NETTAB 2010 on Biological Wikis: Call for Contributions

Possibly of interest, if anyone is working on Semantic Wikis in biology. -Jodi

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Paolo Romano <paolo.romano@istge.it>
> Date: 5 July 2010 15:28:15 GMT+01:00
> To: swikig@aifb.uni-karlsruhe.de
> Cc: Paolo Romano <paolo.romano@istge.it>
> Subject: [swikig] NETTAB 2010 on Biological Wikis: Call for Contributions
> 
> I apologize for possible duplications.
> ==========================
> 
> NETTAB 2010 on "Biological Wikis"
> 
> November 29 - December 1, 2010, Naples, Italy
> http://www.nettab.org/
> 
> CALL FOR PAPERS
> 
> See below for Topics, Contributions sought, Deadlines, Instructions and Committees.
> 
> RATIONALE
> It is now clear that wiki systems offer a variety of advantages for the management of biological data and information.
> Some of the specific aims of wikis for biology (bio-wikis) include:
>    * Collaborative development and sharing of knowledge
>    * Collaborative annotation of database contents
>    * Collaborative creation of database contents
> 
> The collaborative development and sharing of documentation and knowledge allows communities to promote, exploit, discuss and reach consensus on procedures, data, experiences, news, and other varied information. Indeed valuable expertise and interests in special topics are usually distributed, and are rarely concentrated in a unique site or research group.
> 
> The collaborative annotation of biological databases is increasingly under consideration because extended and accurate curation of an ever increasing volume of data is extremely costly and time consuming. Such distributed networks can help to improve and extend databases curation beyond that which is possible with, typically, limited numbers of curation staff. It allows users to contribute their expertise and observations  independently of database central organizations. Although the contents of the database are collaboratively annotated, the underlying databases themselves are left unchanged.
> 
> Furthermore, collaborative creation of community databases can capture emerging structure in rapidly developing fields. These database-wikis are indexes of biologically relevant data that emerge from focused and rapidly developing communities. They form a stopgap between unstructured discussion in fora and on mailing lists and the 'mature' databases that emerge subsequently. Hence they can be useful for discerning trends and promoting best practices, as well as  collect unique and timely information.
> 
> In the future, collaborative 'wiki' updates of almost all database contents can be envisaged. However several important issues need to be addressed:
>    * How reliable are user contributions?
>    * What format should annotations take?
>    * How is this information feed back into 'authoritative' databases?
> 
> Procedures should be implemented to support assessment of users' contributions, extraction of structured data from annotations, uptake of original data into reference databases. The authoritativeness of contributions is essential: how can quality be assessed? How do we deal with contributions from casual end users, since these are usually not considered adequate when compared with professional annotation at service centers. Can the open edition model of many wiki systems, e.g. Wikipedia, be as successful in life sciences?  Alternatively, should the usual criteria for assessing quality of research be applied, including peer-evaluation of contributions and identification of users? Crediting users for their contributions (e.g. authorship assignment) may be necessary to stimulate  the broadest possible participation.  Which further benefits may be imagined to acknowledge user investment (subscriptions to services, journals, ...)?
> 
> Special features may be required to cater for the specificity of biological data: textual information is only a small part of biological data, how can the numerous and heterogeneous biological data types be catered for, e.g.  images, plots, diagrams? An adaptation of current wiki systems is needed. A survey of existing systems as well as current development efforts will be useful, so that possible synergies can be identified and supported, as well as ensure a coherent set of interoperable biological wikis.
> 
> TOPICS
> The following list is not meant to be exclusive of any further topics as stated above.
> 
> Submitted contributions should address one or more of the following topics:
>    * Wiki development tools
>          o Wikimedia
>          o Wikimedia extensions
>          o Semantic Wikis
>          o Wiki-coupled CMSs
>          o Other wikis
>    * Arising issues for the biomedical domain:
>          o Authoritativeness of contributions and sites
>          o Quality assessment
>          o Users acknowledgement
>          o Stimulatation of quality contributions
>          o Authorships management and reward
>          o 'Scientific production' value for contributions
>          o Management of bioinformatics data types
>    * Wikis and collaborative systems for:
>          o Genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, any -omics
>          o Proteins analysis and visualization
>          o gene and proteins interactions
>          o metabolic pathways
>          o oncology research
>    * Issues to be tackled by wiki and collaborative research for:
>          o Genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, any -omics
>          o Proteins analysis and visualization
>          o gene and proteins interactions
>          o metabolic pathways
>          o oncology research
> 
> TYPE OF CONTRIBUTIONS
> 
> The following possible contributions are sought:
>    * Oral communications
>    * Posters
>    * Software demos
> All accepted contributions will be published in the proceedings of the workshop.
> 
> DEADLINES
> 
> *  September 24, 2010: Oral communications submission
>          o Decisions announced: October 24, 2010
> * October 17, 2010: Posters submission
>          o Decisions announced: October 24, 2010
> * October 29, 2010: Early registration ends
> * November 29 - December 1, 2010: Workshop and Tutorials
> 
> INSTRUCTIONS
> Kindly follow the instructions carefully when preparing your contribution and submit your contribution through the EasyChair system at http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=nettab2010.
> 
> All contributions should follow the same format, as specified here:
> font type: Times New Roman, font size: 12 pti, page size: A4, left and right margins: 2.0 cm, upper margin: 2.5 cm, lower margin: 2.0 cm.
> 
> The lenght of contributions for oral communications should be between 3 and 5 pages, including tables and figures.
> They should include: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion, References.
> All contributions for oral communications will be evaluated by at least three referees.
> 
> The length of contributions for posters should be no more then 3 pages, including tables and figures.
> They should include: Introduction, Methods, Results, References.
> All posters will be evaluated on the basis of their relevance fot the workshop's topics only.
> 
> For any further information or clarification, please contact the organization by email at info@nettab.org.
> 
> ORGANIZATION
> 
> Co-chairs
>    * Angelo Facchiano, CNR-ISA, Avellino, Italy
>    * Paolo Romano, National Cancer Research Institute, Genoa, Italy
> 
> Scientific Committee
>    * Claudia Angelini, IAC, National Research Council, Napoli, Italy
>    * Roland Barriot, Université Paul Sabatier - CNRS, Toulouse, France
>    * Alex Bateman, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, United Kingdom
>    * Dan Bolser, University of Dundee, Scotland, United kingdom
>    * Philip E. Bourne, University of California, San Diego UCSD, La Jolla, USA
>    * Mike Carasio, Keygene N.V., Wageningen, The Netherlands
>    * Maria Luisa Chiusano, University of Napoli "Federico II", Napoli, Italy
>    * Italia De Feis, IAC, National Research Council, Napoli, Italy
>    * Angelo Facchiano, ISA, National Research Council, Avellino, Italy
>    * Carl Herrmann, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France
>    * Pascal Hingamp, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France
>    * Eran Hodis, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
>    * Robert Hoehndorf, Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
>    * Robert Hoffmann, Computational Biology Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA
>    * Thomas Kelder, BiGCaT Bioinformatics, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
>    * Alexander Pico, The Gladstone Institutes, University of California, San Francisco, USA
>    * Jaime Prilusky, Bioinformatics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
>    * Paolo Romano, Bioinformatics, National Cancer Research Institute, Italy
>    * Andrew Su, Bioinformatics, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, USA
>    * Joel Sussman, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
>    * Tim Vickers, Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, USA
>    * Wyeth Wasserman, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
>    * and further members yet to be confirmed
> 
> Organizing Committee
>    * Claudia Angelini, IAC, National Research Council, Napoli, Italy
>    * Maria Luisa Chiusano, University of Napoli "Federico II", Napoli, Italy
>    * Italia De Feis, IAC, National Research Council, Napoli, Italy
>    * Angelo Facchiano, ISA, National Research Council, Avellino, Italy
>    * Paolo Romano, Bioinformatics, National Cancer Research Institute, Genoa, Italy
> 
> Supporting Institutes, Scientific Societies and Projects
> This list is still under definition.
>   * National Research Council (CNR), Italy
>   * National Cancer Research Institute (IST), Genoa, Italy
>   * Italian Network for Oncology Bioinformatics (RNBIO)
> 
> Sponsors
> Sponsorships are still under definition. You are welcome to email us for further information if you are interested in sponsoring this workshop.
> 
> We look forward to meeting you in Naples!
> 
> Paolo Romano and Angelo Facchiano
>  on behalf of the Scientific Committee
> 
> 
> Paolo Romano (paolo.romano@istge.it)
> Bioinformatics
> National Cancer Research Institute (IST)
> Largo Rosanna Benzi, 10, I-16132, Genova, Italy
> Tel: +39-010-5737-288  Fax: +39-010-5737-295  Skype: p.romano
> Web: http://www.nettab.org/promano/
>