Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing
Association for Computers and the Humanities
1996 Joint International Conference ALLC/ACH '96
June 25 - 29 1996
University of Bergen, Norway

ALLC/ACH '96

On behalf of the Executive Councils of the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing and the Association for Computers and the Humanities, we cordially invite you to attend the eighth annual joint international conference, to be held at the University of Bergen, Norway, June 25 - 29, 1996.

This conference is the major forum for discussion of the preparation, encoding, and use of character-based electronic text and for computer-based research in literature, linguistics, and related humanities disciplines. It will include presentations on the development of new computing methodologies for research and teaching in the humanities, on the development of significant new materials and tools for humanities research, and on the application and evaluation of computing techniques in humanities subjects.

The Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing was founded in 1973 as an international association to promote the development of literary and linguistic computing.

The Association for Computers and the Humanities is a professional society for scholars working in computer-related research in literature and language studies, history, philosophy, and other disciplines of the humanities.

Overview

A Course in SGML, TEI, MECS, and an introduction to tools in text encoding for humanisties research will be held on Saturday and Sunday, 22-23 June. Instructors will be Lou Burnard, Peter Cripps, Claus Huitfeldt, and C. M. Sperberg-McQueen. For details see the enclosed information.

As a preliminary event to the conference, an optional one day trip to the fjords and mountains of Western Norway has been planned for Monday, June 24, from 7.33am to 5.14pm.

The conference will officially begin in the late afternoon and evening of Tuesday, June 25, with opening addresses and a reception.

Concurrent sessions will begin on the morning of Wednesday, June 26, and continue through to closing at noon on Saturday, June 29.

An optional tour of the city of Bergen and its surroundings has been scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday, June 27, from 2pm to 5pm.

An optional banquet will be held on the evening of Thursday, June 27, in the Haakon's Hall, a royal banquet hall built between 1247 and 1261.

Accommodation is available at special conference rates at a variety of hotels, all within walking distance from the conference centre. Details are given below.

An optional conference lunch plan is available for Wednseday, Thursday, and Friday.

All prices are in Norwegian kroner (NOK). To find the equivalent in another currency, use The Universal Currency Converter

How to get there

The airport bus costs NOK 40,- and has a stop at Hotel Norge which is within walking distance from all the other hotels.

Some airlines flying to and from Bergen:

Those who travel via Oslo may choose the scenic train ride rather than fly to Bergen.

There are ferries to Bergen from: Hanstholm (Denmark) and Newcastle/Aberdeen/Lerwick (UK).

For information contact:
Hanstholm-Egersund-Bergen: Fjordline, Tel.:+ 47 55 32 37 70
Newcastle-Stavanger-Bergen: ColorLine, Tel: + 47 55 54 86 60
Aberdeen-Lerwick-Bergen: P&O Scottish Ferries, Tel (Norway): + 47 55 31 15 80 (UK): + 44 1224 572615.

Driving

Downtown Bergen covers a small area, so a car is not necessary unless you want to visit the surrounding areas.

Food

Meals at cafes and restaurants in Bergen vary in price from about NOK 50 (hamburger meal with soft drink) to NOK 500 or more including wine at a fancy restaurant. The ethnic restaurants usually offer good meals at reasonable prices.

Lunch at the conference site

A package of lunch coupons for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday is available. This can only be ordered when registering. The lunch coupons will not be available at the conference secretariat.

Price: NOK 405

Accommodation

Rooms are reserved at special conference rates at selected hotels. Details are given on a separate information sheet. Cheap accommodation is also available at the Montana Youth and Family hostel, 10 minutes by bus outside central Bergen. For more information please contact:

Montana Youth and Family hostel
Tel: + 47 55 29 29 00
Fax: + 47 55 29 04 75

There are also several camping sites outside Bergen. For more information about these and other possible accommodation please contact:

Bergen Tourist Information
Tel: + 47 55 32 14 80
Fax: + 47 55 32 14 64

Money exchange

Most banks are open Mon.-Fri. 8.15am-3pm. Thu. 5.30pm. Foreign currency can also be exchanged at post offices. Credit cards are accepted in many restaurants and shops.

Pre-conference text encoding course

TEXT ENCODING IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

A Course in SGML, TEI, MECS, and an introduction to tools in text encoding for humanisties research will be held on Saturday and Sunday, 22-23 June. Instructors will be Lou Burnard, Peter Cripps, Claus Huitfeldt, and C. M. Sperberg-McQueen.

The course will introduce the fundamental problems of text encoding and the representation of texts in electronic form, using the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), the SGML-based encoding scheme of the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI), and the Multi-Element Code System (MECS) developed by the Wittgenstein Archives at the University of Bergen. The main focus will be on fundamental issues of encoding, but specifics of the tag sets defined by the TEI and the Wittgenstein Archives, and practical issues facing academic projects, will also be touched upon.

Topics to be covered include:

  • introduction to electronic text and general principles of markup
  • basics of SGML, MECS, and the TEI
  • document analysis: what it is, how to do it, why it's important
  • group tagging of sample texts
  • special problems of text markup for research (hypertext, critical apparatus, annotation and analysis, ...)
  • practical considerations: project organisation, software, where to get further information

    The registration fee of 400 NOK covers participation in the sessions and handouts. You'll be responsible for your own lunch. (Sandwiches and soft drinks will be on sale on Sunday.)

    Pre-conference trip to the fjords and mountains on Monday 24 June

    Norway in a nutshell

    You leave Bergen by train in the morning, along Sørfjorden to Voss. From there you start the climb to the mountain plateau which separates the western fjords from East Norway. In Myrdal you change train and then go down the many sharp curves on the Flåm Railway, which is known as one of the most spectacular train rides in the world. After a short stay in Flåm, the trip goes on by boat on the Aurlandsfjord and Nærøyfjord, one of the narrowest fjords in West Norway (both are tributary fjords to the Sognefjord). From Gudvangen you return by bus to Voss, where there is a train to take you back to Bergen.

    Price: NOK 450 (children NOK 225)

    Half day excursion on Thursday 27 June

    A bus trip will take you first to the Fantoft stave church. The original church was built in Fortun in Sogn sometime around 1150 and moved to Fantoft in 1883. It was burnt down in June 1992. The stave church is now being rebuilt as it was before the fire, and will be completed in spring 1996.

    From the stave church the bus will go to the Natlandsfjellet mountain with a panoramic view of the Bergen valley and the city. The tour will then continue to the Old Bergen open air museum with some forty 18th and 19th century dwellings with period interiors showing town-life as it was then. After a stay at the museum the tour returns to town, stopping at the harbour opposite the castle and the old wharf (Bryggen).

    Price: NOK 120

    Optional Conference banquet

    At 8pm on Thursday 27 June we have the pleasure of inviting participants and companions to a conference banquet in the Håkon's Hall, a royal banquet hall erected during the reign of King Håkon Håkonsson between 1247 and 1261. This was the largest and most imposing building of the royal residency in the 13th century when Bergen was the political centre of Norway.

    Price: NOK 400

    Conference fee

    Until 15 April 1996:

    Members of the ALLC or the ACH:      NOK 1000 
Non-members                          NOK 1250

    After 15 April 1996: 

    Members of the ALLC or the ACH       NOK 1250 
Non-members                          NOK 1500

    Conference programme and further information

    Information about the conference and the programme is available at these web-pages at: http://www.hit.uib.no/allc-ach96.html

    There was also a registration form available at the web-pages.

    For further information about the conference you can also contact the local organizer:
    Espen S. Ore E-mail: Espen.Ore@hit.uib.no
    Tel: + 47 55 58 28 65
    Fax: + 47 55 58 94 70

    Address:
    Humanistisk datasenter
    Allégt. 27
    N-5007 Bergen
    Norway

    For further information about the conference hotels please contact:
    Flyspesialisten
    Tel: + 47 55 30 63 06
    Fax: + 47 55 30 63 40

    Address:
    Postboks 822
    N-5001 Bergen
    Norway

    International Program Committee


    Jan-Gunnar Tingsell, Gothenburg University (ALLC) (chair)
    Chuck Bush, Brigham Young University (ACH),
    Gordon Dixon, Manchester Metropolitan University (ALLC),
    Nancy Ide, Vassar College (ACH),
    Willard McCarty, University of Toronto (ACH),
    Elli Mylonas, Brown University (ACH),
    Lisa Lena Opas, University of Joensuu (ALLC),
    Harold Short, Kings College (ALLC)

    Local Organizer: Espen S. Ore, University of Bergen (ALLC)

    Updated 15 April 1996