 
Scholars
from around the world converge on UC Berkeley to discuss Web-based
research community
10
Jan 2000
By
Janet Gilmore, Public Affairs
BERKELEY--
Scholars from around the world are meeting at the University
of California, Berkeley, this week to help build a better virtual
global research village.
The
academics are developing a computer system to allow any user
to click onto a Web site, request information on a particular
region in the world, and view a map stocked with the latest
research about the area's history, myths, human rights record
and other characteristics.
The
scholars, along with computer professionals, will meet during
the joint annual meeting of the UC Berkeley-based Electronic
Cultural Atlas Initiative and the Taiwan-based Pacific Neighborhood
Consortium.
The
conference runs from Jan. 12 - Jan. 16 at UC Berkeley's Haas
School of Business. It ends Jan. 17 at Stanford University.
"Collaborative,
Web-based projects of this scope tend to be driven by the concerns
of governments, corporations and scientists," said Lewis
Lancaster, director of the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative.
"This conference is a great opportunity for humanities
scholars and computer professionals to talk to each other."
More
than 300 scholars from the United States, Asia, Europe, Latin
America and elsewhere are involved in the project. They will
discuss such issues as the mapping the Salem witch trials; protecting
scholars' intellectual property rights; and the role of Internet
II in this venture.
Among
the universities participating are Princeton University; University
of Virginia; Stanford University; Yale University; Taiwan National
University; Harvard University; the University of Southern California;
University of Sydney; UC San Diego; El Colegio de Mexico; Kyoto
University in Japan; University of Michigan; National Chengchi
University in Taiwan; University of Texas at Austin; and UCLA.
Other
participants include the National Science Foundation; Radio
Televisione Italiana; the British Library; the National Library
of China; National Palace Museum, Taipei; and Mexico's Telecommunicaciones
Y Educacion Interactiva.
Ultimately,
the project will allow experts across disciplines to share knowledge
and critique each other's work. Lay people also will be able
to add their data to the electronic atlas project and perform
customized searches of the atlas.
The
effort to create this computerized atlas officially began in
1997, and scholars from around the world have regularly met
since then.
The
conference plenary session, held at the Haas School's main auditorium,
Room F-295, will begin at 9 a.m., Friday, Jan. 14, with opening
addresses and speeches by scholars and dignitaries. From 11:15
a.m. to 5:30 p.m., participants will choose among various concurrent
presentations on such topics as digital libraries and virtual
museums.
Saturday's
program will run from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday's sessions
will run from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The conference will conclude
Monday, Jan. 17, at Stanford University's Bechtel Conference
Center. It will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 1 p.m. and feature
addresses from Rice Luce, library director for Los Alamos National
Laboratory; Michael Keller, Stanford University Librarian; Kevin
Starr, California State Librarian; and others.
The
Pacific Neighborhood Consortium, comprised of institutions of
higher education in the Pacific Rim, is sponsoring this week's
conference.
Simon
Lin, executive officer of the consortium said, "The PNC
has an enduring interest in furthering cooperation and understanding
among the higher education institutions all over the world.
It is our goal to make the concept of a 'global village' come
true through advanced technology."
Last
year, the consortium helped UC Berkeley establish a high-speed
T3 Internet connection with Academia Sinica, a leading research
institution in Taiwan.
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