Communities & Technologies 2009

From June 25-28, I was at Penn State, attending the Communities & Technologies 2009 conference, the main bi-annual conference specifically focusing on this theme. As with the previous editions, I again very much enjoyed myself, both with respect to the many interesting presentations and by meeting up with old and new colleagues and friends who are part of our nomadic research tribe.

To get a feel for what the conference was about, check out the following resources:

• A Twitter account of the sessions by multiple authors, hashtag #cct2009.
• An excellent summary of the conference by Joe McCarthy.
• A Flickr conference photo gallery.

International Workshop on Community-Based Evolution of Knowledge-Intensive Systems (COMBEK’08)

Call for Papers

International Workshop On Community-Based Evolution of Knowledge-Intensive Systems COMBEK ’08

Monterrey, Mexico, Nov 9 – 14, 2008

http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/fedconf/index.html?page=combek2008cfp

WORKSHOP THEME

COMBEK seeks to address the need for research that explores and embraces the novel, difficult but crucial issue of adapting knowledge resources to their user communities, and vice versa, as a fundamental property of knowledge-intensive internet systems. Through a deep understanding of the real-time, community-driven, evolution of so-called ontologies, a knowledge-intensive system can be made operationally relevant and sustainable over long periods of time.

By addressing the notion of “community” in this way, COMBEK hopes to innovate the science of ontology engineering and unlock the expected (and unavoidable) paradigm shift in knowledge-based and community-driven systems. Such a paradigm would affect knowledge sharing and communication across diverse communities in business, industry, and society. We are further convinced that being a part of the OnTheMove conferences will turn a spotlight on the scientific issues addressed in COMBEK, making them visible and attractive to industry.

WORKSHOP GOALS

COMBEK is ready to transcend the current, narrow “ontology engineering” view on the change management of knowledge structures that is at the heart today’s knowledge-intensive systems. We will consider stakeholder communities as integral factors in the continuous evolution of the knowledge-intensive systems in which they collaborate. By bringing together researchers from different domains, COMBEK aims to advance research on a very broad spectrum of needs, opportunities, and solutions. COMBEK will be a forum for the discussion of next-generation knowledge-intensive systems and radically new approaches in knowledge evolution.

Researching with Communities

Researching with Communities: Grounded perspectives on engaging communities in research

Edited by Andy Williamson and Ruth DeSouza

Researching with communities presents a range of personal and grounded perspectives from academics, researchers and practitioners on undertaking research in ways that promote and privilege the voice of the community, is respectful of local or indigenous practices and is culturally safe.

Most definitely not a ‘tick list’ for approaching community-inclusive research, this book provides grounded exemplars, guides and discussion about the experiences of doing research respectfully and inclusively. It does this by drawing on the perspectives of researchers and community practitioners and by providing a range of reflective chapters that explore what community-based research means in a range of settings and for a range of people. Like the communities in which they are grounded, undertaking research in this way is always a unique experience.

This book is a valuable resource for researchers, evaluators, students, community practitioners and policy makers. The international authors cover disciplines from community ICT to health and refugee and asylum seekers to community development.

The book can be ordered online, priced at £24.95. For more information and to order your copy, please visit http://www.lulu.com/content/1550518.