Chapter: Europe

CfP "Documentary Languages in the Big Open Linked Data (BOLD) Era"

  • 1.  CfP "Documentary Languages in the Big Open Linked Data (BOLD) Era"

    Posted 03-01-2019 03:45

    Call for papers for a special Issue of Education for Information on "Documentary Languages in the Big Open Linked Data (BOLD) Era"

    https://www.iospress.nl/journal/education-for-information/

    Knowledge organization deals, among other things, with the development of documentary languages (knowledge organization systems such as subject headings, thesauri, SKOSs, classification languages, index lists, etc.) that make the processing and retrieval of data, information and knowledge easier. However, techniques of artificial intelligence allow big data resources to be searched for hidden patterns. The role of documentary languages is easily obscured in a world of big data. Is knowledge organization still relevant in the age of big data? (Hjørland, 2012; Soergel, 2015; Ibekwe-SanJuan & Bowker, 2017). Yet the idea of Linked Open Data (LOD) depends on databases being coded in terms of RDF triples: Computers can only draw inferences across databases if the terminology employed in RDF triples is the same or at least interoperable. The promise of Linked Open Data may well depend on the ability of documentary languages to provide a common vocabulary for RDF triples (Szostak et al. 2018).

     

    This special issue aspires to take stock of the present state and future prospects for the application of documentary languages in the world of Big Open Linked Data (BOLD). What role do documentary languages play in BOLD? How has this role changed in recent years? What opportunities might be pursued in future? What are the particular needs that documentary languages could serve at this historical moment?

     

    Possible topics include (but are not limited to) the following:

    •  Can documentary languages provide a common vocabulary for LOD?
    •  Do developments in artificial intelligence reduce the need for documentary languages?
    •  How are documentary languages being transformed to meet the needs of BOLD?
    •  Is classification still relevant in the BOLD era?
    •  Will documentary languages still be relevant in a dozen years?
    •  Is there scope for reuniting the fields of knowledge organization and information retrieval at this historical moment?
    •  How does BOLD differ in its implications for documentary languages from earlier episodes of digitization and machine searching?
    •  What are the ethical challenges for knowledge organization in the BOLD era  
    •  What are the epistemological and theoretical underpinnings of evolving documentary languages intended to achieve interoperability?
    • Is there scope for a more horizontal bottom-up approach to designing documentary languages that is better suited to the BOLD era?

    This list is far from prescriptive. We wish to open up the issue to reflections, theories, empirical studies, programmatic articles, and literature reviews on the topic.

     

    The special issue is co-edited by Rick Szostak (University of Alberta, Canada) and Daniel Martínez-Ávila (São Paulo State University – UNESP, Marilia, Brazil).

    Questions, comments and inquiries can be directed to either rszostak@ualberta.ca or to martinez.avila@unesp.br

     

    Style guidelines for Education for Information are available here:

    http://www.iospress.nl/journal/education-for-information/?tab=submission-of-manuscripts.

     

    Submissions are due 15th of August, 2019 and should be done via the journal's online submission system: https://mstracker.com/submit_0.php.  

    Please state in the cover letter that your submission is for the Special Issue on Documentary Languages in the Big Open Linked Data (BOLD) Era.

    Submissions will be double-blind peer-reviewed.

     

    References

    Hjørland, B. (2012). Is Classification Necessary after Google? Journal of Documentation, 68, 299-317

    Ibekwe-SanJuan, F., Bowker, G.C. (2017). Implications of Big Data for Knowledge Organization. Knowledge Organization, 44, 187-198.

    Soergel, D. (2015). Unleashing the Power of Data through Organization: Structure and Connections for Meaning, Learning and Discovery. Knowledge Organization, 42, 401-427.

    Szostak, R., Scharnhorst, A., Beek, W., Smiraglia, R. (2018). Connecting KOSs and the LOD Cloud. In Ribeiro, Fernanda and Cerveira, Maria Elisa (eds.), Challenges and Opportunities for Knowledge Organization in the Digital Age. Proceedings of the Fifteenth International ISKO Conference, 9-11 July 2018 Porto, Portugal.  Würzburg: Ergon.

     

    About the journal

    Founded in 1983, Education for information (EFI) is a quarterly refereed academic journal publishing research articles on issues related to the teaching and learning of information scientists and professionals for an information society. EFI welcomes a broad perspective on issues related to pedagogy and learning in the information and communication disciplines (ICD) such as Library and Information Science, Communication and Media studies, Journalism, Archival studies, Museum studies, Psychology, Cognitive science and Digital Humanities.



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    Tamara Heck
    Postdoctoral Researcher
    German Institute for Internati
    Frankfurt a. M.
    heck@dipf.de
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