CFP: SIGIR 2009 Workshop on the Future of IR Evaluation

SIGIR 2009 Workshop on the Future of IR Evaluation
July 23, Boston
http://staff.science.uva.nl/~kamps/ireval/

Call for Papers

Evaluation is at the core of information retrieval: virtually allprogress owes directly or indirectly to test collections built withinthe so-called Cranfield paradigm. However, in recent years, IRresearchers are routinely pursuing tasks outside the traditional paradigm, by taking a broader view on tasks, users, and context. There is a fast moving evolution in content from traditional static text to diverse forms of dynamic, collaborative, and multilingual information sources. Also industry is embracing "operational" evaluation based on the analysis of endless streams of queries andclicks.
We invite the submission of papers that think outside the box:
- Are you working on an interesting new retrieval task or aspect? Or on its broader task or user context? Or on a complete system with novel interface? Or on interactive/adaptive search? Or ...? Please explain why this is of interest, and what would be an appropriate way of evaluating.
- Do you feel that the current evaluation tools fail to do justice to your research? Is there a crucial aspect missing? Or are you interested in specific, rare, phenomena that have little impact on the average scores? Or ...? Please explain why this is of interest, and what would be an appropriate way of evaluating.
- Do you have concrete ideas how to evaluate such a novel IR task? Or ideas for new types of experimental or operational evaluation? Or new measures or ways of re-using existing data? Or ...? Please explain why this is of interest, and what would be an appropriate way of evaluating.
The workshop brings together all stake-holders ranging from those with novel evaluation needs, such as a PhD candidate pursuing a newIR-related problem, to senior IR evaluation experts. Desired outcomes are insight into how to make IR evaluation more "realistic," and at least one concrete idea for a retrieval track or task (at CLEF, INEX, NTCIR, TREC) that would not have happened otherwise.
Help us shape the future of IR evaluation!
- Submit a short 2-page poster or position paper explaining your key wishes or key points,
- and take actively part in the discussion at the Workshop.
The deadline is Monday May 18, 2009, further submission details are on
http://staff.science.uva.nl/~kamps/ireval/

Shlomo Geva, INEX & QUT, Australia
Jaap Kamps, INEX & University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Carol Peters, CLEF & ISTI-CNR, Italy
Tetsuya Sakai, NTCIR & Microsoft Research Asia, China
Andrew Trotman, INEX & University of Otago, New Zealand
Ellen Voorhees, TREC/TAC & NIST, USA