks on current topics in Computer Science should be no longer than 8-pages. Presentation time for contributed talks is 25 minutes. Contributed talks will be included in the Proceedings of SOFSEM '97, published in the Lecture Notes in Computer Science series by Springer-Verlag. The Organizing Committee will supply the authors of accepted contributed talks with detailed technical instructions and the LaTeX style file for the preparation of the camera-ready copy. POSTERS: We actively encourage posters describing work in progress. Final versions of two A4 page poster are expected. DEADLINES: Submission of the contributed talk/poster: MAY 15, 1997 Notification of acceptance/rejection: JULY 10, 1997 Camera-ready copy of the contributed talk: AUG. 31, 1997 CONTACT ADDRESSES: Sofsem www-page http://www.ics.muni.cz/sofsem/sofsem.html Communications and enquires should be adressed to: sofsem@ics.muni.cz SUBMISSIONS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO: sofsemct@ics.muni.cz or Jiri Sochor Faculty of Informatics Masaryk University Botanicka 68a, 602 00 Brno Czech Republic FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION: http://www.ics.muni.cz/sofsem/sofsem.html ********** III.C.1. Fr: Don Heath Re: Internet Society: New Domain Names INTERNET NAMING PLAN SIGNED: ADDITIONAL ENDORSEMENTS SCHEDULED FOR GENEVA MEETING AT THE END OF APRIL WASHINGTON, DC, April 8 -- Internet governance has taken a major step forward, with the authorizing signatures applied to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which enhances administration and management of the Internet's domain name system. The document is part of a plan developed by the International Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC), a group of Internet experts formed to consider issues brought on by the rapid growth of the Internet, that calls for the creation of additional top level names and the formation of a structure to allow competing companies to register Internet names. Initial signers of the documents establishing the new system are the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), the Internet Society (ISOC), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the International Trademark Association (INTA). They will be joined by representatives from industry, government, and other organizations who have indicated their intent to sign and participate. Three major corporations, Digital Equipment Corporation, MCI, and UUNET are among the early endorsers of the plan. According to Heidi Heiden, a senior executive with UUNET, "We are endorsing the IAHC plan because it successfully addresses key issues and concerns and was created by responsible parties with strong credentials. It is of utmost importance to us to see the Internet evolve as a stable and secure network that continues to expand without being fragmented." Vint Cerf, Senior VP of MCI said, "As valuable as the work done by the IAHC in resolving name space issues is, of more importance to the MCI endorsement is the maturity and stability the Memorandum of Understanding brings to the administration and future self-governance of the Internet." In indicating its support, Digital Equipment Corporation's Vice President and Chief Scientist, Sam Fuller said, "As the Internet becomes important to mainstream commerce, it needs an open, responsible, and scaleable process for distributing domain names. DIGITAL intends to work with the IAHC to help advance this policy framework to achieve such a naming service." Representatives from organizations covering a broad range of Internet interests and activities will gather in Geneva, April 29 - May 1, to add their signatures to the Memorandum of Understanding. Using principles of self-governance, the MoU sets up a structure and establishes policies and procedures, for responsible administration of the "generic" portion of Internet domain name space, according to Donald M. Heath, chair of the IAHC. Dr. Pekka Tarjanne, Secretary-General of the ITU, said, "The Internet demonstrates what can be done through innovation and self-regulation. I welcome the IAHC's plans to phase in competition within generic Top Level Domains while maintaining a necessary stability in the Internet domain name space. This provides an appropriate environment for the global business community enabling electronic commerce to flourish. The ITU is extremely pleased to play a facilitating role in these self-governance activities of the Internet industry by acting as the depository of the MoU." The plan calls for acceptance of applications from entities desiring to become Registrars to begin seven days after formal signing of the MoU, for a period of 60 days. The firm of Arthur Andersen will oversee the process of applications and selection. Up to 28 Registrars will be selected in the 30 days following close of application acceptance. Additional registrars may be added, as the new structure develops and matures. Coordination of registrar activities will occur through the Council of Registrars (CORE). In response to public comment, the IAHC has reduced the two-tier financial resources requirements for applicants, holding all applicants to the lower of the two tiers. This reduces the barrier to entry within competitive regions but still ensures sufficient fiscal capabilities for organizations planning to supply this essential service. The IAHC plan balances requirements for competition among registrars, versus public oversight of registration activities. Registrars will compete directly, covering the same range of domain names. To mediate their activities, the CORE will run a neutral, shared database repository. All daily activities will be handled by the registrars themselves and by CORE. Public interest concerns will be covered by the Policy Oversight Committee, a small management team, assisted by a much larger Policy Advisory Body, comprising signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding. This structure will ensure that daily operations can be conducted efficiently, but policy concerns will receive adequate and diverse review and input. Vint Cerf, who was the co-creator of the Internet's core TCP/IP protocols, further stated, "The Internet is growing up rapidly and it is vital that the processes, procedures, and policies that define its administration be sound, stable and sustainable in an international setting. With this foundation, the Internet can become a solid communications platform in all sectors of commerce." Heath, who is also President and CEO of the Internet Society (ISOC), said, "We believe we have created a model for Internet self-governance that may be used for other issues that confront Internet evolution, such as privacy, content, and censorship. Responsible self-governance is a key factor in assuring that the Internet will reach its fullest potential." Seven new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) will be created under the IAHC plan in addition to the selection of new Registrars. There are currently three gTLDs: .com, .net, and .org, and one registrar for those names, Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI). NSI is operating under a cooperative agreement between NSI and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The IAHC plan proposes the addition of: .firm, .store, .web, arts, .rec, .info, and .nom and each of the new Registrars will share the central repository database under any new gTLDs. Once the cooperative agreement between NSI and NSF concludes, the three existing gTLDs will be added to the shared pool. Heath pointed out that, "With the establishment of shared registries, we have avoided monopolistic possibilities and have created a truly competitive environment." He continued, "If someone registering a name through one of the new Registrars is displeased with the service, they have the option of using other registrars." In addition to names and Registrars, the IAHC plan addresses issues of intellectual property and creates several innovative administrative processes to resolve conflicts which may arise when a second-level domain name is registered under a gTLD. In the future, it will be very difficult to hoard or warehouse names for resale. Taking advantage of the Internet itself, and in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the plan establishes on-line procedures for arbitration and mediation as well as a proactive method to challenge the registration of strong trademarks by someone other than the owner. It is anticipated that registrations under the IAHC plan would begin in third quarter 1997. There is no provision for name reservation or "pre-registration" prior to the time when the new registries are functional according to Heath. "We are aware of several solicitations to register second-level names under the new TLDs and want to make it clear that those activities are not sanctioned by the IAHC, or any of its sponsoring organizations," he added. The International Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC) was established in October of last year to satisfy the requirement for enhancements to the Internet's global Domain Name System (DNS). Organizations naming members to the committee included: Internet Society (ISOC), Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), Internet Architecture Board (IAB), Federal Networking Council (FNC), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), International Trademark Association (INTA), and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The full text of the IAHC report, the associated MoU, and legal documents are published at the IAHC Internet site: http://www.iahc.org. Internet Society 12020 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA 20191-3429 TEL 703-648-9888 FAX 703-648-9887 E-mail info@isoc.org http://www.isoc.org http://www.iahc.org ********** III.C.2. Fr: heting_chu Re: OERI Funding In the Thursday, March 20, 1997 issue of the Federal Register beginning on p. 13492, you will find the Dept. of Education's announcement of closing dates for OERI's FY 1997 Field Initiated Studies. This program awards an average of $150,000 per year for up to 3 years for education research on topics related to the legislative mission of any one of the five national research institutes within OERI. Researchers in the library community will be able to relate research about academic, public, and school library services to the invitational priority areas as well as to the specific missions of any of the five national research institutes. It is expected that each of the five institutes will make an average of 7 awards. The applications will be available on April 18, 1997 and the closing date for receipt of applications is June 9, 1997. ********** IV.D.1. From: Joan K Lippincott Re: CNI Federal Information paper CNI's "Access to and Services for Federal Information in the Networked Environment," a white paper that is the product of a CNI initiative, is available in draft form. The white paper is available at www.cni.org/projects/fedinfo/ The paper focuses on issues related to federal information from the perspective of institutions serving users. The challenges and opportunities addressed in the paper include an examination of what "collecting" information means in the networked environment; locating federal information; preserving federal information; and, providing services and infrastructure to support the delivery of federal information. The white paper was produced under the leadership of Joan Cheverie, Head of Government Documents, Lauinger Library, Georgetown University, who served as a Visiting Program Officer at CNI. CNI is accepting comments on the draft until April 30, 1997. Please send comments to jchev@cni.org. Joan K. Lippincott, Interim Executive Director Coalition for Networked Information 21 Dupont Circle, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 296-5098 FAX: (202) 872-0884 Internet: joan@cni.org http://www.cni.org/ ********************************************************** IRLIST Digest is distributed from the University of California, Division of Library Automation, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA. 94612-3550. Send subscription requests and submissions to: NCGUR@UCCMVSA.UCOP.EDU Editorial Staff: Clifford Lynch calur@uccmvsa.ucop.edu Nancy Gusack ncgur@uccmvsa.ucop.edu The IRLIST Archives is set up for anonymous FTP. Using anonymous FTP via the host ftp.dla.ucop.edu, the files will be found in the directory /data/ftp/pub/irl, stored in subdirectories by year (e.g., data/ftp/pub/irl/1993). Search or browse archived IR-L Digest issues on the Web at: http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/idom/irlist/ These files are not to be sold or used for commercial purposes. Contact Nancy Gusack for more information on IRLIST. 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