With apologies for cross posting:


             FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS

      CIR-2000: The Challenge of Image Retrieval

       Third UK Conference on Image Retrieval

       May 4-5 2000, Brighton, United Kingdom


CIR moves to Brighton in 2000, with a new format -
separate practitioner and research tracks linked by
common plenary sessions. As in previous years, it aims
to attract high-quality papers covering all aspects of
image and video retrieval from both the UK and overseas.
The main themes of CIR-2000 are video asset management,
and image indexing and metadata, and content-based image
retrieval.

Image and video storage and retrieval continues to be
one of the most exciting and fastest-growing research
areas in the field of multimedia technology. However,
opportunities within the UK for the exchange of ideas
between different groups of researchers, and between
researchers and potential users of image retrieval
systems, are still limited. The Challenge of Image
Retrieval series of conferences was set up specifically
to bridge the gap between the different communities
with an interest in image retrieval.

Successful conferences were held in Newcastle upon Tyne
in 1998 and 1999. The 2000 event again aims to bring
together researchers and practitioners in the area of
image data management, to exchange information and gain
some idea of the significance of developments in related
disciplines. It should be of interest to researchers in
fields as diverse as information retrieval, database,
computer vision and image processing, human visual
perception and interface design, as well as users and
managers of image and video libraries.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Original papers are solicited for the conference
describing research or innovation in any area related to
image or video storage and retrieval. Accounts of work
in progress are acceptable provided at least some
results are reported. Possible topics include, but are
not limited to:

   * Studies of information-seeking behaviour among
     image users
   * HCI issues in image retrieval
   * Evaluation of image retrieval systems
   * Novel image data management systems and
     applications
   * Query models, paradigms and languages for image
     retrieval
   * Content-based indexing, search and retrieval of
     images
   * Feature extraction and representation
   * Visual perception and image retrieval
   * Image search and browsing on the Web
   * Semantic retrieval of images and video
   * Neural network techniques for image classification
     and retrieval
   * Database architectures for image retrieval
   * Image data management for multimedia systems

The programme committee are aiming to ensure a balance
between technical and user orientation in the submitted
papers presented at the conference. To achieve this, we
particularly welcome submissions which deal with user
issues.

SUBMISSION DETAILS:

Authors are asked to submit full papers (no longer than
5000 words), in English, to the Programme Chair, Dr John
Eakins. Electronic submission is strongly encouraged.
Electronic submissions should follow the style laid down
for the BCS electronic Workshops in Computing, which can
be found at
http://www.ewic.org.uk/ewic/editors/submitting.cfm#papers.
Authors are asked to follow the electronic submission
guidelines set out at http://www.unn.ac.uk/iidr/sub.html.
Authors who do not wish to submit electronically are asked
to send three paper copies of their submission, together
with a covering letter containing contact information, to:

     Dr John P Eakins,
     The Challenge of Image Retrieval,
     Institute for Image Data Research,
     University of Northumbria at Newcastle,
     Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST.

The closing date for both electronic and paper submissions
is Friday 21 January 2000.

Authors whose contributions are accepted for presentation
will be notified by Friday 3 March 2000. They will be
required to submit final versions of their papers, for
inclusion in the conference proceedings, by Friday,
7 April 2000. It is intended that all accepted papers
will be published in the BCS electronic Workshops in
Computing series.

PROGRAMME COMMITTEE:

* John Eakins (co-chair), University of Northumbria at
  Newcastle
* Peter Enser (co-chair), University of Brighton
* Margaret Graham, University of Northumbria at
  Newcastle
* David Harper, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen
* Karina Holm, Getty Images
* Paul Lewis, University of Southampton
* Martin Nail, Library and Information Commission

CONFERENCE SPONSORS (PROVISIONAL):

* Institute for Image Data Research, University of
  Northumbria at Newcastle
* The British Computer Society Information Retrieval
  Specialist Group
* The Library and Information Commission
* The Institute of Information Scientists
* Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen
* The British Machine Vision Association

IMPORTANT DATES:

     Deadline for Submission: 21 January 2000
     Notification of Acceptance: 3 March 2000
     Final version due: 7 April 2000

A Web version of this Call for Papers is available at:
http://www.unn.ac.uk/iidr/cfp.html



%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%