UMAP 2009
First and Seventeenth International Conference on
User Modeling, Adaptation, and Personalization

Trento, Italy, 22-26 June, 2009
http://umap09.fbk.eu/

The annual conference series User Modeling, Adaptation, and
Personalization (UMAP) integrates the two biennial series User
Modeling (UM, 1986-2007) and Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive
Web-based Systems (AH, 2000-2008).

UMAP is the most important conference for those interested in
any aspect of (interaction with) systems that acquire information
about a user (or group of users) and use this information to
adapt their behavior to that user or group.

CONTENTS OF THIS MESSAGE
(See http://umap09.fbk.eu/ for more detailed information.)

SUBMISSION DEADLINES

Workshop and Tutorial Proposals: November 24th, 2008
Research Papers: January 19th, 2009 (abstracts: January 12th)
Industry Papers: January 30th, 2009
Doctoral Consortium Papers: March 23rd, 2009
Demonstration Descriptions: March 23rd, 2009

UMAP TOPICS

1. Application domains for UMAP:
Electronic commerce; E-learning and intelligent learning
environments; Cultural heritage; Health care; Assistive
technologies; Digital libraries; Office work; Telecommunication;
Customer support; ...

2. Platforms on which UMAP can run:
Adaptive hypermedia; Other web-based systems (including Web 2.0);
Desktop systems for individuals; Groupware systems; Mobile and
wearable systems; Smart environments; Digital TV; ...

3. Functions that UMAP can serve:
Recommending products; Supporting information retrieval;
Tailoring information presentation to the user; Setting up and
mediating collaboration and communication; Supporting learning
and reflection; Taking over routine tasks; Adapting aspects of an
interface; Conducting spoken or multimodal dialogs; Tailoring
natural language processing; Giving help in a personalized way;
...

4. Aspects of users that are modeled and adapted to:
Knowledge and skills; Interests and preferences; Special needs;
Affective states; Goals and plans; Contexts of use; ...

5. Computational methods used for realizing UMAP:
Methods for acquiring information about users; Methods for
constructing and representing user models; Methods for exploiting
user models; Architectures for UMAP; ...

6. Usability issues that can arise with UMAP systems:
Ensuring adequate control, understanding, and predictability;
Preserving privacy; Avoiding excessive narrowing of experience;
...

7. Methods for designing and testing UMAP systems:
Analysing requirements for UMAP; Prototyping and iterative
testing of UMAP systems; Demonstrating the value of UMAP systems;
...

8. Practical experience with the application of UMAP:
Cost-justifying the application of UMAP in an organizational
context; Integrating UMAP methods with other types of software;
Convincing users of the added value of UMAP; Learning from users'
responses to a UMAP system; ...

REASONS TO SUBMIT TO UMAP 2009

1. As the combination of the two leading conference series in
this area, UMAP is now the single "place to be" for anyone
involved in user modeling, adaptation, and personalization.

2. The conference proceedings will be widely available in both
electronic and printed form (in the Springer LNCS series), and
they will be the first place that people look to find the latest
results in this area.

3. Those who have substantial results to present will benefit
from (a) the long-standing reputation of the UM and AH conference
series for selectivity and quality; and (b) the thorough
reviewing process, including metareviewing, which ensures
balanced and constructive feedback from relevant experts from
around the world.

4. The wide range of conference events offers a suitable
opportunity for participation no matter what type of contribution
you have to make or even if you are mainly interested in learning
more about the field.

5. The organizers are making special efforts to provide
opportunities for economical participation. (For example, the
date of UMAP 2009 was coordinated with that of Hypertext 2009 in
nearby Torino - June 29th through July 1st - so that authors can
attend both conferences in a single trip.)

6. The town of Trento and its environs offer architectural and
natural beauty that is quickly accessible even to the most
diligent conference participant.

RESEARCH PAPERS

Long (12-page) research papers should present original reports
about substantive new research. They should place the work within
the field, cite related work, and indicate the innovative aspects
of the work and its contribution to the field.

Short (6-page) research papers should present original and
unpublished highly promising research, whose merit will be
assessed in terms of originality and importance rather than
maturity and technical validation.

Each research paper submission will be reviewed according to
the criteria of relevance, originality, significance, soundness,
and clarity. These reviews will be integrated by a metareviewer
and by the program chairs to ensure they meet the standards of
this premier conference.

Accepted research papers will be published by Springer in the
Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series. Long papers will
be presented orally at the conference; short papers will be
presented either orally or as posters, depending on the program
committee's decision.

INDUSTRY PAPERS

In recent years, user modeling, adaptation, and personalization
technologies have moved increasingly from the realm of research
to industrial and government-related applications. To support
this trend, a special Industry Track is being organized as part
of UMAP 2009. The goal of the Industry Track is to foster the
exchange of ideas between industry and academia, to publicise
successful UMAP applications, and to highlight research issues
(such as customer privacy or issues of scale) that arise in a
corporate setting. The Industry Track program committee solicits
submissions covering innovative commercial implementations or
applications of UMAP technologies and experience in applying
recent research advances to practical situations. Industry Track
submissions may be either long papers (12 pages), whose technical
density should be comparable to that of research track
submissions, or short papers (6 pages).

Industry Track submissions must describe work performed in
industry or concerning specific industrial applications. They
will typically include at least one industry author.

The submissions will be reviewed by a dedicated Industry Track
program committee. Accepted papers will be published in the
Springer proceedings volume and presented at the conference in
the same way as Research Track papers.

DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM PAPERS

The Doctoral Consortium is a forum for students who are well
into their Ph.D. research and who would like a chance to get
feedback and advice from the Doctoral Consortium committee.
Submissions, up to 6 pages in length in the conference style,
should include original and unpublished descriptions of the PhD
student's topic, proposed contributions, and results achieved so
far. They should indicate clearly the work that remains to be
done and the questions on which the student would especially like
to get advice.

These papers will be made available to UMAP participants in the
UMAP Adjunct Proceedings. Presentations in the Doctoral
Consortium will be 15 minutes in length, with an additional 15
minutes of interaction time.

DEMONSTRATION DESCRIPTIONS

Each demonstration description should be an original and
unpublished description (no longer than 6 pages in the conference
style) of a UMAP-based system that can be demonstrated at the
conference. Accepted demonstration descriptions will be printed
in the UMAP Adjunct Proceedings; the demos themselves will be
given in a demonstration session at the conference.

WORKSHOP PROPOSALS

Each workshop proposal (up to 6 pages in length in the
conference style), should outline the area, goals, and scope of
the workshop, introducing also the members of the organizing team
and their background. Preference will be given to workshops that
aim to produce answers to one or more explicitly formulated
questions and that involve interactive presentations and
constructive work - as opposed to "miniconferences" that comprise
mainly paper presentations.

A 2-page summary of each workshop will be made available to
UMAP participants in the UMAP Adjunct Proceedings.

TUTORIAL PROPOSALS

Each tutorial proposal (up to 6 pages in length in the
conference style) should describe the topic of the tutorial and
its importance; the intended style of presentation, and the
instructor's qualifications. Tutorials will be available to
conference registrants on a first-come, first-served basis at no
extra charge. Tutorial instructors will be able to register for a
discounted conference fee.

A 2-page summary of each accepted tutorial will be made
available to UMAP participants in the UMAP Adjunct Proceedings.

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

General Chairs
Massimo Zancanaro and Fabio Pianesi FBK-irst, Trento, Italy

Program Chairs
Geert-Jan Houben, Delft University of Technology, the
Netherlands
Gordon McCalla, University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Industry Track Chairs
Peter Brusilovsky, University of Pittsburgh, U.S.A.
Alejandro Jaimes, Telefonica R&D, Madrid, Spain

Doctoral Consortium Chairs
Sandra Carberry, University of Delaware, U.S.A.
Brent Martin, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Riichiro Mizoguchi, Osaka University, Japan

Workshop, Tutorial, and Demonstration Chairs
Milos Kravcik, Open University of the Netherlands
Antonio Krüger, University of Münster, Germany

Publicity Chairs
Anthony Jameson and Chiara Leonardi, FBK-irst, Trento, Italy

VENUE

The northern Italian town of Trento (110,000 inhabitants),
known as the "painted city", offers many beautiful buildings
within its compact historical center, which is immediately
accessible from the conference facilities.

The mountains that surround the town, a few minutes away by bus
or cableway, offer pleasant walks and spectacular views.