For the search and info geek out there, here’s a Call For Papers (you’ve got about a month) for the 4th International Conference On Information Technology: New Generations. The conference itself will take place in Las Vegas, April 16-19, 2007.

The conference will include a special session on web technologies. Possible topics include:

+ Web Algorithms and Techniques
+ Web Search Engines
+ Multimedia Web
+ Web Interfaces, e.g., Voice User Interfaces (speech); e.g. for handicapped or disabled people, or for mobile citizens (or workers)
+ Web User Studies
+ Web Architectures; e.g. performance, fault tolerance, design, etc.

The CFP specifically for this track also notes that the web tech track will also include a session on a popular topic these days, log analysis.
Many researchers are studying logs of user behaviour on the Web. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

+ Studies and models of user interaction developed using Web logs analysis
+ Methodologies for Web data collection
+ Methods for matching user behaviour to Web technologies development

More info and the complete CFP (with submission info)
+ Web Tech Track
+ Rest of Conference

Btw, the Web Tech track is being led by the legendary Dr. Amanda Spink. Her vitae contains enough interesting writing about web search to keep one busy for several weeks.

More selections from and about Dr. Spink:

+ Human information behavior: Integrating diverse approaches and information use (2006)
Spink is a a co-author.

+ Toward an evolutionary perspective on human Information behavior: An exploratory study. (2006)
Spink is a a co-author.

+ How are we searching the World Wide Web? A comparison of nine large search engine transaction logs. (2006)
Spink is a a co-author with Dr. Bernard Jansen.

+ A study of results overlap and uniqueness and among major web search engines
Spink is a a co-author with Dr. Bernard Jansen.

+ Multitasking during Web search sessions. (2006)
Spink is a a co-author with Dr. Bernard Jansen.

+ Toward an evolutionary perspective on human Information behavior: An exploratory study (2006)

Dr. Sprink’s site is also loaded with links to MANY more papers.

+ The Past, Present and Future of Web Search Research: An Interview with Dr. Amanda Spink (2005)

+ Book Review of Dr. Spink and Dr. Bernard Jansen’s: Web Search: Public Searching of the Web (2004)

+ Dr. Spink is quoted in this AP article (via SEW Blog) on searcher behavior

What hasn’t changed much in seven years is how hard people are willing to work at searching. The answer: not very. Spink and [Bernard] Jansen found that people averaged about two words per query and two queries per search session. The searches are taking less than five minutes, and they’re only looking at the first page of results,” Spink said. “That’s why people are wanting to get their results on the first page of search engine results. We were surprised that people weren’t doing more complex searches, Spink said. If you put a couple of words into the web, you’re going to get hundreds of thousands of results. I think people aren’t trained very well to use the search engines.

Note: The full text of the article is now accessible here.

+ “Search engine personalization: An exploratory study” (Dr. Spink is a co-author, 2003)

+ “U.S. Versus European Web Searching Trends” (Dr. Spink is a co-author; PDF; 2002)

+ A study of the development of the digital ranch (Dr. Spink is a co-author, 1996)

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