FIS at ISSS99 Asilomar

Dear FIS researchers

In the conference below FIS will meet with systems people, with second oprder cybernetics (ASC) and with semiotics of nature and ethics plus many others. It is a unique event to have so many perspective on FIS, systems, cybernetics and semiotics and to ha
ve Bela Banathy from FIS to orchestra the meeting. Please join and make this a major historical event. We want as many different paradigms as possible represented.

     The special FIS issue of Cybernetics & Human Knowing is going to be published in February.

                        
                                                   S=F8ren Brier

 ANNOUNCEMENT OF ANNUAL MEETING
AND GENERAL CALL FOR PAPERSTHE FORTY-THIRD MEETING OFTHE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE SYSTEMS SCIENCES

June 27-July 2, 1999
Asilomar Conference Center on the Monterey Peninsula
Pacific Grove, California, USA

HUMANITY, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY:
THE SYSTEMIC FOUNDATIONS OF THE INFORMATION AGE

During the past few centuries we have achieved a remarkable synthesis of science and technology. We have been less successful in establishing a graceful or even workable relationship between nature, humanity, science, and technology. It is becoming incr
easingly important for us to ask the fundamental questions that will lead to an understanding of these relationships.

Unique to our age is the massive scale at which we are applying science and technology to the construction of our physical, social, and cultural reality. However, our approach to the construction of these realities is fragmented. A distinguishing featur
e of the next millennium must be a more systemic view of science and technology. A view that gives full expression to the creative energy of the human spirit upon which the information age can be built.

A disciplined approach to engaging our creative energy calls for a level of understanding that crosses the boundaries between the humanities, the arts, the sciences, and technologies. It certainly calls for a re-examination of science, one that embraces
different ways of knowing, and different ways of being. The boundary-crossings may well be rooted in our humanity, in our conceptions of aesthetics, justice, morality, and ethics.

The above discussion echoes the sentiments of the founders of ISSS. Some 44 years ago a group of systems thinkers asked: How can science be unified? How can science be applied to the improvement of the human condition? Since the time when these questi
ons were asked, humanity has achieved a remarkable synthesis of science and technology. Some fragmentation has been overcome; however, significant, and deep-rooted fragmentation remains. It may well be that in order for us to take the next step, the ori
ginal questions should be rephrased to read: How can the improvement of the human condition become the basis for the unification of science? How can the unification of science become the basis for the improvement of the human condition?

This Annual Meeting is being organized in collaboration with: the American Society for Cybernetics, Andean Institute of Systems, General Evolutionary Research Group, Institute for The Study of Complex Systems, International Systems Institute, and the res
earch group on the Foundations of Information Science.

ORGANIZATION OF MEETING

The Annual Meeting will be organized around plenary sessions, symposia, paper sessions, workshops, discussion groups, and poster sessions. In addition, some sessions will encourage pre-meeting discussion of topics in a virtual conferencing format on the
internet.

The abstracts of papers selected for presentation will be posted on the ISSS web-site prior to the meeting, in order to encourage participants to become familiar with the content of presentations before arrival. Such postings should encourage collaborati
on among authors, and integration across sessions.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Janet Allen, Valerie Allen, Bela A. Banathy (Chair), Arne Collen, Peter Corning, Larry Edwards, Charles Francois, Martin Hall, Enrique Herrscher, Debora Hammond, William Hutchinson, Min Jaiyin, Gyorgy Jaros, Magdalena Kalaidjieva, John J. Kineman, Tets
umori Koizumi, Jean-Louis LeMoigne, Tom Mandel, Robert Packham, Elaine Parent, Bill Reck*meyer, Ricardo Rodriguez-Ulloa, Bill Shireman, Carl Slawski, Sytse Strijbos, Jaak Tepandi, John van Gigch, Andries G. de Wet, Jennifer Wilby

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Program Committee will structure the meeting in a manner that fosters the emergence of relationships and linkages across topical areas.

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Ralph Abraham, Russ Ackoff, Robert Artigiani, Nikitas Assimakopoulos, Ken Bailey, Bela H. Banathy, Soren Brier, Pille Bunnell, C.West Churchman (Honorary Chair), Michael Conrad, Donald de Raadt, John Dillon, Len Duhl, Robert Flood, Heinz von Foerster, Mi
ke Jackson, Stanley Krippner, Ervin Laszlo, Hal Linstone, Pedro C. Marijuan, Koichiro Matsuno, Humberto Maturana, Jim Miller, Jesse Miller, Ian Mitroff, Yong Pil Rhee, Robert Rosen, G.A. Swanson, Len Troncale, Robert Vallee.

Presentations are being invited to address systems topics in general, and the President's Theme in particular. In order to lend cohesion to the paper sessions, the ISSS Special Integration Groups (SIGs) offer specific calls for papers, in addition, explo
ratory calls for papers are being posted in areas not covered by existing SIGs.

Detailed directions for the submission of abstracts and papers are presented in a subsequent section. In all cases an extended abstract of up to one page must be submitted, in order to offer the SIG and Session Chairs the appropriate opportunity to make
 selection decisions.

ABSTRACT SHOULD BE SUBMITTED IMMEDIATELY
PAPER DEADLINE: April 15, 1999

In all cases send abstracts and papers to:

Organizing Committee Chair, Bela Antal Banathy ,38 Seca Place, Salinas, CA 93908, USA and he Chair of SIG or Session In which the paper is to be presented.

BABanathy@worldnet.att.net

Please indicate on the abstract the session you prefer for the presentation of your paper. A brief description of each of the proposed sessions and the names of the respective SIG or Session Chairs can be found below to help you with the selection of your
 preferred session.

General sessions will also be organized for papers that are not appropriate for any of the proposed sessions.

ORGANIZED SESSIONS BY SPECIAL INTEGRATION GROUPS (SIGs)

Foundations of Information Science

An Exploratory Session on the Question:
Is there a way beyond the conflict between the mechanistic-logical and the phenomenological-semiotic view of science and cognition?
The classical approach to science looks for universal laws and logical structures uniting physicochemical nature, the living, cognition, intelligence, and society. But it has created a big divide around the problem of semantics and signification in bio-so
cio-cultural systems. On the one side, phenomenological and linguistic views have tended to ignore the biological nature of the observer and communicator, seeing the problem of meaning only as socially and individually constructed. While on the other side
, the classical approach to information science, derived frominformation theory and the computer sciences, has seen the problem of meaning under the light of "representation" and "syntax", implying a questionable extension of the mechanistic world view in
to the socio-cultural realm.Is there a possible non-reductionist unification of the two views from some kind of new Foundations of Information Science? Or do we have to live with the full-blown version of both information para!
digms in a sort of complementarity philosophy (N. Bohr)? Indeed the present "information age" represents a powerful stimulus to attempt the synthesis of a unified information discipline. A historical parallel with the emergence of thermodynamics after t
he onset of the industrial revolution may be in order. Will the concept of information change our worldview as the concept of energy did? Send Abstracts and Papers to:S=F8ren Brier, Ph.D., Session Chair, Landboh�jskolen Inst. for Oekonomi, Skov og Land
skabSektion MOP Rolighedsvej 23 st. th. DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark E-mail: SBR@kvl.dk

Submission of Material for the 1999 ISSS Conference

Abstract

The abstract should give an overview of your main theses, methods by which you plan to support your ideas and, if appropriate, a description of the case studies you plan to present.

Abstracts can be a full page in length, figures may be included, but do not go over the one page limit. Use the paper style guidelines for abstract style. Abstracts do not need to be submitted on disc. We do however need a clean, hard copy to work from
. The preferred procedure is to send a hard copy and an e-mail copy to the SIG Chair and also to Bela Banathy. Faxed abstracts will be accepted only under special circumstances. Abstracts should be submitted immediately.

The abstracts will be reviewed and the acceptance of papers will be based on the reviews. Even if an abstract has been accepted, if a full paper is not received by the paper submission deadline, the abstract will not be included in the abstract book and
we will assume that the author is not planning to present his/her work at the conference.

The abstracts will be printed while the proceedings will be available on CD-ROM. An author may choose to submit a revised abstract along with the full paper. Then the revised abstract will be used in the creation of the book of abstracts.

Submission of Papers

Papers are to be submitted in the specified computer format on disc. If this is difficult, we will try to arrange either to have your paper scanned or typed at an additional charge to you. Please let us know as soon as possible if this will be necessary
. Please follow the paper style guidelines.

If your paper is intended for a specific SIG, please submit it both to Bela Banathy and the appropriate SIG chair. Bela Banathy must receive both hard and soft copies of your paper by April 15, 1999. The SIG chair may only require a hard copy.

Paper Editing

After submission, papers may be edited. Jennifer Wilby and Martin Hall will be the general editors, but they will co-opt experts in different areas for assistance. We will attempt to forward your paper to you after editing for your approval, but that ma
y not always be possible.

The Vickers Award

A plaque and check for $500 will be awarded for the best student paper. Although the advisor may be a co-author on the paper, it is understood that this award is meant to recognize student accomplishment and the paper should reflect principally the work
of the student. Please indicate at the time of paper submission if your paper is to be considered for the Vicker*s award and certify that this work was performed while you were a student. (You may have since received your degree.)

Submission

Submit abstracts immediately, papers by April 15, 1999 to both SIG Chair and Bela Banathy

PAPER STYLE GUIDELINES

Please note, we cannot guarantee that manuscripts submitted later than
APRIL 15, 1999
will be included in the Proceedings.

1. General Guidelines

1.1. Preparation, Length and Printing

A printed copy of all papers must be submitted along with an electronic submission on a 3 1/2* diskette. The printed copy of the paper will be used for review and to ensure correct layout. The primary author*s last name and page numbers should be writte
n in blue pencil on the lower right hand side of the back of the hard copy of the manuscript.

Disks should be in IBM format; the files should be saved in Microsoft Word format, version 6 for either Macintosh or Windows machines. Any other word-processing package must be approved prior to submission. Artwork and tables should be pasted into the W
ord document. If papers are submitted by email, they should be sent as attached files with a description in the body of the message as to what word processing package has been used to create them.

The length of the paper should not exceed 15 pages, including title page / abstract and references. Do not start a new page after the title information and abstract. Pages must be single-spaced. Type on one side only. Skip a single line between paragr
aphs of text. Do not indent the first line of each paragraph. Paragraphs should be both right and left justified.

1.2 Typeface, Paper Size and Margins

The preferred typeface is Times or Times New Roman. The type size should be 10 points. Please use the page set-up command to ensure that your paper is prepared on US LETTER size paper (8 1/2 by 11 inches). Leave 1 inch margins at the top and the bottom
 of the page; 1 1/4 inch on both sides, right and left.

2. Title

The title should be written on the first line of the first page, centered in upper case bold capital letters, 12 point font. The authors* names should be centered two lines below the full title in upper and lower case letters. Affiliation and mailing ad
dress should follow, centered on separate lines also in upper and lower case letters. Please enter a short running title as the header at the top of each page except the first. This running title should be centered, 1/2 inch from the top of the page in
12 point type in bold upper and lower case letters.

3. Summary and Keywords

The Proceedings of the conference will be produced on CD-ROM.

Two lines below the author name and affiliation, start a brief summary as the first paragraph of the paper. At the end of the summary, skip a line and then type *Keywords* (underlined) followed by up to five (5) words that describe the focus and contribu
tion of the paper. The summary should follow the title, author*s name, and mailing address on the first page. Skip two lines and then begin the body of the paper (after an Introduction heading if required) immediately after the summary.

4. Headings

All major headings are centered in bold. They are to be written in 12-point font and numbered consecutively followed by a period, with Arabic numerals, e.g., 1. Introduction. Do not put a period after the text of the heading. Leave two lines above a ma
jor heading, and one line before the start of the next paragraph or second-level heading.

4.1 Subheadings (Second-level Heading)
Subheadings are flush left, in 12 point type and bold. There should be one line space before and after this level of heading. The paragraph should be numbered as a subsection of the previous major heading as shown in the subheading for this paragraph.

4.1.1. Sub-subheading (third level heading)
Sub-subheadings are flush left, in italics and in 12 point type. The paragraphs should be numbered as a sub-section of the previous subsection heading as shown in the sub-subheading for the paragraph. There should be one line space before this level of
heading, but no line space between this heading and the following paragraph.

5. Illustrations

The electronic version of the art should be included on the diskette and incorporated into the word-processing file. Figures should be labeled in the text as *Figure x*. Figure captions should be typed directly below the figure, in bold type, upper and
lower case, and centered.

6. Tables

Table captions should be centered above the table. Tables should be included in the manuscript proper and referred to in the text as *Table x*.

7. Equation Numbers

When numbering equations, enclose numbers in brackets [ ] and place them flush with the right-hand margin. Refer to them in the text as *Equation [x]*.

8. References

List bibliographic references at the end of the paper under the major heading *References*. List authors alphabetically by the first letter of the first author*s last name. Identify references in the text of the paper by typing the corresponding name an
d year in parenthesis. If a page number is added at that point, it should be set as (author, year, page number). Book titles and names of journals should be printed in italics.

Aauthor, A. 1991. Title of Book. New York:XYZ Press, pp. 25-55.
Bauthor, B. and Aauthor, A. 1995. *Title of Paper,* Journal Vol. 3:1-20.
Cauthor, C., Aauthor, A., Bauthor, B., and Jones, G. 1996, *Title of Paper,* in Title of Book, (E. EEditor, ed.) New York:XYZ Press, pp. 47-82.
For multiple papers in the same year by the same author:

Bauthor, B. and Aauthor, A. 1995A. *Title of PaperA,* JournalA Vol. 3:1-20.
Bauthor, B. and Aauthor, A. 1995B. *Title of PaperB,* JournalB Vol. 3:1-20.
 
 
Received on Mon Jan 25 09:03:28 1999