From: SPA0287@AppleLink.Apple.COM (Alfons Almendros Morcillo,ES,IHD)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: WHO: Barcelona Computer Cultures Group
Date: 4 Jan 93 22:46:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: shelley.1ibb34INN2f2
Organization: University of Washington
NNTP-Posting-Host: stein.u.washington.edu
Originator: hlab@stein.u.washington.edu



Hi Bob!
 
This is an introduction to the Barcelona Computer Cultures Group.
 
Alfons Almendros
 
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Computer Cultures Group
Catalan Society of Technology
INSTITUTE OF CATALAN STUDIES
 
The Computer Cultures Group, founded recently under the auspices of
the Institute of Catalan Studies, serves as a focal point for studying
various technologies (information science, artificial intelligence,
telecommunication, and virtual reality among others) as they interact
with the sociological and cultural elements of our society.
 
The Group is very inter-disciplinary in nature. We wish to include a
wide variety of people (engineers, historians, economists, musicians,
poets. etc), people with and without formal academic backgrounds or
technical expertise.  These different viewpoints and perspectives are
critical in searching for a complete picture of the impacts of these
technologies as they seep into the fibres of our culture.
 
The Institute of Catalan Studies, which hosts the Group, consists of
various, independent Societies dedicated to the study of the various
Arts and Sciences (Archeology, Economics, Literature, Physical
Sciences, Philosophy, etc). The Institute was founded at the beginning
of this century as a part of a cultural, social and political movement
which creates in Barcelona and Catalonia the ambiance that nurtures
individuals like Gaudi, Picasso, and other modernist and noucentiste
architects, poets, businessmen, and politicians.
 
The Institute is located in a fifteenth century Gothic palace in the
heart of the old city. The Library of Catalonia, housed at the
Institute, has over 800.000 books and is situated in a system of
Gothic naves built to host a hospital in the fifteenth century.
 
Despite the historic setting, the Institute also keeps one foot in the
21st century. Its Computer Studies and Development Center is equipped
with an IBM AS400 and an IBM RS 6000. A local area network connects
these machines with a variety of personal computers and terminals.
Most importantly, the Institute is connected to the Internet, a
communications network linking hundreds of thousands of computer
centers around the world. The Internet, itself an object of our study,
creates a virtual community of experts from all fields. It collapses
the distances that previously prevented real-time, international
collaboration.
 
The Group's first publication, Information Technologies and Cultural
Differentiation, Lectures of the First Computer Conference at the
XXIII Catalonia Summer University, is nearing publication. This
conference was, in fact, the birth of the Group. In the year since
then, diverse working and informal meetings have been held. The
members of the Group plan to meet frequently (both physically, and
virtually through the Internet).
 
Diverse doctoral dissertations (some written at Carnegie Mellon
University) and other papers concerning our work are being compiled
for publication both electronically and on paper. We also plan to
publish the works in CD-ROM format which will include an interactive,
graphical browsing application.
 
The Group has chosen the nickname ROGER for its historical and
symbolic significance. Roger is the name of a famous thirteenth
century Catalan Admiral: Roger de Lluria. Roger also appears in a
popular, old Catalan folksong called Adeu Roger. In aviation, Roger is
the signal given over the radio to indicated that one party has
understood the other, a tradition sometimes carried over into the new
world of electronic communication.
 
The initial members of the group are:
 
Santiago Guillen Engineer
Director of the Computer Science Diffusion Center of the 
Autonomous Government of Catalonia.
Tel.: (3) 215 33 23Fax: (3) 487 23 46.
 
M; Jesus Buxo Anthropologist
Cultural Anthropology Professor. Geography and History Faculty. 
University of Barcelona.
Tel.: (3) 440 92 00Fax: (3) 449 85 10
 
Llorenc Guilera Engineer
Director of New Technologies of Oracle Iberica S.A.
Tel.: (3) 419 50 50Fax: (3) 419 12 27
 
Alfons Almendros Economist
Information Officer of the Center for Information and Business
Development of Autonomous Government of Catalonia.
Tel.: (3) 415 54 40Fax: (3) 237 77 36
E-Mail: SPA0287@applelink.apple.com
 
Salvador Alegret Chemist
Analytical Chemistry Professor. Autonomous University of Barcelona
(Bellaterra).
Tel.: (3) 581 19 76     Fax: (3) 581 20 03
 
Enric Casassas Chemist
Analytical Chemistry Emeritus Professor. University of Barcelona.
Tel.: (3) 402 11 00Fax: (3) 411 14 92
 
Josep Amat Engineer
Robotics Professor. Polytechnic University of Catalonia.
Tel : (3) 401 69 74     Fax: (3) 401 70 40
 
Antoni Josep Gomez. Filologist
Tel: (3) 429 86 01      Fax: (3) 429 86 01
E-Mail: 100027.107@compuserve.com
 
(N.B. The country code for these numbers is 34.)
 
Institute of Catalan Studies
Carme, 47
08001 Barcelona
Tel.: (3) 318 55 16Fax.: (3) 412 29 94
E-Mail: PROGROMM@AS400.IEC.ES