Dr. S. R. Lasker Library, East West University hosted the 17th International Conference on Webometrics, Informetrics and Scientometrics (WIS) and the 22nd COLLNET Meeting from 08-10 December 2023 in a hybrid format. This significant conference was a collaborative effort organized by COLLNET in association with Society for Library Professionals (SLP) and Asian Community, Special Libraries Association (SLA). COLLNET has its a glorious journey of twenty-one years. It organizes its conference in different parts of the world; last year, it was held in Bangkok, Thailand. Before the inaugural ceremony, the first day of the conference was held on Google Meet Platform where two virtual technical sessions were held, featuring a keynote speech by Professor Dr. Wolfgang Glaenzel from KU Leuven, Belgium, and presentations of eleven contributed papers. Around 150 participants joined this virtual session.
The Inaugural Ceremony was conducted on Friday, 08 December 2023, at 3:30 PM at the Manzur Elahi Auditorium. Syed Manzur Elahi, Honorable Chairperson, Board of Trustees, East West University and Chairman, Apex Group and Former Adviser, Caretaker Government graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. He said, “Webometrics, Informetrics, and Scientometrics are always important fields in understanding and assessing the impact and dynamics of knowledge, research, and information dissemination in the digital age. This conference will provide valuable platform for academics, librarians, information technology professionals, and policymakers advancing research and activities in these areas”.
Dr. Bernd Markscheffel, Academic Council (Senior Researcher), Department of Information and Knowledge Management, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Germany attended as the Special Guest. The inaugural ceremony featured a welcome speech by Professor Shams Rahman, Honorable Vice Chancellor, East West University, who extended a warm welcome to the distinguished speakers and participants, expressing hope for the conference to yield significant benefits for society, the country, and the world at large. The keynote speech was delivered by Prof. Jean-Charles Lamirel, Professor, Dalian University of Technology, China and the University of Strasbourg, France, focusing on the analysis of Dr. Hildrun Kretschmer's research work and the influences in the scientometrics field. The inaugural program was followed by a cultural event performed by the East West University Club for Performing Arts.
The inaugural session saw over 300 participants from the USA, France, Belgium, China, Japan, India, and other nations, setting a tone of international collaboration and exchange. Throughout the event, 49 papers were presented across one plenary and six parallel sessions, two virtual sessions, incorporating three keynotes, invited contributions, and a wealth of research papers that prompted dynamic discussions and set the stage for ongoing collaborations. These presentations covered a spectrum of topics within bibliometrics, scientometrics, webometrics, informetrics, altmetrics and so on. A communication session was also held, during which sponsors shared their scholarly products and ideas with attendees. The closing ceremony celebrated the exceptional work of collaborative authors from Bangladesh, Belgium, and author from Japan by awarding two best paper recognitions.
Mir Jahurul Islam, Director General of the Bangladesh National Scientific Technical Documentation Center (BANSDOC) joined as the guest of honor at the closing ceremony, where he underscored the critical role of collaborative research in Bangladesh.
Dr. Dilara Begum, the conference chair, extended heartfelt thanks to COLLNET and the dedicated organizing committee members. She also extended heartfelt thanks to Dr. Bernd Markscheffel, Dr. P K Jain, Dr. Debal C Kar, and N K Wadwah, for their unwavering support.
The COLLNET community looks forward to building on the discussions and collaborations initiated at this year's conference, which will undoubtedly continue to resonate within the academic and research communities. Click on the image below to view highlights of this event!
