iConference 2023

Dates: 13 - 17 March, 2023 (Virtual), 27 - 29 March, 2023 (Physical)

Location: Online (Virtual), Barcelona (Physical)

Hosts: The iSchools at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Monash University, & University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Submission Portal: Open - The iConference 2023 is accepting submissions.

Out of respect for evolving world health and travel circumstance, we project holding our 2023 conference in two parts:

1) a research program that is held online and open to all, and

2) a smaller gathering in Barcelona, Spain, for select meetings and presentations.

Our global research program will include the usual thought-provoking papers, posters, interactive sessions and colloquia/symposia that participants have come to expect from the iConference. In addition, while English remains the primary language for submission, we are currently exploring the possibility of introducing papers tracks in Chinese, Spanish, and Portuguese. A special track on Information Sustainability is also in development.

Theme: Normality, Virtuality and Physicality

“Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.”

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

This 19th century French epigram is widely used as shorthand to refer to the complexity and inherent contradictions of change. Superficially, things may look different, but are they really? What has changed, what has remained?

The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to change the ways we work, communicate with others, and interact with information. The 2023 iConference will be an opportunity to reflect on the “new normal”: the new systems that were set up to communicate virtually during the pandemic and their lasting impact, the practices that have remained/will remain virtual after the end of lockdowns and travel restrictions, and the cases where face-to-face exchanges and access to physical documents remain important.

The conference program will itself be a reflection of the theme, as it incorporates activities in both virtual and physical locations as the new normal for many conferences.