Call for Papers
 

Conference background and goals

The mission of this conference is to publish and integrate scientific results and act catalytically to the fast
developing culture of web communities. The conference invites original papers, review papers, technical
reports and case studies on WWW in particular the emerging role of so-called WWW-Based Communities.
 

Domain: It is increasingly important for our culture to bring people together and to promote dynamics in
professional organizations, mutual understanding, learning and harmony. Creating "virtual communities" is one
 major way to do this. The Web Based Communities 2008 conference aims at sharing and aggregating
scientifically proven methods on how to organize and moderate WWW-based communities. These communities do not limit participants to particular locations - the international and multicultural dimension is a most challenging
one. Good WWW communities undergo a continuous evolution and adapt to the changing world. The nature
of these communities can be corporate, scientific, social or educational. Pragmatic questions which need to
be addressed include: What software tools are the most adequate and how to use them? How to promote
your community so that new members can find it? How to protect the members' privacy? How to moderate
discussions and how to provide information that people can use? How to create and maintain a sense of
trust and commitment among the members? In addition, sociology, education, communication and philosophy
issues are addressed as the main disciplines reflected in building WWW-based communities, although critical
theories on societies and post-modernism are also relevant starting points. New and imminent technologies
will be discussed.
 

Objectives: The Web Based Communities 2008 Conference aims at bringing together new vital understanding
of WWW communities and what new initiatives mean. Each new perspective is potentially a catalyst for
finding new architectures. National and regional-oriented communities may soon be relegated to a subordinate position compared to interest-oriented communities. Multiculturalism, critical thinking, expressing aesthetic aspects of
our identity, and finding sparring partners for sharpening our ideologies, are all processes that need the new communication infrastructures.
 

The targeted audience is scientists and members and moderators of WWW communities who feel responsible
for optimizing its quality and effect.
 

Format of the Conference
 

The conference will comprise invited talks and oral presentations. The proceedings of the conference will be
published in the form of a book and a CD-ROM with ISBN. The better papers will be candidate for the
"International Journal of Web Based Communities" (IJWBC);  ISSN: 1477 - 8394 [4 issues per year]

Topics of submission/Subject indications (but not limited to):

A. The history, architecture and future of virtual communities

1. From mobility to connectivity

2. Identity and augmented ideologies

3. Visionary web architectures, implanted computers

4. Network revolutions, post-colonial and post-modern societies

5. Escaping from reality, virtual reality and multi-user games

6. Towards alternative ways of presence

B. Group processes and self-organization

1. Tele-democracy, morality, netiquette 

2. Social networks, tribal- and open communities, peace education

3. Computer mediated-, hyper- and narrative communication, woven stories

4. MUDs, MOOs and avatars

5. Hosting web-based communities

6. Nationalities, ethnicities and gender effects

C. Cyborgs, teleworking, telemedicine, art games and learning communities

1. Fading hierarchies and epistemic dictatorship

2. Distributed cognition, the electronic cortex and constructivism

3. Community directories

4. Mechanic world, organic computer

5. Agents and the vectorized self

6. Beyond metaphors: imagining and representation

7. Communizing as a marketing approach

D. Expanding markets through virtual communities

1. The WWW as digital market place

2. The enterprise as a learning community

3. The learning as a road map for business

4. Universities as online communities

5. Business-to-business communication in profit- and non profit sectors

E. Virtual communities for people with special needs

1. Access to public spaces

2. Accessibility and long-term disabilities

3. Virtual communities in health care

Types of submissions

The Conference will be composed of several types of contributions:

• Full Papers – These include mainly accomplished research results and have 8 pages at the maximum
  (5,000 words).

• Short Papers – These are mostly composed of work in progress reports or fresh developments and have
  4 pages at maximum (2,500 words).

• Reflection Papers – These might review recent research literature pertaining to a particular problem or
  approach, indicate what the findings suggest, and/or provide a suggestion - with rationale and
  justification - for a different approach or perspective on that problem. Reflection papers might also
  analyze general trends or discuss important issues in topics related to the conference. These have 4
  pages at maximum (2,500 words).

• Posters / Demonstrations – These contain implementation information or work-in-progress and have
  two pages at maximum (1,250 words) besides the poster itself (or demonstration) that will be exposed
  at the conference.

• Tutorials – Tutorials can be proposed by scholars or company representatives. A proposal of maximum
  250 words is expected.

• Invited Talks – These will be made of contributions from well-known scholars and company
  representatives. An abstract will be included in the conference proceedings.

• Panels – Discussions on selected topics will be held. A proposal of maximum 250 words is expected.

• Doctoral Consortium - A Doctoral Consortium will discuss in group, individual projects and on going
  work of PhD students. Prospective students should send a report of their PhD projects and work so far
  with a maximum of 4 pages (2,500 words).

• Corporate Showcases & Exhibitions – The former enables Companies to present recent developments
  and applications, inform a large and qualified audience of your future directions and showcase
  company’s noteworthy products and services. There will be a time slot for companies to make their
  presentation in a room. The latter enables companies the opportunity to display its latest offerings of
  hardware, software, tools, services and books, through an exhibit booth. For further details please
  contact the publicity chair - secretariat@mccsis.org .

All submissions, except invited talks, are subject to a blind refereeing process.
 

Important Dates: