2015Q3 Reports: SIGHUM

The ACL Special Interest Group on Language Technologies for the Socio-Economic Sciences and Humanities (SIGHUM) is intended to provide a forum for CL researchers who are developing language technology for data from the socio-economic sciences or the humanities (SSH). It also functions as a contact point for SSH stakeholders. ACL SIGHUM stands officially since June 2012.

Organisation & Elections

The first SIGHUM elections took place in October 2013. The voting was anonymous and the process was organised by Caroline Sporleder and Andrei Beliankou (University of Trier). The following elected board officers are serving until October 2015:

* President: Antal van den Bosch (Radboud University Nijmegen)

* Secretary: Kalliopi Zervanou (Radboud University Nijmegen)

* Liaison officer: Marieke van Erp (VU University Amsterdam)

The next election process will begin in September 2015.

Membership

SIGHUM is open to all interested parties and does not charge any membership fees. Members should be however active in CL and SSH research and applications, as indicated by their affiliation and publications. Membership involves registration and participation in the mailing list & the elections. The membership roster is maintained by the Secretary and is updated online at SIGHUM Members List. Membership currently stands at 132. An overview of membership counts for the years of the SIGHUM standing is given below:

• 2012: 70

• 2013: 85

• 2014: 110

• 2015: 132