Monday, October 31, 2011

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS

Conference Theme

Print form is one of the oldest media of recording knowledge and communication. After theintroduction of computers, communication networks and Internet, print form of publications like books and journals in particular have now manifested into electronic formats such as e-books, ejournals, e-newspapers and e-magazines. E-publication is the publication of any kind of information on any form of electronic media. E-publications have got many advantages as compared to its print counterpart like portability, easy and 24/7 access, searchability, spacesaving,customized content, multimedia features, user friendly interfaces, etc. However, epublications also present some issues which need our attention.One of the main problems we face with e-books and e-journals is their incompatible formats.Even today print publications are cheaper than e-publications. Any new technology provides many new applications but also poses some new problems and challenges. The advent of Internet and Web technologies have given rise to increased concerns regarding plagiarism and illegal copying and distribution of digital content including e-books and e-journals. Digital Rights Management (DRM) addresses these issues and protects the rights of the content providers. Today the main issue for librarians is how library services have to be changed to accommodate e-books and e-journals into the library collections. The problems faced by the libraries that need to be discussed are licensing issues, user authentication, data encryption, cataloguing and providing access to e-collections. Also the library staff needs suitable training in the use and management of e-publications particularly e-books which sometimes require specific reader(s)/reading device(s). New business models and marketing strategies need to be adopted for e-publications. There are also many problems that are faced by the authors, e-publishers and booksellers yet to be discussed in national professional forums in Indian context so that we can reach to some consensus between these groups. This conference tries to provide a platform for representatives from these groups to discuss and address the key issues in the publishing, usage and management of e-publications.

Conference Objectives
􀂃 To provide a forum for discussion among users, librarians, and publishers and suppliers for addressing various issues related to usage, emerging technologies and management of e-publications;
􀂃 To discuss the applications of e-books and e-journals in e-learning and life-long learning;
􀂃 To address the issues like standards, digital rights management, user interfaces,
consortia and interoperability issues in e-publications;
􀂃 To provide an opportunity for e-publishers to educate Indian readers on e-publications and their advantages in an Indian context; and
􀂃 To provide an opportunity for participants and e-publishers to exchange their views and provide feedback on the use of e-publications.

Scope of the Conference
The conference deals with various aspects related to E-publications, with due emphasis on Ebooks, E-journals and E-newspapers. The themes of the conference include:
􀂃 General issues related to E-publications: Issues in design, development and types of ebooks and e-journals; E-books and e-journals in teaching and learning; Future trends of e-publications; Problems related to E-publications.
􀂃 Emerging Technologies in e-publishing: New developments in e-publications; Media
usage in e-publications; File formats, user interfaces, e-paper, e-ink, etc.; Software and Hardware technologies in e-publications; Issues related to e-book readers; and Compatibility issues.
􀂃 Standards in E-publications: Standards for: content packaging & formatting; content
storage; e-book readers; e-books software; Proprietary standards vs. open standards.
􀂃 Content authoring and E-publishing: E-publishing Authoring tools; Content authoring in epublications; Issues in e-publishing and e-publications; Changing roles of authors, agents and publishers in e-publishing era; Conversion from print to electronic publications.
􀂃 E-Books and E-journals Applications: Higher Education & Research; Distance learning; E-learning; Enterprise applications.
􀂃 Users and Usage of e-books and e-journals: Users – perceptions, inhibitions, attitude, expectations, problems; Use and usability issues; Usage of e-books & e-journals in schools, colleges & universities; Evaluation of e-publications.
􀂃 E-publications in different types of Libraries: Implementation and policy issues;
Collection development issues; Lending issues (user authentication, data encryption,
etc); Cataloging of e-publications; Preservation, Archiving and Accessibility issues;
Obsolescence issues.
􀂃 E-publishing in India: Case studies of Indian e-publishers, authors and suppliers; Growth of E-publications in India; E-publishing industry in India

􀂃 Library Consortia: Consortia models; Case studies of consortium initiatives in India & abroad; Issues related to Consortia approach.
􀂃 Digital Rights Management: Rights Transfer; Copyright issues; Plagiarism and piracy
issues; Digital Content Rights management.
􀂃 Business Models for e-publications: Pricing models of e-books and e-journals;
Subscription models for e-journals; E-content delivery models; Marketing
trends/opportunities for e-publications; Licensing issues; Issues related to publishers, aggregators and booksellers.

Submission of papers

The conference organisers are looking for high quality research / review papers in the areas related to epublications.Paper may be submitted in MS Word (.doc) or RTF format through Email to the Organising Secretary at: icep2012@yahoo.in or ckramaiah@gmail.com. The last date to receive papers is 30th December, 2011. Receipt of the paper will be confirmed through email. Notification of acceptance will be
sent by the conference coordinator through email by 10th January, 2012. All papers submitted to International Conference on E-publications must be written in English, using appropriate grammar and syntax. Registration and final payment are due by 15th February, 2012. Late registration fee payments or paper submissions will result in the papers being excluded from the conference proceedings. The pages limit for final papers is eight single-spaced pages in 10-point Times New Roman font. Paper will be included in the conference proceedings only after payment of the registration fee.

Important dates

Conference Dates: 1-2 March, 2012

Last Date Event
30 November, 2011 Deadline for Submission of abstract
30 December, 2011 Deadline for paper submissions
10 January, 2012 Notification for acceptance


Organising Secretary
Dr. Chennupati K. Ramaiah
Professor & Head,
Department of Library and Information Science,
Pondicherry University, R.V. Nagar, Kalapet,
PUDUCHERRY – 605 014. INDIA.
Tel & Fax: 0413-2656757, 2656766; Mobile: 9487605773.
Email: icep2012@yahoo.in ; ckramaiah@gmail.com
Website: http://www.pondiuni.edu.in/

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