CFP: Classification at a Crossroads, The Hague, 29-30 October 2009

The International UDC Seminar 2009 entitled "Classification at a Crossroads: Multiple Directions to Usability" will take place on 29-30 October 2009 in the UDC Consortium headqarters in The Hague.

The conference aims at exploring how new developments in information standards and technology influence and affect applications and services using classification, Universal Decimal Classification in particular, and its relationships to other systems.

The programme will highlight many ways in which the use classification can be improved. Attention will be paid to the applications of classification in supporting multilingual access, user-friendly representations of classification in resource discovery and semantic searching expansion and classification application across distributed systems.

Papers and posters are now invited covering the following topics:

Classification and semantic technologies, e.g. experiences with vocabulary standards for expressing and porting classification data into the Semantic Web, vocabulary registries, terminology services
Classification in supporting information integration, e.g. classification use in alignment of vocabularies, classification as a common subject language in co-operative systems, experiences in multi-database systems, classification mapping to other subject languages, classification enhancement with social tagging
Verbal and multilingual access to classification, e.g. textual searching and display, management of subject-alphabetical indexes, extraction of thesauri from classification schemes
Classification authority control and library systems, e.g. issues with MARC formats, authority file development, maintenance and sharing of data
Visual representations/interface to classification, e.g. issues in classification browsing and faceted representation in classification tools and information systems
Experiences with classification outside the traditional library environment, e.g. use in different types of digital repositories (eprints, VLE), resource discovery on the Web, alerting services, specialised bibliographic services and databases, organization of physical objects etc.

The International UDC Seminar 2009 is 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 read more about conference and to submit abstracts (300-500 words) go to the conference website conference webiste.

RDA Full Draft Out W/C 3 November

Just in case anyone doesn't subscribe to LIS-UKBIBS:

The Joint Steering Committee has announced that the full draft of RDA will be available for constituency review the week of 3 November.

The plan is to make it available in a prliminary version of the software.

Full post here.

Back to basics: BC2 then, now, and in the future

BLISS CLASSIFICATION ASSOCIATION ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & ANNUAL LECTURE
24 OCTOBER 2008 at 2.15 p.m.
University of London Library, Senate House, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HU
in the Palaeography Seminar Room

‘Back to basics: BC2 then, now, and in the future’

The original Bibliographic Classification of H. E. Bliss was widely acclaimed as the finest of the general classification schemes of the early twentieth century. Its second edition has also been regarded as the model of a modern subject indexing and retrieval tool, embracing as it does the developed classification theory of the next generation. This event takes a comprehensive look at the fundamentals of BC2, the only fully faceted system of classification in the western world. The speakers will cover principles of BC2, how and why it was conceived, its use as a pattern for faceted vocabularies, its influence on other retrieval tools, and plans for the further development of BC2 as a thesaurus and in a web-enabled format.

Speakers include Jack Mills, Vanda Broughton, Jean Aitchison, and Leonard Will

The BCA Annual Lecture will take place at 3.15 p.m., immediately after the 2008 AGM of the Bliss Classification Association. The Lecture is open to anyone interested in matters relating to classification, indexing, and the problems of subject access and retrieval generally, and you are warmly invited to attend.

Entry is free, but if you would like to come, please email Vanda Broughton at v.broughton[at]ucl.ac.uk

Invitation: Semantic Analysis Technology, London, 3 November 2008

We would like to invite you to a half-day event organized by the British Chapter of the International Society for Knowledge Organization (ISKO UK) entitled: "Semantic Analysis Technology: in search of categories, concepts & context" 

London, 3 November 2008 from 14:00 - 19:00 (registration starts at 13:15).

Venue: Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre, Wilkins Building, Gower Street, London - WC1E 6BT

Cost: 20 GBP  (students and ISKO members free!)

Categorizing or classifying information effectively has always placed demands on those professional staff qualified to deal with it. But at today’s exponential rates of growth, it is almost impossible to keep up. Much has been written in recent years of the potential of semantic analysis technology which extracts categories, concepts and context automatically. But how well does this technology work and what are the issues involved?

In this seminar, organized by ISKO UK in cooperation with the School of Library, Archives and Information Studies at UCL, we will hear from six presenters, each of whom will provide their own experiences. They include SmartLogic’s Jeremy Bentley, Bill Porter of Expert System, Rob Lee from Rattle Research, and Helen Lippell, Karen Loasby and Silver Oliver representing various media organizations, among them the BBC.

This event is the fourth in ISKO UK's successful KOnnecting KOmmunities series,  and promises some revealing insights into a technology which we may all find ourselves using in the not-too-distant future, whether we like it or not. For full details on the venue and programme, and to book your place at the event visit the event's website.

We look forward to seeing you in November!

ISKO UK

http://www.iskouk.org/