Flexible Hypertext Workshop --- Call for Participation

A Workshop Held in Conjunction with The Eighth ACM International Hypertext Conference (Hypertext'97)

Southampton, UK --- April 6-11, 1997

Workshop Theme:

Hypertext has become a popular form for encoding electronically-available information, particularly on the world wide web and as an interface for multimedia products. However, a common problem with hypertext documents is that they are static and inflexible; that is, their content cannot be modified dynamically in order to address a particular user's knowledge or the context of delivery. As a result, document authors must construct documents which appeal to a variety of backgrounds, and multimedia products are developed according to one intended audience model (for example, separate encyclopedias for adults and children). The recognition of this problem has led towards building more flexible hypertext systems in order to provide user-tailored information.

This workshop is intended as an inter-disciplinary exploration into flexible hypertext systems. Flexible hypertext systems are systems which can present different users with different views of the same hypertext network, or which can dynamically create the hypertext network and the content of the documents at the nodes of that network at run-time. This workshop aims to draw together a number of research groups taking different approaches to flexible hypertext systems, in order to promote the cross-fertilisation of ideas and highlight the prospects for future collaboration. The target research areas include (but are not limited to):

  • Information retrieval and filtering: the use of information retrieval or other techniques to determine the relevance of the nodes within a static hypertext network for the individual user. That is, the content of the documents remain static, but links to other documents are flexible.

  • Adaptive hypertext: the adaptation of an existing hypertext network of documents to a model of the user. That is, providing flexible document content and flexible views of a static hypertext network.

  • Dynamic hypertext: employing text generation or other techniques to dynamically create both the hypertext network and the documents within the network as the user requests them. The hypertext network does not exist in any form; it is built dynamically.

    Organising Committee:

  • Maria Milosavljevic (Chair), Microsoft Research Institute, Department of Computing, Macquarie University.
  • Peter Brusilovsky, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University.
  • Johanna D. Moore, Department of Computer Science, University of Pittsburgh.
  • Jon Oberlander, Human Communication Research Centre, University of Edinburgh.
  • Oliviero Stock, Cognitive & Communication Technologies Division, IRST.

    Workshop Format:

    The workshop will run for one full day. The number of attendees will be limited to 20 in order to encourage participation in workshop discussions. Participation will be on the basis of submitted position papers or by invitation. The workshop will include a limited number of paper presentations (3-6) and general group discussions. Group discussions will focus on the issues raised in the position papers, as well as on some focus questions. A workshop dinner will also be organised to encourage informal discussion.

    A draft outline of the programme:

    Position Papers:

    We invite position papers describing demonstrated techniques for improving the flexibility of hypertext documents. We are particularly interested in papers which present innovative solutions to providing flexible hypertext documents, or which address any unresolved problems with providing flexible hypertext documents. We are also interested in receiving papers of a more speculative nature which focus on the future of flexible hypertext systems. Those aspects of the paper which are important for discussion in the workshop should be clearly outlined in the paper.

    Papers should be 3-5 pages long, and should be put up on the Web. If you don't have access to a web server, then some space will be allocated for you.

    Electronic submission of the URL address of the position paper will be preferred, although papers submitted as ascii (html) or postscript will be accepted. To submit a position paper, send the URL address and an ascii version of the paper itself to: mariam@mpce.mq.edu.au . If this is not possible, please send hard copies to:

    Maria Milosavljevic
    MRI Language Technology Group
    Department of Computing
    Macquarie University
    Sydney NSW 2109
    Australia

    Papers should arrive by 31st January 1997.

    Before the workshop, all attendees will be able to access the position papers from the web. We strongly encourage attendees to read these before the workshop.

    Last modified: Thursday 19th December 1996