International conference on Flexible Query
Answering Systems, FQAS'98
13-15 May, 1998
Roskilde University, Denmark
Submission deadline: 1 February 1998
Objectives
==========
The area of Flexible Query Answering System, FQAS, is related to
enhancements of inquiring or query-answering systems into technology
that can be experienced as being "intelligent" or "flexible".
The emphasis of this conference is on problems in users posing queries
and systems producing answers.
This focus has become highly relevant as the amount of information
available from local and distributed information bases has increased
drastically and so have the capacity and speed of ordinary office computer.
This makes it obvious to search for more advanced techniques for analyzing
and processing user queries than those normally used in database systems
and search engines.
A human intermediary with expertise in the domain of interest can often be
considered an ideal for a flexible query-answering system.
Typically, the friendly human expert attempts to interpret also in-correctly
posed questions and tries to compose an answer not reflecting precisely
what's in question, but rather what the expert understands to be the
intention with the question.
The recent interest in Internet search engines, and the increasing needs for
adding quality - in terms of flexibility, performance, precision and recall -
to such engines, has further added to the importance of FQAS.
Moreover, the current demand for flexible querying into information sources
of diverse nature and structure, such as the World Wide Web, and data and
knowledge bases, calls for a cross-disciplinary approach from computer science
and information sciences, as intended by this conference.
Previous FQAS arrangements and more background are described ar the www
address mentioned.
Dates
=====
Submission deadline: 1 February 1998
Notification: 1 March 1998
Camera-ready papers: 1 April 1998
Conference: 13-15 May 1998
Topics
======
Original papers are solicited on different aspects of flexible query
answering systems. Topics of interest for this conference include,
but are not limited to, the following.
Intelligent, flexible, cooperative approaches or systems that are
- based on fuzzy logic, including fuzzy aggregation and fuzzy querying,
- inhancing expressibility in query language using, e.g.,
modal or natural language constructs,
- based on logic formalisms, applying non-standard interpretation
to model query processing,
- applying knowledge discovery to obtain domain knowledge useful
in enhancing query-answering,
- capturing and refining models of users and user behaviour.
Underlying theoretical aspects related to such approaches
within areas such as
- knowledge representation formalisms, semantics,
- formal logic,
- fuzzy logic,
- artificial intelligence,
- database technology,
- deductive databases and non-standard derivations,
- information retrieval.
Invited speakers
================
Jack Minker, University of Maryland:
An Overview of Cooperative Answering in Databases
Patrick Bosc, IRISA/ENSSAT, France:
On diverse answers issued from flexible queries
(perhaps one more; to be announced)
Submissions and proceedings
===========================
Papers should describe original, previously unpublished work,
and should not be simultaneously submitted for publication elsewhere.
The proceedings will be published in a volume of Springer's
Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (LNAI).
Submitted papers must be written in English and should not exceed 12 pages
using the format for LNAI. Authors should follow the guidelines provided
by Springer and are strongly encouraged to use the LaTeX format
defined by the LaTeX2e class file llncs.cls;
see http://www.dat.ruc.dk/fqas98/cfpdates.html.
Electronic submissions (preferably postscript or dvi) are strongly encouraged,
and should be sent to
If electronic submission is not possible, send 3 hard-copies
or by fine-resolution telefax to the conference chairman.
All submissions must be received by 1. February 1998.
Program Committee
=================
Amihai Motro ami@aviv.isse.gmu.edu
Amparo Vila vila@robinson.ugr.es
Bernadette Bouchon-Menuier bouchon@laforia.ibp.fr
Derrick Kheden hdecker@informatik.uni-muenchen.de
Didier Dubois dubois@irit.fr
Fosca Gianotti f.giannotti@cnuce.cnr.it
Henning Christiansen (Chair) henning@ruc.dk
Henri Prade Henri.Prade@irit.fr
Henrik Legind Larsen hll@ruc.dk
Janusz Kacprzyk kacprzyk@ibspan.waw.pl
Jonas Barklund jonas@csd.uu.se
Jorgen Fischer-Nilsson jfn@id.dtu.dk
Laurence Cholvy Laurence.Cholvy@cert.fr
Olga Pons opc@decsai.ugr.es
Olivier Pivert pivert@merlin.enssat.fr
Rita De Caluwe Rita.DeCaluwe@rug.ac.be
Robert Demolombe Robert.Demolombe@cert.fr
Ronald R. Yager Yager@Panix.Com
Troels Andreasen troels@ruc.dk
FQAS'98 Organizers
==================
Troels Andreasen,
Henning Christiansen,
Henrik Legind Larsen,
Roskilde University, Denmark.
For more information contact
============================
FQAS'98 Conference Chair
Henning Christiansen
Department of Computer Science
Roskilde University, bldg. 20.1
P.O. Box 260,
DK-4000 Roskilde,
Denmark
Phone: (+45) 4674 2576
Fax: (+45) 4674 3072
E-mail: henning@ruc.dk
Conference Web Pages: http://www.dat.ruc.dk/fqas98
- which will be kept up to date with fresh information.
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