Updated on 19 June 1996 by ausweb96@scu.edu.au

AusWeb96

Special Interest Groups

A SIG is a meeting during AusWeb96 which is designed to focus on an area of common concern to conference delegates. We're working with conference attendees to put a program together which will be discussion oriented. No formal papers .. some opening comments from the organiser and perhaps a few comments from specialists. There will be no charge and no registration for these SIGs.

Special Interest Group meetings organised at AusWeb96 include:

Developing and managing interactive exhibitions, tours and seminars on the Web

Monday 8 July, 2:30-4:00pm, Surfers Paradise 3


The Convenors of the SIG are:

Katy Bramich, Director, Public Programs, National Library of Australia kbramich@nla.gov.au
Diana Dack , Director, Systems Projects, National Library of Australia, ddack@nla.gov.au

The focus of this Special Interest Group is on issues pertaining to the
development and management of truly interactive Web sites that allow
effective delivery of virtual tours, exhibitions, public seminars and other
public programs of cultural and other public institutions. The target
audiences can range from school age through tertiary students, through
lifelong learners and cultural tourists , to the general online public.

It is intended that discussion will focus on both philosophical/policy
issues and practical issues. It is highly desirable, however, that some
previous identification and discussion of issues, and identification of
exemplary case studies take place before the face-to-face discussion at the
AusWeb96 conference.

The convenors invite you to visit their Web site
http://www.nla.gov.au/ausweb96 from Friday 14 June 1996 to read their
initial points of discussion, which will be updated continuously based on
feedback from you. In this way we hope to at least identify the major issues
of concern to people before the face to face meeting, and hence facilitate
constructive criticism.

Don't leave your contribution to the last minute or it might get missed out!

While we are waiting for the site to be made available, here are a few of
the issues that we have identified for discussion:
Please wait until Friday 14 June 1996, then visit the site to read some of
our ponderings, then email us your feedback, suggestions, and questions you
would like addressed at the conference. Until then....

Marketing on the Internet with Sausage Software

Tuesday 9 July, 10:15am-12:30pm, Coolangatta 1

A topic of perennial interest is how to market on the Internet. We're pleased that the team at Sausage Software is organising a Special Interest Group on Marketing on the Internet. The SIG will be lead by Steve Outtrim, the founder and CEO of Sausage Software. Steve Outtrim is the 23 year old behind his brain-child "Sausage Software." Steve wrote the "HotDog web editor" in June last year. Sausage Software is now one of the success stories of Australian software exporting and employs over 50 Australians.

The SIG will be discussing marketing issues on the Internet - how traditional streams
and channels are no longer relevant and how to develop your own - what works in cyberspace. There will be plenty of opportunity to discuss all the various possibilities for marketing your product on the Internet.

The contact for this special interest group is Cam Watson spankk@sausage.com.au

//WWW.HOLD.THE.FRONTPAGE/

Tuesday 9 July, 12:30-1:45pm, Coolangatta 1, Bring your lunch to the SIG!

//WWW.HOLD.THE.FRONTPAGE/ is organised by Suellen Tapsall from the Queensland University of Technology.

Suellen notes:
"The development of the WWW and increasing public access to it presents huge
challenges for news makers, providers and publishers. There is no monopoly
of information or resources (no huge press barons or television networks).
So, how should news be presented on the web? Who should be doing the
publishing? This SIG will consider such issues and the implications for
journalists, journalism educators, news organisations, community
organisations and other interested groups. It will consider such issues as
style (print, broadcast or a mix of both?), mix of media (audio, video, text
and graphics in the one document?), layout (no longer a tabloid, A4 page, TV
screen or radio transmitter) and multi-level publications (through the use
of HTML links)."

Suellen Tapsall is a lecturer in the Journalism section at Queensland
University of Technology. She has worked in journalism (print and radio) and
public relations for more than a decade. Together with colleagues and
students at QUT, she has put the section's daily student radio news and
newspaper publications on the web. She is also contributing to the section's
inclusion of Internet-related projects in all parts of the BA (Jour) major.
Her primary research interests include both the Internet and Computer
Assisted Journalism. Suellen's email address is s.tapsall@qut.edu.au if you'd
like to contact her prior to the conference.

"Maidens of the Universe" - A 'Women and the Internet' Special Interest Group

Monday 8 July, 3:30-5:30pm, Surfers Paradise 3


This SIG has been organised by Glenda Slingsby and Spider Redgold.

This SIG will rigorously explore the potential and implications for women
online, and the consequences of being offline. Barriers to online use will
be identified at macro and micro levels and strategies explored for
supporting women's online movement. Women as shapers and developers of this
medium will be a key focus for this group. We will also discuss the potential for developing womyns businesses on the Web.

The SIG will be chaired by Keng Chua and feature an opening presentations and considerable input from Glenda and Spider. We also hope that Nancy Rhines will be involved in the discussions.

There will be a focus on different contexts being addressed in
relation to women's online contributrions and developments (eg. government,
private sector, developing countries, indigenous users, socio-economic
issues, etc, etc

There will be networking to help each other and build general connections with other 'systers and allies in the field'.

We welcome offers of short 'discussion starters' from any women attending and any other contributions or suggestions on topics to be covered prior to the conference. Please email Glenda glenda@powerup.com.au.


Glenda Slingsby manages the `Women and Information Technology Strategy' (WITS) for the Queensland Government. WITS is a whole of government initiative aimed at increasing the number of women and women's community groups online, and enhancing and supporting women's contributions to the Internet as a medium.

Spider Redgold, Director of Client Services for
Pegasus Networks is the convenor and creator of womenZnet, the first
internet domain for Australian women, and part of the UN funded global
women's networking program. Spider was the only Australian woman on the
Internet team at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing 1995.

Keng Chua is the Head of Centre for Media Communications and Asian Studies at Southern Cross University. She is editor of the Virtual Edition for AusWeb95 and '96 and edited the Media, Community and Cultural Studies theme for AusWeb96.

Nancy Rhines is the Director for Womens Programming at America On Line (AOL).

A Forum on the establishment of an Association of Web Consultants

Monday 8 July, 8:00pm onwards ..

This discussion has been organised by James K. Tauber jtauber@library.uwa.edu.au

James says about this forum:
The need for an Australian Association of Web Consultants really came
home to me when, in my capacity as CWIS Officer for the University of
Western Australia, I had to completely rewrite a set of pages that a
department had hired an external consultant to do. In short, the "Web
consultant" had no idea what he was doing. He had bought a book and was
now charging lots of money to write Web pages.

A recent check indicated that no Western Australian Government
department home pages validate as correct HTML. A similar check on
Australian university homepages revealed only one valid page. If those
paid to develop Web pages lack sufficient HTML knowledge, what about
their knowledge of the security and legal implications of Web
publishing? Indeed, there is much that Web Consultants need to know and
much that they can get wrong. With so many jumping on the bandwagon
claiming to be "Web experts" hoping to make some money from the rapidly
rising demand, there is a real danger that the entire Web industry will
fall into disrepute.

I would therefore like to discuss the formation of an Australian
Association of Web Consultants. The association would be a professional
body whose primary role would be to promote good practice in the
industry. This would be achieved through developing a code of
ethics, running regular training courses and providing certification.

I invite all interested parties to gather for a discussion at the
AusWeb96 conference and/or make contact with me, James K. Tauber at
jtauber@library.uwa.edu.au.

The Web: A Medium for Active and Interactive Learning, Teaching and Training

Tuesday 9 July, 12:30-1:45pm Bring your lunch to the SIG!


This SIG has been developed by Sally-Anne Leigh, Program Manager - Training
at the University of Canberra. It will be of interest to any-one who is
using the web or planning to in their teaching, training and presentations
both in static or interactive format.

Issues to be explored will include:
I would welcome any offers of short discussions or demonstrations of what
projects people are working on and am hopeful to have a number of trainers
talking about their experiences and showing their courseware.

If you would like to be actively involved please email Sally-Anne Leigh
sal@isd.canberra.edu.au prior to the conference.

Queensland IT & T Awards SIG

Monday 8 July 12:30-1:45pm, Coolangatta 1 - Grab your lunch and come to the SIG

The Queensland IT & T Awards SIG will be conducted by Robert Wood, the Queensland Officer of the Australasian Interactive Multimedia Industry Association (AIMIA) and Paula Brand, the Queensland IT & T Awards Marketing Co-ordinator.

The points to be discussed in the SIG will be;

Background on the Awards.


The Queensland Information Technology and Telecommunications (IT & T)
Awards were initiated by the Connecting Queensland Magazine and the
Information Industries Board to unify and develop the IT & T industry for
the direct benefit and prosperity of Queensland.

The IT & T Awards have become the "focal point" of the industry and are
supported by a number of IT & T industry organisations such as ; The
Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), Queensland
Telecommunications Industry Group (QTIG), Australasian Interactive
Multimedia Industry Association (AIMIA), Australian Computer Society (ACS),
Australian Telecommunications Users Group (ATUG), Optus Communications,
Andeersen Consulting, Access One and Q-TEL.

The 1996 Award categories are Education/Training, Export, Industry
Development, Mulitmedia, Product, Project, Queensland Government use of
Local IT & T, On -Line Services, Research, Service, Individual and Private
Sector Use of Local IT & T.


Maintained by ausweb96@scu.edu.au
AusWeb96 - The Second Australian World Wide Web Conference, 7th to 9th of July 1996, at the Conrad Jupiters Hotel, Gold Coast, Australia. Contact: Ms Julie Burton, Norsearch Conference Services at Southern Cross University, PO Box 157, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia. Phone (066) 20 3000 (From outside Australia +61 66 20 3000) Fax: (066) 22 1954 (From outside Australia +61 66 22 1954). Email: ausweb96@scu.edu.au.