Sorry for multible postings!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VikingPLoP 2005 The Fourth Nordic Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs September 23-25, 2005 Otaniemi (http://www.otaniemi.fi), Finland http://www.vikingplop2005.org Conference chair: Juha P�rssinen, juha dot parssinen at vtt dot fi Program chair: Sami Lehtonen, sami dot lehtonen at vtt dot fi IMPORTANT DATES Papers due (via email to chairs) April 15, 2005 Shepherding starts April 22, 2005 Notification of acceptance July 20, 2005 Early registration ends August 1, 2005 Conference drafts due August 26, 2005 Final versions of papers due November 30, 2005 VikingPLoP 2005 - Call for Contributions Mature design and engineering disciplines often have handbooks describing common solutions to known problems. Bridge designers do not design bridges from first principles each time; they adapt solutions from a proven body of knowledge. Patterns can be the basis for software engineering handbooks. They embody core solutions to problems known to arise while building systems. A complete pattern language can guide developers in producing workable software by addressing many common design problems. About the Conference -------------------- VikingPLoP is a conference in the tradition of the PLoP conferences (http://www.hillside.net/conferences/), which invite you to add your expertise to the growing body of patterns literature. Other conferences in the PLoP(tm) series include PLoP(tm), EuroPLoP(tm), ChilliPLoP(tm), KoalaPLoP(tm), MensorePLoP(tm) and SugarLoafPLoP(tm). These conferences follow a different format from conferences such as OOPSLA. The focus here is on learning, discussion and reflection, not on the presentation of finished or traditionally academic work. At a PLoP(tm) series conference, attendees review each others material and help one another to refine their work, run workshops and engage in fruitful discussions. Against the scenic backdrop of the Nordic countries, VikingPLoP offers a variety of writers workshops for submitted pattern papers, focus groups and other activities. The conference provides participants with the opportunity to share their experience with patterns and software. As with the PLoP series of conferences, our overall goal is to build a community of people who want a better way to work. Writers' Workshops ------------------ Writers' workshops are at the heart of the VikingPLoP programme. In these workshops we discuss pattern papers accepted for the conference. Pattern papers may consist of an individual pattern, a collection of related patterns or a whole pattern language. Writers' workshops follow a format that has been adopted from the creative writing community. The style is that of a peer review. Rather than standing up and presenting papers, authors will receive feedback on their papers, with the opportunity to offer feedback to other authors. This approach reinforces the principle that pattern papers form a literature intended to capture and communicate existing practice. Both the papers and the workshop format are therefore in contrast to the more conventional approaches found in academic and commercial conferences. Each writers' workshop contains around five to eight papers. A session of around one hour is devoted to each paper. The workshop attendees will have read the papers allocated to the workshop prior to the conference. During the session the author of the paper under discussion remains silent while the other authors discuss it, explaining what additional insights and views they have, offering constructive criticism throughout. Authors should stay with the workshop containing their papers over the entire conference. Non-authors should select a workshop of interest and, once selected, also remain with that group throughout the conference. This stability encourages communication, ensures the consistency of feedback and enables the group to develop a good rapport. Before pattern papers are accepted for a writers' workshop, they are shepherded non-anonymously. This means that if you submit a pattern paper, an experienced pattern author will get in touch with you to discuss your submission. Shepherding is an integral and iterative part of the submission process intended to assist you in improving your paper prior to the conference. At the end of the shepherding process, the shepherd and the programme committee decide whether a paper is ready for a writers' workshop. Experience shows that, after shepherding, most submitted papers qualify. Because the focus of the writers' workshops is on feedback and improvement, papers are not considered final even when they have been workshopped. Authors incorporate the feedback they receive at the writers' workshop into their papers before the papers go into the final proceedings the year following the conference. Topics of Interest ------------------ Historically, the patterns papers at PLoP conferences have focused on aspects of programs and their production. This includes aspects of software systems, such as programming, software architecture, analysis and data modeling, project management and education. Patterns might be so specific as to name particular objects, interface elements or implementation structures in a solution; or so general as to describe high-level architectures. They could describe configurations of hardware, software or even people. More recently, PLoP conferences have included papers on topics not related to programs. These papers are also welcome. Your patterns need not cover original subject matter, but it is important that they describe mature knowledge based on experience. Patterns also work together with other patterns. We encourage the submission of small collections of patterns that build on each other and above all, we encourage the submission of patterns that tie into the existing body of published pattern literature. We especially welcome submissions from first-time authors. For examples of patterns from past years, browse the material at the Patterns Home Page (http://www.hillside.net/patterns/). Submission Guidelines --------------------- As at all PLoP conferences, we invite submissions of pattern papers that describe in pattern form an individual pattern, a collection of related patterns, or a fragment of a pattern language. The papers you submit for the conference are considered works-in-progress. After you submit your paper, you'll be assigned an experienced pattern author, or shepherd, who will help you improve your pattern for acceptance for a writers workshop at the conference. During the writers workshop, you'll get additional feedback on your paper from other patterns authors. Authors of papers that were not accepted for a writers' workshop may still attend the conference. As in previous years, we will have activities to develop pattern writing skills. Authors should send their papers in English in PDF format to the conference chairs no later than April 15. There is no limit on the length of submissions; they should be as long as necessary to fully describe the patterns (most papers submitted to previous PLoPs have been 20 pages or less). To ease the shepherding and workshop process, for submissions longer than 10 pages (2000 words) please designate a 10 page section to be reviewed in detail. When preparing your submission, remember that readers often prefer concise writing. Please contact the conference chairs if you have any other questions about the paper length, or how to select sections for detailed review. Also, if you want to submit several papers to conference, please contact the conference chairs in advance. Submissions must be accompanied with the following information: 1. The paper's title 2. Author's name/s (if there is more than one author, indicate which author is the primary contact person) 3. Email addresses for all authors 4. Postal address for the primary contact 5. Phone number for the primary contact 6. An abstract for the submission (important: shepherds will decide whether they will shepherd a paper or not based on this abstract.) Proceedings ----------- All submitted papers will be initially published online on a web site available to the shepherds and other authors. The conference drafts will be published on the conference web site about three weeks in advance. Participants are encouraged to prepare for the conference by reading the papers. The final Conference Proceedings will appear about half a year after the conference. The papers will be published both in the proceedings and on the conference web site. The paper in the final Conference Proceedings will be a citable publication. Authors retain full copyright on their papers. _______________________________________________ telecom-patterns mailing list [email protected] http://mail.cs.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/telecom-patterns
