Computers & Writing 94

[Nicole Ummelen <nu23+ -at- ANDREW -dot- CMU -dot- EDU>]

Call for Papers
SEVENTH EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON WRITING AND COMPUTERS
19-21 October 1994, Utrecht, The Netherlands
(Deadline for proposals: 1 March, 1994

Submitted by:   m -dot- f -dot- steehouder -at- wmw -dot- utwente -dot- nl
Replies to:     ecwc -at- wmw -dot- utwente -dot- nl


INTRODUCTION
After six conferences in the UK, the seventh conference on Writing and Compu-
ters will be the first on the European continent. It will be hosted by the
Universities of Utrecht and Twente, The Netherlands. An increasing number of
participants from outside the UK creates a good ground for crossing borders
and internationalizing the conference. The conference will offer a meeting
place for an international community of researchers and practitioners,
teachers and students of writing and writing technology.

AIMS OF THE CONFERENCE
The major aim of the conference is to offer the participants an opportunity to
present their ongoing projects or their findings and to discuss those with
fellow researchers and others interested. The conference organization will
enhance interaction about projects rather than one-way information delivery.
An additional aim of the conference is to create and strengthen international
cooperation between researchers of writing and those interested in writing
technology.

CONFERENCE THEMES
The conference addresses three main topics:
1  Computer-mediated communication in and between organizations
   This topic includes the use of email, conferencing and collaboration
systems, networks, electronically accessed information bases, online
journals, etc. and all projects pertaining to the knowledge or experience for
good design and implementation of those tools.

2  Software tools for designing, writing, producing and publishing documents
   This topic includes the use of document production management tools,
content planning tools, word processors, check and advice systems for
grammar and spelling, templates, graphic programs, and desktop publishing
software. Again, also all projects aimed at knowledge or experience for good
design and implementation of those tools are included.

3  Computer-assisted writing instruction
   This topic includes all educational situations in which computers are used
as instructional device, e.g. process-oriented writing instruction enhanced
with word processing, technical writing courses aimed at writing for a
hypertext environment, computer simulations or adventures as a means for more
audience-oriented writing, network use in writing-across-the-curriculum
programs, writing in distance education, computer-supported peer review
among students, information retrieval from networks into the classroom, using
hypertext in creative writing, etc. Also for this topic, all projects aimed at
building up the knowledge or experience necessary for good design and
implementation of those tools or practices are welcomed.

FORMAT OF THE CONFERENCE
The program will show various session formats: paper presentations (20
minutes, grouped in sessions which are followed by 20 minutes of discussion),
poster presentations (1 hour, followed by 20 minutes of discussion), and
workshops (aimed at a limited number of participants, working together on a
particular topic). Since the conference stresses the use of computer
networks, sessions using network technology are also considered.

ACCESS TO EARLI SIG WRITING
At the same time and at the same location, the Special Interest Group Writing
of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI)
holds her bi-annual conference. The two conferences are combined in order to
provide participants of both conferences with the full wealth of information
on projects in the field of writing and writing technology. Subscription for
one of the two conferences will allow full access to the other conference.
The organizers of the two conferences cooperate in defining the program for
the two conferences. Enclosed you will find an information leaflet of the SIG
Writing and their Call for Papers.

ELECTRONIC ACCESS
One of the topics of the conferences encompasses the use of wide-area computer
networks in writing. In line with this, we will try to offer electronic
access to the conference for those who for some reason cannot travel to the
Netherlands. We particularly aim at 'electronic participants' from Eastern
and Southern Europe, and from other continents. We also want to enhance the
participation of students by using this medium. We invite presenters to
propose presentations or workshops that make use of computer network
technology.

DATES AND LOCATION
The conference will be held from October 19 to October 21; Wednesday
October 19th is reserved for the workshop sessions. The conference will be
held in the buildings of the University of Utrecht, in the pittoresque
medieval city centre of Utrecht. Utrecht is in the centre of The Netherlands,
and very well accessible with public transport. It has a good train
connection with Schiphol, Amsterdam International Airport (40 minutes).
Parking space is scarce and expensive in the inner city of Utrecht.

ORGANIZATION
The organizing committee of ECWC 1994 consists of:
Thea van der Geest (University of Twente, The Netherlands), chair;
Kerstin Eklundh (Sweden), Mike Sharples (UK), Michael Steehouder (The
Netherlands), Mark Torrance (UK), Luuk Van Waes (Belgium).
Presentation proposals will be reviewed by a Program Committee.

ADVANCE REGISTRATION
If you are interested to participate, please request for an advance
registration form at the address below. Please include your full surface mail
address so that we can send you our prochure and forms.

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
If you intend to present a paper, poster or workshop, please request for the
proper forms at the address below. Please include your full surface mail
address so that we can send you our prochure and forms.

INFORMATION
All conference mail (including requests for information) should be sent to:

   ECWC 1994
   University of Twente / WMW
   P.O. Box 217
   7500 AE Enschede
   The Netherlands

   Phone:  (*31) 53 89 32 99
   Fax:    (*31) 53 35 66 95
   Email:  ecwc -at- wmw -dot- utwente -dot- nl