======================== HES POSTING ================= ** TwD98 ** Thinking with Diagrams: Is there a Science of Diagrams? Workshop call for papers/participation. University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK. 21-22 August 1998 Diagrams are essential in most fields of human activity. There is substantial interest in diagrams and their use in many academic disciplines for the potential benefits they may confer on a wide range of tasks. The extent and variety of research interest is witnessed by recent books and conferences: Diagrammatic Reasoning: Cognitive and Computational Perspectives. (Glasgow, Narayanan, & Chandrasekaran (Eds.), 1995); Forms of Representation (Peterson (Ed.), 1996); two AAAI symposia on reasoning with diagrammatic representations in 1992 and 1997; the Thinking with Diagrams Colloquium in 1996 and the 1997 TwD workshop. Are we now in a position to claim that we have a science of diagrams? That is, a science which takes the nature of diagrams and their use as the central phenomena of interest. A science which is attempting to understand how diagrams differ from other representational systems and trying to develop principles for the design of effective graphical representations. A science which considers how diagrams communicate information and how they are used to solve problems. If we have a science of diagrams it is certainly constituted from multiple disciplines, including: cognitive science, psychology, artificial intelligence, logic, mathematics, and others. If there is a science of diagrams, then like other sciences, there is an applications or "engineering" discipline that exists alongside the science. Applications and engineering provide tests of the theories and principles discovered by the science and extend the scope of the phenomena to be studied by generating new uses of diagrams, new media for presenting diagrams, or novel classes of diagram. This applications and engineering side of the science of diagrams also comprises multiple disciplines, including: education, architecture, computer science, mathematics, human-computer interaction, knowledge acquisition, graphic design, engineering, history of science, statistics, medicine, biology, and others. The theme of TwD98 will be - Is there a Science of Diagrams? By providing a forum for the presentation and discussion of quality research on diagrams and diagram use, we not only try to answer this question, but more importantly attempt draw together the many different approaches, theories and results that we have in the many diverse disciplines that are concerned with diagrams. The question provides a vehicle on which to attempt to integrate what is currently a disparate and disordered set of activities into a more rational and coherent programme of research. Is there any common core to the activities which provides a basis for the claim that the TwD community could constitute a science? The TwD98 programme will include: (i) technical sessions for the presentations of papers; (ii) invited talks on issues relevant to the TwD community as a whole; (iii) a panel session on the theme of TwD98. Call for Papers/Participation see: http://www.aber.ac.uk/~plo/TwD98 or contact [log in to unmask] Thinking with Diagrams (TwD98), Department of Computer Science University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, UK SY23 3DB Tel: +44 1970 622447/ Fax: +44 1970 622455 ============ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ============ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]