GIS RESEARCH UK: 6th National Conference

31st March - 2nd April 1998, University of Edinburgh, UK.

* CALL FOR PAPERS *

Conference Announcement

Following the success of earlier conferences in this series, the Steering and Local Organising Committees have pleasure in announcing the sixth annual GIS Research Conference.

The Conference has a number of aims:

to act as a focus for GIS research in the UK
to provide a mechanism for the announcement and publication of GIS research
to act as an interdisciplinary forum for the discussion of research ideas
to promote active collaboration amongst UK researchers from diverse parent disciplines
to provide a framework in which postgraduate students can see their work in a national context

The sponsors of this conference include: the AGI, RRL.Net, Taylor & Francis, Ltd. and GeoInformation International.

Venue

The GISRUK'98 Research Conference will be held at the University of Edinburgh situated in the heart of the Scottish Capital. Edinburgh is a beautiful city, reknowned for its historic architecture, stunning vistas and as a centre for the Arts, with all of the facilities one would expect of a capital city.

The University, founded in 1583, is centrally located, within walking distance of Waverley railway station. Edinburgh is also easily reached via road from the South, and the airport is serviced by an hourly shuttle from London's Heathrow, with direct flights from several other UK and European cities.

Conference Format

The conference will include invited plenary sessions involving international speakers, research papers, panel discussions, poster papers, software demonstrations and a publishers' exhibition.

The conference will be preceded by a one-day Young Researchers Forum organised by the University of Edinburgh on behalf of RRL.net. Further details will be announced when available.

Topics of Interest

It is intended that the academic focus of the conference will be wide-ranging and non-exclusive. The GISRUK'98 steering committee welcomes papers on recent research in the general field of Geographical Information Systems / Science.

The GISRUK series builds on an interdisciplinary foundation, and regularly draws participants from most of the disciplines which make up the field of GIS, including Archaeology, Computer Science, Geography, Surveying, Environmental Science, Engineering, Geomatics.

The conference programme will reflect this diversity.

Information for Contributors

Papers reporting original research on any aspect of GIS are welcome. Although based in the UK, GISRUK conferences regularly attract participants from Europe and elsewhere.

Researchers wishing to present papers are invited to submit an extended abstract of up to 1500 words describing the work, its significance and a short list of references. Abstracts will be reviewed by a Programme Committee selected from the Steering and the Local Organising Committees. Principal authors should also submit a 50 word biography, which should indicate their stage of career. This biography will be used initially to ensure a good mix of young and established researchers presenting at the conference, but will also be bound with the abstracts and given to attendees. In addition to paper copy, both extended abstract and biography are required in Microsoft Word format on a PC (MSDOS formatted) disk. Any illustrations must be included in the Word document.

Authors should state clearly if they wish to nominate a mode of presentation. Otherwise, if accepted, authors will be invited to present the work as a paper, a poster or a demonstration subject at the discretion of the Programme Committee. Note that provision will be made for 'short papers' of 10 minutes, in one or more conference sessions.

Authors should bring multiple copies of the full version of their paper (up to 5000 words) to the conference, for dissemination to participants.

Authors wishing to have their papers considered for inclusion in 'Innovations in GIS 6', to be published by Taylor & Francis, must give a copy of the full version of their paper to their session chair at the conference. The paper and all diagrams must also be provided as a Microsoft Word file on a PC (MSDOS formatted disk) at this time. Only a proportion of papers can be included in the book, and thus a further refereeing process will be undertaken at that stage.

Important Dates

    15th December 1997    Deadline for extended abstracts
    26th January 1998     Notification of acceptance
    31st March 1998       Receipt of full paper

Submission Details

Four copies of the extended abstract, together with the biography and floppy disk, should be sent to the conference organiser:

    Bruce M. Gittings
    GISRUK'98 Abstract Submission
    University of Edinburgh
    Department of Geography
    Drummond Street
    Edinburgh  EH8 9XP
    United Kingdom
    FAX: +44 (0)131 650 2524
    Email: gisruk@geo.ed.ac.uk

Abstracts should include the postal address, telephone number, fax number and email address of the principal author.

Note that the principal means of communication used by the conference organisers will be email. Abstract and Biographies passed as email attachments are acceptable in lieu of sending a floppy disk.

Steering Committee

    Steve Carver    University of Leeds
    Jane Drummond   University of Glasgow
    Peter Fisher    University of Leicester
    Bruce Gittings  University of Edinburgh
    Peter Halls     University of York
    Gary Higgs      University of Wales at Cardiff
    Zarine Kemp     University of Kent
    David Kidner    University of Glamorgan
    David Martin    University of Southampton
    David Parker    University of Newcastle

Local Organising Committee

    Bruce Gittings (Chair)
    Steve Dowers            Bob Hodgart
    Nick Hulton             Roger Kirby
    William Mackaness       David Macleod
    Tim Malthus             Chris Place
    Neil Stuart             Fran Taylor

World Wide Web Page

The GISRUK conference series maintains a permanent web page at:

   http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/gisruk/gisruk.html

This page will be kept up-to-date from year-to-year with the details of the latest GISRUK conference.

Individuals wishing to receive further details about participating in GISRUK'98 or future GISRUK conferences can add their email address to a mailing list using the above web page.