Web-based readers of this blog may have noticed a new extended title of the WikiSym site: We are now “the International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration.” This is to better express the breadth of work requested for and displayed on the WikiSym website, at the actual event, and in the proceedings.
WikiSym, the International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration, is broadly about open collaboration as exemplified by wikis, but not only by wikis. At WikiSym you can find the best of research and practice on processes, politics, philosophy, etc. of wiki-style collaboration, be it on blogs, wikis, and other social software. Despite the shorthand “WikiSym” this symposium is not narrowly about wiki technology.
For 2009, the call for papers spells out what we are looking for. However, our industry and how humans collaborate is forever changing and you should never feel constrained by the call for papers. That’s why the list of desired topics always is only a selection of desired topics, never a complete list. If in doubt, contact the 2009 program chair Amy Bruckman or any other of the respective track chairs.
The name change is to express this breadth of WikiSym topics. It was agreed upon first by the 2009 symposium committee and then by the steering committee of the symposium series.
Dirk Riehle
Chair, Steering Committee
The International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration