In case you missed it, here are details of the latest issue of Informer, which just came out this week with conference reviews, feature articles, news and updates from the world of search and information retrieval.
Of particular note is the call for a new editor – this is a great opportunity so if you’re interested or would like to know more, drop us a line. If a volunteer is not forthcoming, this could be the LAST issue of Informer. No, really!
For further details see the Informer website. If you fancy becoming a contributor, get in touch.
Informer: Autumn 2023 Issue Out Now
http://irsg.bcs.org/informer/
By Martin White
The 2023 AGM will take place on the evening of the Tutorial Day (21 November) at Search Solutions. There are a number of vacancies on the Committee going forward into 2024 and IRSG Chairman Udo Kruschwitz encourages candidates to contribute to the development of IRSG over the year ahead.
Search Solutions 2023 takes place in the BCS London HQ on 21 and 22 November. The Tutorial Day is 21 November and there are currently two tutorials. The Conference Day is 22 November and the programme has now been finalized. The overall theme is how to manage the convergence of information retrieval, search and AI technology…
2023 AGM and Committee nominations
By Steven Zimmerman
The BCS Information Retrieval Specialist Group invites nominations for the following positions:
– Vice Chair
– Secretary
– Inclusion Officer
– Early Careers Advocate
– Events Coordinator
– 1 ordinary member of the committee
Those elected will serve a two-year term commencing from the 2023 AGM which will be held on 21 November 2023 after the Search Solutions Tutorials.
Find out more here…
From the BCS IRSG Chair
By Udo Kruschwitz
Hard to believe, but there is more to life than ECIR.
Welcome back to a new issue of Informer! There is quite a lot happening in our community as you can see when browsing the contents. So let me try to be brief which gives you more time to study the other articles …
Search Solutions 2023 – Tutorials London 21 November 2023
By Martin White
Innovations in Search & Information Retrieval.
Search Solutions is the BCS Information Retrieval Specialist Group’s annual event focused on practitioner issues in the arena of search and information retrieval. It is a unique opportunity to bring together academic research and practitioner experience.
The Search Solutions event consists of a Tutorial day and a Conference day, each of which has a separate registration. Information on the Conference day can be found here…
Search Solutions 2023 – Conference. London, 22 November 2023
By Martin White
Innovations in Search & Information Retrieval.
Search Solutions is the BCS Information Retrieval Specialist Group’s annual event focused on practitioner issues in the arena of search and information retrieval. It is a unique opportunity to bring together academic research and practitioner experience.
The Search Solutions event consists of a Tutorial day and a Conference day, each of which has a separate registration. Information on the Tutorial day can be found here…
ECIR 2024 Glasgow – a status report
By Martin White
The 46th European Conference on Information Retrieval (ECIR 2024) will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, 24th-28th March 2024. ECIR is the annual premier European forum for the presentation of new research results in Information Retrieval…
KSJ Awards 2023 nominations
By Martin White
A pioneer of information retrieval, the computer science sub-discipline that also underpins the technology of modern Web search engines, Karen Spärck Jones was a British professor of Computers and Information at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge. Her contributions to the fields of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Information Retrieval (IR), especially with regard to experimentation, have been outstanding, highly influential…
Search Insights 2024 London 22 February 2024
By Martin White
The IRSG Committee has accepted a proposal from The Search Network to run a one-day event focused on providing advice for IT managers and search managers seeking to optimise the value of search in their organisations and for customers. The event will be held at the BCS London HQ on 22 February. The programme will be announced at Search Solutions 2023 on 22 November…
1978 and the first search revolution
By Martin White
We are currently struggling to cope with the rapid deployment of new search technologies as though nothing like this has happened before. I get a sense of déjà vu because something quite similar started to take place in 1978 with the arrival of search software on mini-computers. To be sure it took some time for there to be significant adoption but it was a colossal shift in the opportunities that it created for software developers, IT managers and information scientists.
I’ve chosen 1978 as the starting point as this was the year that the Information Retrieval Specialist Group was established….
Events listing
By Andy Macfarlane
One Day Events
Search Solutions 2023: The groups annual industry focused event, includes a tutorial day. 21-22 November 2023. https://www.bcs.org/membership-and-registrations/member-communities/information-retrieval-specialist-group/conferences-and-events/search-solutions/
Full list of events…
And very finally….from the Editor
By Martin White
This is my final issue of Informer. I’ve been the curator since taking over from Udo in 2019 and have enjoyed creating and editing the issues, supported by Steve Zimmerman and Tony Russell-Rose who have uploaded the text into a readable format. I’ve already written a substantial article in this issue on what I regard as the first search revolution so I’ll keep this short. As I gradually exit from 25 years of enterprise search consultancy and 45 years…
Opportunities for Authors
If you are an expert in information retrieval or any aspect of search who has strong writing skills, we invite you to contribute to Informer. Please send an article proposal to us at: irsg@bcs.org.
For more information about the BCS IRSG, please go to: http://irsg.bcs.org/about.php
About Informer
Informer is the quarterly newsletter of the BCS Information Retrieval Specialist Group (IRSG). Its aim is to provide insights and inspiration to researchers and professionals working in all aspects of search and information retrieval. Our articles provide accessible and timely coverage of important topics, ranging from focused, practical advice, to concise overviews of broader topics, and to deeper, research-oriented articles and opinion pieces.
The IRSG is a Specialist Group of BCS. Its mission is to provide a focus for the European IR community, facilitate communication between researchers and practitioners and promote the adoption of IR research within industry. We host a major European conference (ECIR) and provide an associated programme of workshops, seminars and events. The IRSG is free to join via the BCS website, which provides access to further IR articles, events and resources.
BCS is the industry body for IT professionals. With members in over 100 countries around the world, BCS is the leading professional and learned society in the field of computers and information systems.
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