This just came from CNI but will interest many readers on
this list. It has just started and is quite easy to sign on
to. --pg
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: vitual symposium on the written word in the digital
world
Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 09:39:47 -0700
From: Clifford Lynch <cliff@cni.org>
To: Multiple recipients of list <cni-announce@cni.org>
The virtual symposium described below may be of interest to
some
readers of cni-announce.
Clifford Lynch
Director, CNI
Screens and networks: towards a new relationship with the
written word
(October 2001-March 2002)
* A virtual symposium on the Web, at www.text-e.org
* Organized by the BibliothËque publique d'information
(BPI)
Centre Pompidou, the Institut Jean Nicod (CNRS)
and EURO-EDU
* in association with GiantChair.com
* Sponsored by UNESCO
New Information and Communication Technologies (NICT) are
transforming
our world as radically as did the invention of the printing
press. How
will this affect the written word and its uses in society?
There may be
no immediate answers to these questions, but we can -and
should-
investigate the issues involved. In this context, the
Bibliothque
publique d'information (BPI), the Institut Jean Nicod (CNRS
and
EHESS), the non-profit organization EURO-EDU and GiantChair,
have
decided to set up a virtual symposium in French, Italian and
English.
Launched on October 15th, 2001, it will focus on the impact
of NITC on
our relationship with information and the written word.
This international symposium should contribute to enriching
current
debates about the emergence of hybrid tools of communication
(e-books,
Internet and e-mail) and the social changes that accompany
them. The
contributors papers will be published directly on the
symposiums host site, <URL:http://www.text-e.org> and will
be accessible from
the BPIs main site (www.bpi.fr). It will involve theorists
and
other professionals affected by changes in their
professional and
personal lives brought about by e-mail and the Internet, and
it will
examine the impact of these technologies on reading,
journalism,
scholarship, libraries, archives, literature and so on. The
symposium
will provide participants with a forum for the discussion of
all points
of view.
Through this program, we aim at once to engage in a
collective research
project, to enact the new relationship to the written word
and to stage
a public event using Web-based communication. The result
will be
published in book as well as in electronic format.
PROGRAM
The focal point of the project is the establishment of a
Web-based
event, beginning on October 15th, 2001 and ending in March
2002.
Ten contributors, including theorists and those involved in
new
information technologies, will be invited to submit a paper
for
discussion. A new paper will be published on the site every
two weeks.
Each paper will be discussed on-line for the two weeks
following its
publication by some forty participants, comprising the ten
contributors
and thirty guests. Discussions will be chaired by the
organizers.
These papers, together with the ensuing discussions, will be
made
available to the public. Those wishing to follow the
symposium will be
able to register, receive the papers by e-mail and
participate in a
forum. Initial perspectives on the event will be debated at
the Paris
book fair, the Salon du livre, in March 2002.
TOPICS AND SCHEDULE
15-31 October 2001
1. Readers and Reading in the Age of Electronic
Texts (Roger
Chartier, EHESS, Paris)
1-14 November 2001
2. What the Internet tells us about the Real Nature
of the Book
(Roberto Casati, Institut Jean Nicod, C.N.R.S.,
Paris)
15-30 November 2001
3. Skyreading/writing in the Post-Gutenbergian
Galaxy (Stevan
Harnad, Behavioral and Brain Sciences)
1-14 December 2001
4. Digital Journalism: Virtual Journalism? (Bruno
Patino, Le
Monde Interactif)
15-31 December 2001
5. Personal and Professional Conversation (Theodore
Zeldin,
Oxford)
1-14 January 2002
6. Reading: The Digital Future (Jason Epstein,
Random House)
15-31 January 2002
7. Babel and the Vintage Selection: Libraries in
the Digital
Age (Bibliothque publique dinformation, Centre
Pompidou)
1-14 February 2002
8. Reading without Writing (Dan Sperber, Institut
Jean Nicod,
C.N.R.S., Paris)
15-28 February 2002
9. The New Architecture of Information (Stephana
Broadbent and
Francesco Cara, IconMedialab, Paris)
1-14 March 2002
10. Authors and Authority (Umberto Eco, University
of Bologna)
15 March 2002
Conclusions
THE ORGANIZERS
THE BIBLIOTHEQUE PUBLIQUE D¥INFORMATION (BPI - FRENCH PUBLIC
INFORMATION LIBRARY)
The Bibliothque publique dinformation is a major French
publicic
reference library, providing the general public with open
access to
virtually all of its holdings, whatever the type of media.
In addition
to Internet access, the library offers on-site consultation
of books,
newspapers and magazines, documentary films, records,
language-learning
methods and software programs covering all fields of
knowledge.
Holdings are constantly updated, and librarians are
available to help
readers locate material. The library organizes training on
the use of
NICTs, especially the Internet, as well as talks, screenings
and
exhibitions. www.bpi.fr E-mail address: bpi-info@bpi.fr
Isabelle BASTIAN-DUPLEIXÝ
Danielle CHATELÝ
GÈrald GRUNBERG, Director
Philippe GUILLERMEÝ
THE BPIS SERVICE ETUDES ET RECHERCHES (STUDIES AND RESEARCH
DEPARTMENT)
The BPIs studies and research department carries out and/or
steers sociological studies on books, reading and cultural
practises.
Extending beyond the immediate context of the BPI, the
department plays
a dual role of carrying out assessments and research. At the
request of
the Direction du Livre et de la Lecture (DLL), it initiates
and
monitors studies, offers expert services outside the BPI and
conducts
its own internal research on subjects of interest to both
the BPI and
other public libraries. It also acts as a publisher and
heads the
&lsquostudies and research collection of the BPIs
publications.
AgnËs CAMUS-VIGUE
Christophe EVANS
FranÁoise GAUDET
THE INSTITUT JEAN NICOD
The Institut Jean Nicod (CNRS) brings together researchers
working on
the relationship between the cognitive and the social
sciences. The
main areas of study include philosophy, linguistics,
cognitive
anthropology and political science. While philosophy is the
leading
discipline, the groups investigations go beyond pure theory,
as
the Institute also aims at reconciling conceptual thinking
with an
empirical approach.
www.institutnicod.org
Roberto CASATI
Dan SPERBER
EURO-EDU
The recently created EURO-EDU (Association Europenne pour le
Dveloppement de lEnseignement Suprieur et de la Recherche
sur Internet
- the European association for the development of higher
education
and research on the Internet), a non-profit organization, is
devoted to
studying the impact of NICTs on the development and
transmission of
knowledge. It aims at developing web tools, web workshops,
discussion
groups and research papers around the changes of educational
systems
and the diffusion of culture.
www.euro-edu.com
Gloria ORIGGI (Chair)
Noga ARIKHA
GIANTCHAIR, sponsor
Screens, networks, the distribution of knowledge and the
transformation
of our relationship with the written word are all key issues
for
GiantChair, which specializes in helping publishing houses,
libraries,
universities and academic communities with the
implementation of new
methods of publishing and distribution. With a presence on
both sides
of the Atlantic, GiantChair is playing an active role in
compiling a
catalogue of digital publications from such publishers as
the
Paris-based Eyrolles, Arcade Publishing and Seven Stories
Press in New
York, and is already involved in the distribution of the
first ebooks
from these publishers.
info@giantchair.com
www.giantchair.com
ChloÈ BENAROYA, partner.
Pierre COHEN-TANUGI, Administrateur.
Cory MCCLOUD, PrÈsident.
Aalam WASSEFÝ, partner.
MODERATORS
Noga ARIKHA
Noga Arikha has recently completed a doctorate at the
Warburg
Institute, London. She is a historian of ideas with an
interest in the
philosophy of mind, the cognitive sciences and the history
of life
sciences. She is also concerned with the establishment of
dialogues
between disciplines, between the academic and the public
spheres, and
between the sciences and the humanities.
Gloria ORIGGI
Gloria Origgi is researcher in philosophy at the University
of Bologna,
where she teaches philosophy and cognitive science. In 2000
she founded
the EURO-EDU Association for developing Internet-based
research
projects. She is author of essays in philosophy of mind and
epistemology. She is also in the faculty of the Graduate
School in
Information and Communication Technologies Almaweb, Bologna
Italy.
http://gloriaoriggi.free.fr