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EDITOR'S SUMMARY At the fifth SIG/MET workshop, held during the 2015 ASIS&T Annual Meeting, the group shared papers, posters and discussions exploring developments in information measurement. The opening session on bibliometric case studies examined interdisciplinarity among consumers of academic research, increased funding for coauthors of previously funded authors and a classification of acknowledgement types. A session on information retrieval in relation to bibliometrics included studies on overcoming the limits of computational linguistics in very large corpora, an interactive context explorer of bibliographic data called Ariadne and comparative approaches to visualizing the structure of a very large dataset. The alternative metrics session covered application of altmetrics for analyzing public policy documents, a novel usage indicator promoting article discovery, the basis for connections among faculty members using Twitter and the heavy use of Twitter among academics. The daylong workshop included awards for best papers, best student papers and two featured presentations on the application and use of metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EDITOR'S SUMMARY Special Interest Group/Classification Research (SIG/CR) explored the significance of studies on classification and its real world effects through paper presentations by students and faculty at the 2015 ASIS&T Annual Meeting workshop. Presenters looked at the effects of approaches to classifying and structuring knowledge and at the ways classification models frame similarities and differences and influence views of society and the world. Among the papers on specific models and cases were presentations on capturing situation semantics in metadata, classifications of violence and disasters and historians' perspectives on organizing information. Fundamental philosophical positions were shown to inform classifications, and the effects of classificatory systems evolve with time. Other papers addressed the cultural, political and theoretical consequences of compiling a controlled vocabulary, outsourcing metadata and information resources for classification of social and cultural issues. The workshop ended with the announcement of new officers and presentation of student scholarships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EDITOR'S SUMMARY Bringing comic relief to the 2015 ASIS&T Annual Meeting, SIG CON opened with discovery that the alleged nephew of the group's figurehead, Dr. Llewellyn C. Puppybreath III, and speaker at the 2014 meeting was an imposter of dubious character. With the purloined ceremonial wand accounted for, the 2015 symposium opened with a presentation on the I-Index, an anti-establishment altmetric, eschewing group recognition in favor of individualism and self-citation. A paper on the correlation among computer science doctorates, rising arcade revenues and climate warming in Australia highlighted the income and career opportunities available to techies relocating to Oz. Analysis of ASIS&T members' social media posts revealed a skewed distribution of posters, topics and irrelevant content, especially by Association leadership. The session also featured a Monty Python character reporting on fatal answers at the Bridge of Death, multiple personalities of Dr. N. E. Doofus and a séance with illustrious ASIS&T members spanning the spectrum from living to dead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EDITOR'S SUMMARY Special Interest Group/Information Needs, Seeking and Use (SIG/USE) convened at the 2015 ASIS&T Annual Meeting to explore the links between theory and practice in information behavior. In his keynote address, Ross Todd urged the audience to go beyond models and aim for synthesis and meta-analysis, focusing on the user. Lightning talks addressed a social cognitive theory analysis of a program for disadvantaged youth; adults with limited literacy and health information; mobile information workers; forming a community of practice; and information sharing practices among online communities. A key takeaway was that research should actively involve communities and their members rather than simply being about them. Safiya Noble's keynote highlighted hidden biases in automated search engine returns with encouragement to design algorithms enabling users to opt in or out of filtered returns. Attendees explored the topics raised further during a mixer chat and table talks. The symposium ended with presentations for the best paper, poster and research proposal and awards for student and international conference travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SIG/MET presented its third Workshop on Informetric and Scientometric Research at the ASIS&T November 2013 Annual Meeting. Established in 2010, the group brings together those interested in all aspects of informetrics, including bibliometrics, scientometrics and webometrics, as well as metrics related to citation network analysis, visualization and scholarly communication. The meeting featured posters on measuring research in the context of academic monitoring and on the transition of meeting abstracts to peer-reviewed journal articles. Thirteen papers were presented in sessions addressing the application of metrics and new indicators. A session on topics beyond the journal article included discussions on Twitter hashtag use, motivations for blog posts and advisees' career success relative to advisers' scholarly activity. SIG/MET recognized students for outstanding contributions on statistical analysis of citation rates, cognitive aspects of peer review and indicators for research evaluation. The symposium concluded with discussion of the availability of a Scopus dataset for arts and humanities journals for research use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A converted computer scientist, the author looks back to his early intrigue with ASIS&T, his excitement at meeting notable scholars and subsequent history of participation. Shah presented a paper at his first meeting and every year since and has expanded his engagement, becoming active in SIGs, volunteering at the organizational level and advising a student chapter. Though this level of engagement involves significant work, Shah sees it not as a burden but as an important aspect of his career. As student chapter advisor, Shah encourages students to join ASIS&T early, attend as many activities as possible and interact broadly with others. New members should join a local chapter and a SIG and take advantage of scholarly opportunities through the Association. Attention to specific issues from organizational transparency to outreach will improve the Association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EDITOR'S SUMMARY At the 2015 ASIS&T Annual Meeting, Special Interest Group/Social Informatics (SIG/SI) celebrated its 11th research symposium and the more than 100 panels, papers and posters presented over the years. The theme, 'The Impacts of Social Informatics Research,' was evident in studies illustrating social informatics in a variety of contexts. Speakers explored the use of communications technology in marginalized communities and language use in informal chat about illegal behavior in online communities. Presenters also examined human rights in Indonesia, taking a value-oriented approach in social informatics research, efforts to create a safer internet and ways big data marginalize individuals through algorithms used in quantitative analyses. A panel considered where social informatics fits in the IT curriculum of iSchools. An examination of social connectedness through digital channels and devices won the Best Paper Award. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on several Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) awards and the International Paper Competition as of 2015. Topics include the ASIS&T history awards, both the research and best paper honors, providing cash awards to their winners, the deadlines and nomination requirements varying among the ASIS&T Annual Awards, and the 15th annual International Paper Competition to be held by the SIS&T Special Interest Group/ International Information Issues (SIG/III) which will be based on the theme of "Information Science with Impact: Research in and for the Community."

The article reports that in 2013 Melody M. Madriad, Maryam Mousavizadeh and Ana Mae Kristine U. Hubilla were winners of the Association for Information Science & Technology International Information Issues Special Interest Group's International Paper Contest and that Monica Garfield, Alan Dennis and Eden Litt were winners of the association's Social Informatics Special Interest Group's Best Social Informatics Papers awards.

The article reports that in 2013 Kalpana Shankar and Kristin Eschenfelder were winners of the Association for Information Science & Technology History Fund's Research Award and that Xiaohu Zhu was the winner of the fund's Best Paper Award.