Begin forwarded message:

> From: "assoc. prof. Vojtech Merunka" <vmerunka at gmail.com>
> Date: January 26, 2009 8:47:33 AM EST
> To: squeakland staff <webcontact at squeakland.org>
> Subject: website contact
>
> Dear Smalltalkers,
>
> please help me to make a little bit for our faith!
>
> Please, help me to write about teaching, modelling and prototyping  
> features of modern smalltalk. Dismiss this call in Your networks.
>
> Vojta, the Czech Smalltalker from 1988 at Tektronics 4404 and still  
> a smalltalk teacher. ;-)))
>
>
> Call For Book Chapter Proposal
> ======================================
> Object-Oriented Data Modeling and Conceptual Design: Instance-Level  
> Approaches
>
> Proposal Submission Deadline: February 28, 2009
> Full Chapter Submission Deadline: May 15, 2009
>
> Editors:
> - Vojtech Merunka, PhD., Associate Professor, Czech University of  
> Life Sciences in Prague, Czech Republic
> - Joseph Barjis, PhD., Associate Professor, Delft University of  
> Technology, The Netherlands
> - Roger P.Knott, PhD., Lecturer, Loughborough University, United  
> Kingdom
>
> To be published by IGI Global: http://www.igi-global.com/requests/details.asp?ID=590
>
> INTRODUCTION
> ======================================
> Instance-level modeling and testing is a new approach in the area of  
> object-oriented data modeling and conceptual design. This approach  
> is based on working with individual object instances containing real  
> data in a similar way to how queries are submitted to databases.  
> During the development of information systems, it is important to be  
> able to validate, verify, simulate and refine the conceptual model  
> before the final software implementation, by using real data values.  
> This new approach is very significant as it provides a mechanism by  
> which this can be achieved. Outcomes of this exciting and innovative  
> methodology are not only related to application programming, but  
> also to pure object database technology together with business  
> engineering, where instance-level models can constitute a refinement  
> of the business process design.
> Experience in using instance-level approaches is essential for  
> prototyping, information systems analysis verification, business and  
> workflow process design, and database development as well as for  
> special information systems like GIS, MIS and knowledge-based  
> systems. This crucial development in the area of object-oriented  
> data modeling and conceptual design builds upon and adapts a number  
> of existing prominent methods, essential tools and techniques from  
> the areas of modern computer programming, system analysis, modeling,  
> simulation, verification, validation and testing.
> This approach could also well be developed to form the education  
> basis for an "objects-first" approach in software engineering  
> courses, where students would model the system as a set of  
> interconnected data objects and immediately be able to see the  
> results of their work without the need to build any final software  
> application for these objects.
> The instance-level approach differs from “more classical” class  
> diagram first approaches. Instance-level data modeling is based on  
> certain theoretical backgrounds of computer science and the object- 
> oriented paradigm together with the industrial standards of UML,  
> object-oriented programming languages and databases.
>
> Objective of the Book
> ======================================
> The aim of this book is to improve the process of requirement  
> analysis in information systems development. Readers will find  
> methods and techniques for model verification and validation before  
> the whole system is built.
> This area is important since domain experts have essential knowledge  
> of the data structures and their behavior used in the systems  
> developed but don’t have sufficient programming knowledge to build  
> systems themselves. Readers of this book will not need to be skilled  
> programmers to benefit from it. The book will also introduce the  
> data modeling capabilities of modern object-oriented programming  
> languages and modeling tools.
>
> Target Audience
> ======================================
> The target audience of this book will be composed of professionals  
> and researchers working in the fields of information systems  
> development and object-oriented data modeling. Moreover, the book  
> will provide insights and support practitioners concerned with the  
> development of programs using the object-oriented data modeling  
> approach.
>
> Suggested Topics
> ======================================
> We encourage potential authors to suggest topics that fall under the  
> scope of this book as described above. Purposefully, we leave this  
> list short to motivate innovative topics proposed by potential  
> contributors. Recommended topics include, but are not limited to,  
> the following:
>
> - Object-oriented Data modeling
> - Conceptual Modeling
> - Instance-level approaches in data modeling
> - Object-oriented paradigm
> - UML application in data modeling
> - UML potential and challenges of data modeling
> - Data-driven simulation
> - Business process modeling using object-oriented paradigm
> - Business process simulation using object-oriented paradigm
> - Requirement engineering
> - Prototyping, object-oriented development environments
> - Object-oriented languages, databases, etc.
>
> SUBMISSION PROCEDURE
> ======================================
> Authors are invited to submit a 1-2 page (approx 500-800 words)  
> chapter proposal on or before February 28, 2009. The proposal should  
> contain: the chapter title, 3-5 keywords, and a detailed description  
> of the proposed chapter. Since only a selected number of authors  
> will be invited to submit their full chapter, it is important that  
> your chapter proposal provide sufficient content for the reviewers  
> to favorably judge your chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will  
> be notified by March 5, 2009 about the stats of their proposals and  
> sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted  
> by May 15, 2009. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double- 
> blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as  
> reviewers for this project.
>
> Important Dates
> Chapter Proposal Submission:	February 28, 2009
> Proposal Acceptance:		March 5, 2009
> Full chapter Submission:	May 15, 2009
> Review Results Returned:	June 30, 2009
> Revised Chapter Submission:	July 30, 2009 (if applicable)
> Final Acceptance Notifications:	August 15, 2009 (if applicable)
> Submission of Final Chapters:	August 30, 2009 (if applicable)
>
> Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word  
> document) to all three authors in one email:
> Merunka at pef.czu.cz
> J.Barjis at TUDelft.NL
> R.P.Knott at lboro.ac.uk
>
> PUBLISHER
> ======================================
> This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea  
> Group Inc.), publisher of the “Information Science  
> Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information  
> Science Reference,” and “IGI Publishing” imprints. For additional  
> information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi- 
> global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2010.
>
> SPONSOR
> ======================================
> This book is sponsored and supported by the Special Interest Group  
> on Modeling And Simulation. SIGMAS is a formal entity of the  
> Association for Information Systems (http://www.AIS-SIGMAS.org/). It  
> is an International community of researchers, educators, and  
> professionals from a broad spectrum of disciplines who want to share  
> the benefits of their knowledge and expertise regarding application  
> of Modeling and Simulation in addressing complex phenomena. By its  
> essence, Modeling & Simulation is a multi-disciplinary study, where  
> knowledge of the application domain (healthcare, logistics,  
> manufacturing, etc), art of design, and psychology of the users are  
> interwoven.