> From: Jack Owens, Idaho State University > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ************************************************************** > > ANNOUNCEMENT > > The Electronic Atlas Cultural Initiative Conference > > British Library, London > June 26-28, 2000 > > Additional Meetings of ECAI Tech, ECAI Editors, and Special > topics groups: June 23-25 > Workshops: June 29-30 > > Registration is now open at the ECAI website > (www.ias.berkeley.edu/ecai/) for the June Meeting of ECAI. > > Accommodation information can also be found at this site. > > ECAI > > The Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative (ECAI) is an > international research project [www.ecai.org] aimed at the creation of > distributed, spatially referenced, GIS-style cultural databases which can > be accessed across the Internet from a common front-end software. > > The ECAI project (initiated in 1997 and headed by Professor Lewis > Lancaster, East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of > California at Berkeley), constitutes a new dimension in academic research, > applications of digital and networked technologies and > international collaboration. At present approximately 300 area specialists > from ECAI Regional Teams* in conjunction with ECAI Technical Teams, are > producing an interactive electronic atlas of the world from which selected > data from regions, eras, and disciplines can be accessed. > > ECAI is planning to extend its geographical focus into Europe, > the Middle East and Africa. It has therefore asked the British > Library to host its 2000 conference and, over the following months, > experts in all fields in Britain will be approached to attend and form > their own Regional Teams for all aspects of British, European, Middle > Eastern and African history and culture. > > ECAI 2000 at The British Library will be an exciting and > important forum. > > There will be a reception on Monday 26 June 2000 to celebrate > ECAI's aims and achievements, attended by the UK Government Minister for > Arts and Libraries, Alan Howerth. > > ECAI is an exemplar of international collaboration being used to > harness expertise worldwide in order to increase public access to the > world's culture and history via the Internet. > > ********************************************************************