Online Conference: NASKO 2023: Who Are We?: Reflecting, Shaping, and Challenging Identity Through Knowledge Organization
Call for Participation
Conference Sponsor: University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Conference Dates: June 15-16, 2023
Conference information can be found here.
Deadline for Proposals: March 6, 2023
Knowledge organization relies on our ability to perceive, represent, and communicate human understanding. Of all areas of human knowledge, no understanding may be as important as our understanding of ourselves. Our knowledge of identity begins with the self and proceeds out to other individuals, groups, and entire cultures. This knowledge not only shapes the way we view the world, but shapes the way we act in it as well. Within the discipline of knowledge organization, a vast array of systems and practices portray identity. From authority files, to personality classifications, to demographic categories, to gazetteers, identities from the individual to entire countries are named and organized. These systems and practices realize an understanding of the world and offer a reflection of our identities. Whether intentionally or not, such depictions also work to shape our identities. While systems for labelling and organizing identity may offer us insight into ourselves and a path to self-identification and expression, they may just as easily be imposed upon us in acts of control, marginalization, and oppression. At the same time, knowledge organization can serve as a means of shifting back the locus of control as well. Driven by desires for justice and equity, critical practices may utilize knowledge organization as a means of challenging existing notions of identity and giving voice to previously silenced perspectives.
In the age of information, how are identities being understood, depicted, shaped, and challenged, and how are knowledge organization activities contributing to this? And as scholars and practitioners, how does our interest in this contribute to our own identity as a discipline?
The Ninth North American Symposium on Knowledge Organization (NASKO 2023) seeks to address these issues, as well as to reflect on the full continuum of KO activity, from research exploring community, people, and human-driven practices, to computational and technical approaches, and to theoretical research focusing on core practices in KO. NASKO 2023 invites submissions covering, but not limited to KO history and foundations, theory, epistemological stances, domain analytical approaches, community of practices, community representation and misrepresentation, digital life-cycle, and computational approaches. Researchers studying topics from a KO perspective, including students, practitioners (e.g., librarians, archivists, information managers), and scholars from domains including information science, library science, human-computer interaction, and others are welcome to submit.
Proposal Categories include: Research (Full) Papers, Short Research Papers, and the Doctoral Symposium (described below).
Instructions
Proposals for research papers, short papers, and the doctoral symposium are welcomed. Acceptable languages for conference submissions include English, Portuguese, French, or Spanish. Graduate students are especially encouraged to submit proposals. Proposals should include the name(s) of the author(s), their complete mailing and e-mail addresses, and their telephone numbers. The title of the proposal should include a term denoting the category of submission: Research Paper, Short Paper, or Doctoral Symposium.
All proposals should be uploaded to the EasyChair conference site: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=nasko2023
Contact: Brian Dobreski, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (bdobresk[at]utk.edu)
Proposal categories:
Research (Full) Papers:
Proposals should include a title and be no more than 1500 words with citations (citations not included in word count). Proposals should situate themselves within the extant literature of knowledge organization, and have a clearly articulated theoretical grounding and methodology. Those that report on completed or ongoing work will be given preference. Diverse perspectives and methodologies are welcome.
Research paper proposals undergo a rigorous double-blind review process. Confidentiality of submissions is maintained during the review process. Authors will develop accepted full paper proposals into full papers (4,000+ words); full papers will be published in the proceedings in the language of submission, and presented as paper presentations at the conference in English. 20 minutes presentation.
Short Papers:
Proposals should include a title and be no more than 1000 words with citations (citations not included in word count). A short paper could present a more focused study of smaller scope than a full paper. For example, work in progress, preliminary research analysis, or late-breaking results are suitable for short papers. Accepted short papers will be published in the proceedings, and presented as short paper presentations at the conference.
Short paper proposals undergo a rigorous double-blind review process. Confidentiality of submissions is maintained during the review process. Authors will develop accepted short paper proposals into short papers (1,500-3,000 words); short papers will be published in the proceedings in the language of submission, and presented as paper presentations at the conference in English. 10 minutes presentation.
Doctoral Symposium:
This is an opportunity for doctoral students to discuss their research in progress in a 15-minute presentation. Proposals should consist of a 500-word abstract with citations (citations not included in word count) and a one-page CV. Students will also have the opportunity to attend a general advising session to discuss their CVs, service commitments, and the job market. Students accepted into the doctoral symposium will have their conference registration fees waived.
Publication:
All accepted papers will be published online in the University of Washington Archive (https://journals.lib.washington.edu/index.php/nasko/index); an open access repository. The papers most highly-ranked during the peer-review process will, with permission of the authors, be published in full in a future issue of Knowledge Organization.