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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">You are invited to <b>The Difference that Makes a Difference 2011</b>, a workshop to discuss the way that information has been conceptualised across a range of disciplines. </font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Location: The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK</font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Dates: 7th-9th September 2011</font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Website: <a href="http://www.dtmd2011.info/" target="_blank">http://www.dtmd2011.info/</a></font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">The development of information technologies has had a profound impact on modern society, but although talk of information is routine and unproblematic for engineers and technologists, it has been recognised since the early days of digital technologies that there is an uneasy relationship between the engineer’s concept of ‘information’ and wider uses of the word.</font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">As we move further into the ‘information age’, we need to make the bridge between information of the information technologist and understanding of information in other disciplines. As researchers and practitioners in diverse fields grapple with an understanding of information – what it is, how it can be modelled and tools for coping with it – now more than ever is the time to share insights and bring some clarity and coherence to these differing perspectives. </font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">With an emphasis on interdisciplinary conversation, we are keen to involve as many different people, from as many different disciplines, as possible in presenting and participating in the workshop. </font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Five respected keynote speakers have been confirmed:</font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">* Vlatko Vedral (Oxford and Singapore), </font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">* Wolfgang Hofkircher (Vienna), </font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">* Chris Bissell (Open University), </font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">* Jonathan Silvertown (Open University)</font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">* Tony Hirst (Open University); </font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">with discussion continuing with three more</font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">We now invite a wide range of participants to give short (10 minute) presentations on their work as it relates to an understanding of information. There are four main sessions, focused around:</font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">* the philosophical underpinnings of information; </font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">* the scientific understanding of information; </font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">* information as it relates to business, library science, and education;</font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">* the social impact of information. </font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Abstracts for the short presentations should be sent to <a href="mailto:abstracts@dtmd2011.info">abstracts@dtmd2011.info</a> by <b>17 June 2011</b>. For more information please visit the workshop website: <a href="http://www.dtmd2011.info/" target="_blank">http://www.dtmd2011.info/</a></font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Registration is free, but must be made through the website.</font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">We hope to see you in Milton Keynes in September!</font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Best wishes</font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Magnus Ramage and David Chapman, co-chairs</font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">--</font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Dr Magnus Ramage</font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Lecturer in Information Systems</font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Communication and Systems Department</font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK</font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Email: <a href="mailto:m.ramage@open.ac.uk">m.ramage@open.ac.uk</a>  </font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Web: <a href="http://www.cands.org/Home/people/magnus-ramage-1" target="_blank">http://www.cands.org/Home/people/magnus-ramage-1</a></font></div>

<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">Phone: 01908 659779</font></div>

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<div align="left" style="text-align:left;"><font face="Arial" size="+0" color="#000000" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;">NEW BOOK: Perspectives on Information, ed. Magnus Ramage & David Chapman, Routledge, 2011, <a href="http://bit.ly/aFnD6X" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/aFnD6X</a></font></div>

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-- <br>

The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302).</font></body>

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