The IASSIST 2017 Conference App as a Digital Companion

The IASSIST 2017 conference, held at the University of Kansas in Lawrence from 23–26 May 2017, centred on “Data in the Middle: The Common Language of Research”. Its archived website preserves the programme, schedule, plenary information, presentation themes and practical guidance that helped delegates move through a busy international event. Read as a digital companion, the conference app represents the point where research information, personal planning and on-the-ground logistics meet.

For Australian researchers, data librarians and research support teams, the idea remains relevant well beyond the original event. A useful conference application can turn a static archive into a navigable experience: it can connect sessions on big data, deep learning, digital agriculture and global food security, while also helping delegates find transport, check-in details and local recommendations. The result is less a promotional tool than a compact research workflow.

Conference need	Digital companion function	Value for Australian delegates
Finding sessions	Searchable programme, filters and saved events	Easier planning across different research interests and time zones
Understanding themes	Speaker profiles, abstracts and related presentations	Helps connect library science with agriculture, health and policy
Managing logistics	Check-in, venue directions and transport notes	Useful when travelling long distances from another state or region
Continuing collaboration	Notes, links and post-event resources	Supports follow-up after returning to campus or a research centre
Accessing the archive	Stable pages and downloadable material	Preserves institutional memory for future projects

A Mobile Guide To The Conference Programme

A conference app works best when it translates a dense schedule into decisions that a delegate can make quickly. The IASSIST 2017 programme covered several fields, so an attendee might have needed to move between a plenary session, a technical presentation and a discussion about research data management. A mobile schedule could group these activities by theme, speaker, session type or time, giving users a clearer path through the event.

Saved sessions would be particularly valuable. A delegate interested in digital agriculture could bookmark talks about remote sensing, farm data or geospatial systems, then receive a simple reminder before the next session. Someone working in a university library might create a different route through data stewardship, metadata and research infrastructure. This personal agenda would preserve the broad character of the conference without forcing every attendee to follow the same programme.

The app could also provide short descriptions alongside each session. These summaries would help users decide whether a presentation on deep learning was aimed at technical specialists, research managers or a mixed audience. For Australian attendees accustomed to covering large campuses and long travel distances, that clarity matters. Missing a session after crossing from Perth or Brisbane to an international conference is expensive, so a well-structured schedule has practical value.

The archived programme should remain the source of record, while the app acts as a layer of convenience. It can point to the official session page, presentation file or plenary information rather than replacing those materials. That approach protects accuracy and gives researchers a reliable route from a quick mobile view to the full scholarly record.

Connecting Research Themes Across Disciplines

The phrase “Data in the Middle” captures a central challenge in modern research: information sits between collection, analysis, interpretation and public use. The conference themes reflect that journey. Big data depends on robust infrastructure, deep learning depends on well-described training material, and digital agriculture depends on information gathered from farms, sensors, satellites and communities. A digital companion can make these relationships visible.

A topic map would be more useful than a simple list of sessions. Terms such as data curation, machine learning, agricultural information, food security and research services could connect presentations that appear in separate parts of the programme. This would help an early-career researcher discover related work without already knowing the language used by another discipline.

The same principle applies to the boundary between fieldwork and databases. Research about global food security often begins with interviews, surveys, measurements and observations before becoming a structured dataset. The archived discussion of food security fieldwork is a useful example of how collection methods shape what can later be searched, compared and reused. An app could place that material beside sessions on metadata, preservation and analysis, showing the full data lifecycle.

This connection has clear relevance in Australia, where agricultural research may involve universities, state agencies, growers, Indigenous communities and private technology providers. A researcher working on drought resilience in regional New South Wales may need to understand both sensor data and local knowledge. A digital companion that links methods to outcomes can encourage that broader view, rather than treating data as something created only after fieldwork has finished.

Making An International Event Easier To Navigate

Practical information is often what attendees need most urgently. Check-in instructions, transport guidance and local recommendations may seem separate from the scholarly programme, yet they determine whether people arrive on time, find the correct building and have enough energy to participate. A strong conference app places these details within easy reach, ideally with offline access for users dealing with unfamiliar mobile networks.

The Kansas setting also gives the archive a useful sense of place. Information about the University of Kansas, Lawrence and nearby services would help international visitors understand the journey between accommodation, the conference venue and social activities. A map could combine walking routes with shuttle information, venue entrances and accessibility notes. Clear labels are preferable to a crowded screen full of pins.

Australian users will recognise the importance of realistic travel guidance. A conference hosted in a university precinct may still involve substantial walking, and delegates from Australia are familiar with planning around heat, sudden weather changes and long distances. A visitor from Adelaide or Hobart may also interpret “nearby” differently from someone based in a compact city centre. Practical notes should therefore state approximate travel times, transport options and whether a route is suitable with luggage.

Language matters as well. An Australian-facing version of the app could use plain wording such as “getting there”, “check-in desk” and “what’s on this arvo” where an informal tone is suitable, while retaining professional language for academic content. It should avoid assuming that every user has constant data access, particularly researchers travelling from rural or remote areas where mobile coverage and fast broadband can vary.

Supporting Data Work Beyond The Session Room

A conference app can become more valuable after the event if it preserves the connections made during presentations. Personal notes, bookmarked resources and links to speaker materials allow delegates to return to ideas once they are back at their institution. Searchable content also helps someone who did not attend in person to locate a relevant paper or presentation in the archive.

The platform should distinguish between public conference material and private user content. Session abstracts and approved slides may be openly available, while personal notes, contact details and draft research ideas require stronger controls. Clear permissions are essential when an event brings together universities, government bodies, commercial organisations and community groups.

This is especially important in research environments where data may carry cultural, ethical or commercial sensitivities. A useful app would explain whether a presentation is available for download, whether a recording can be shared and how a user’s information will be handled. Australian institutions will also expect digital services to fit within their privacy, records and accessibility requirements. A polished interface cannot compensate for unclear governance.

The wider scientific ecosystem reinforces the need for dependable information systems. Researchers working with laboratory instruments, clinical platforms or analytical workflows may explore research technology resources alongside conference material, but they still need consistent metadata and responsible management practices. The app’s role is to make those pathways easier to follow, not to imply that every tool belongs to one system or vendor.

Features That Give The Archive A Longer Life

An archived conference website can fade into obscurity if it is difficult to search or if its links break. A digital companion offers a way to preserve the event as a usable knowledge resource. It should retain the original programme structure while adding search, filters and relationships between sessions. Stable identifiers for speakers, presentations and themes would make the archive easier to cite in later work.

Accessibility should be built into the experience rather than added at the end. Text alternatives for images, readable colour contrast, keyboard navigation, captions and downloadable documents can make the archive useful to a wider audience. Lightweight pages are equally important for researchers accessing material through slower connections or older devices.

A long-term version could also show how the field has changed since 2017. Presentations on deep learning, digital agriculture and large-scale data now sit within a different technical and policy environment. The archive should preserve the original historical context rather than silently updating it, while related later resources could be clearly marked as supplementary. That separation protects the integrity of the record.

The following features would give the conference app practical value for both the original attendee and the later researcher:

• A searchable programme with filters for themes, speakers, formats and dates
• Personal schedules with reminders, calendar export and offline access
• Session pages that connect abstracts, presentations, plenaries and related topics
• Clear maps covering check-in, transport, accessibility and key campus locations
• Privacy controls for notes, saved sessions and delegate contact information
• Stable archive links with downloadable, accessible versions of essential documents

A well-designed digital companion does not need to be elaborate. Its strength comes from reducing friction between a person, a programme and a body of research. For IASSIST 2017, that means preserving the movement from field data to database, from technical method to public purpose, and from an event in Lawrence to future research communities in Australia and elsewhere.