ACKMA 1973 - 2011

The ACKMA Conference Paper Template

Samantha Webb and Rauleigh Webb

Abstract

The ACKMA holds conferences every two years and produces an electronic proceeding’s from each conference. The quantity of work required to produce these proceedings is considerable. In order to significantly reduce this quantity of work, into the future, a Conference Paper template has been designed to allow the proceedings editor to easily complete the proceeding’s document, as well as the required HTML file for the Proceedings CD-ROM.

Using the Conference Paper template the addition of each paper to the Conference Proceedings document takes about 10 minutes and the HTML document about 2 minutes. This is achieved by using word macros that perform 90%+ of the work to generate each of these required documents.

This paper describes the use of the template and how it will greatly reduce the time spent editing conference proceedings in the future.

Introduction

The ACKMA holds conferences every two years and produces an electronic proceeding’s from each conference. The electronic proceedings consist of a PDF and an HTML document for each individual paper, as well as the complete conference proceedings in a single PDF document.

The quantity of work required to produce these proceedings is considerable. In order to significantly reduce this quantity of work, a Conference Paper template has been designed. This template will allow the proceedings editor to easily complete the proceedings documentation for the Proceedings CD-ROM.

The Template Location

The ACKMA Template and documentation on how to use the template are located on the ACKMA website (http://ackma.org).

The Template is located at:-

http://www.ackma.org/papertemplate/ACKMA Template.doc

The Template Documentation is located at:-

http://www.ackma.org/papertemplate/Using the ACKMA Paper Template.pdf

For examples of papers completed using the ACKMA Template go to the page:-

http://www.ackma.org/papertemplate/index.html

The Template Format

General Guidelines

The important features of the template are that the general text of the template does not require specific font type or size. Text should be entered into the main body of the template using whatever font is displayed when you start the body of your paper. Please don't bother changing font's as the proceedings editors will just have to change it back again!

Special characters such as bold, italics, underline or symbols can just be included in your paper using standard Microsoft Word features. If you want a word bolded just bold it as you normally would using Microsoft Word. The same applies for italics or underline. All of these features will just translate from your paper, which has been prepared using the template. If you have special symbols or characters such as:-

©, ®, ±, £, µ, ÷, ™, ¼, ½, ¾, è, é, ë, etc

then please just use them and the template will convert them into the proceedings document as well as to HTML.

No pagination or page numbering should be applied to your paper. That will be applied automatically in the final proceedings document.

Special ACKMA Template Tags

A number of special tags are required to allow the template macros to process your paper into the two different formats required. These special tags are all in the same format. They consist of a word or phrase followed by a : (colon) and a space. They are used to designate a specific type of text or formatting within your paper. For example the most simple tags are generally one liners such as:-

Title:

The text following the Title: tag is the full name or title of your paper. Therefore the Title: tag would be followed immediately by the title of your paper. For example:-

Title: This is the Name or Title of your Paper

All of the other special tags are listed in Table 1. Some of the special tags are already included in the ACKMA Template. These tags should not be removed. For example the Author: tag is used to list the Author(s) of the paper. The words or phrase in the tag attempts to describe what the tag is used for. For example Section: is used to create a section heading within the document. The Required? column in Table 1 indicates whether the tag MUST be used or if it is optional. If your final document is missing any of the required tags it cannot be processed.

Allowed Tags

Tag
Used For
Required?

Title:
The name of the paper
YES

SubTitle:
The sub-title of the paper
Optional

Author:
The author(s) of the papers
YES

Office:
The office, affiliation or qualification of the author(s)
Optional

EmailAddress:
The email address of each author. Use Superscript numbers to identify each author
YES - if available

Body:
The start of the body of the paper and the beginning of the two column format of the paper in the Proceedings document.
YES

Section: Abstract
The start of the paper abstract.
YES

Section:
The first section should occur directly after the abstract and should be Introduction or similar. This separates the Abstract from the paper. All other sections are optional.
YES

InsertImage:
Used to insert an image into the document. The images are stored externally in a folder and inserted into the paper as required by the ACKMA macros.
For inserting an Image

Caption:
The caption tag describes an image that has been inserted or a Table or Figure that requires a caption. If an image is being inserted but no caption is required the Caption: tag should be placed after the InsertImage: tag but with no text on the line.
Optional except after an InsertImage: tag where it is required.

StartBullets:
Used as the line prior to the beginning of a list of bulleted items.
As the first line of a list of bulleted items.

EndBullets:
Used as the line at the end of a list of bulleted items.
As the last line of a list of bulleted items.

StartBullets1:
Used as the line prior to the beginning of a secondary list of bulleted items. i.e. A list of indented bullets within a list of bullets.
As the first line of a secondary list of bulleted items.

EndBullets1:
Used as the line at the end of a secondary list of bulleted items. i.e. A list of indented bullets within a list of bullets.
As the last line of a secondary list of bulleted items.

StartNumbers:
Used as the line prior to the beginning of a list of numbered items.
As the first line of a list of numbered items.

EndNumbers:
Used as the line at the end of a list of numbered items.
As the last line of a list of numbered items.

StartNumbers1:
Used as the line prior to the beginning of a secondary list of numbered items. i.e. A list of indented numbers within a list of numbers.
As the first line of a secondary list of numbered items.

EndNumbers1:
Used as the line at the end of a secondary list of numbered items. i.e. A list of indented numbers within a list of numbers
As the last line of a secondary list of numbered items.

Indent:
Used to indent a paragraph within the paper in the Proceedings document and the HTML.
Optional, if applicable

BodyEnd:
The end of the body of the paper and the end of the two column format of the paper in the Proceedings document
YES

Section: References
The start of the list of references in the Proceedings document
Optional, if applicable

EndRef:
Used to define the end of the references to maintain the formatting of the list of references
Optional, if applicable

Section: Acknowledgements
The start of the acknowledgements in the Proceedings document
Optional, if applicable

Table 1

Tables

If you require a table within your paper please use the standard Microsoft Word Table format. You can use background colours on the table heading rows to highlight the headings. These will be transferred into the proceedings document and converted to HTML.

Formatting such as bold or Italics can also be used on text within the table cells. The Caption: tag can be used beneath a Table if you want a caption that describes the tables contents or numbers the table. .e.g. Table 1 See example below for how the Caption: tag should be used with tables.

Here's an example of a table:-

Dataset

Geological Feature data

Biospeleological data

Hydrological data

Archaeological data

Palaeontological data

Meteorological data

Microbiological data

Cultural Heritage data

Cave Inventory data (Speleological)

Caption: Table 2

Images

If your paper contains figures or photographs then the images are placed in a folder external to the paper. It should be called "(YourSurname)figs". Note if more than one paper then the subfolder should be called "(YourSurname)1figs".

Into this folder "(YourSurname)figs" place any figures or photographs that you have for your paper. The files should be named in the following way:-

(ConferenceNo)(YourSurname)fig01.jpg

(ConferenceNo)(YourSurname)fig02.jpg

(ConferenceNo)(YourSurname)fig03.png

(ConferenceNo)(YourSurname)fig04.gif

e.g. 19webbfig01.jpg

e.g. 19webbfig02.gif

The Tasmanian conference in 2011 is number 19 and each subsequent conference will be numbered so this is the number to use in the image names above.

Note that up to 99 figures are supported within any one paper and the three common graphics file formats of jpg, png and gif are the only supported graphic file formats. Please use the highest quality graphics files that you have for the figures or photographs. They may be reduced in quality but if they are not of good quality to start with they cannot be improved.

The images are automatically sized into the paper and the HTML documents depending on their horizontal or vertical orientation.

Inserting an Image into your Paper

To insert an image into your paper just place the tag INSERTIMAGE: on a line by itself. The following line MUST contain Caption: followed by your caption text. NOTE that if you do not want to caption your image then please just have Caption: on a line by itself and no caption will appear.

The images will automatically be inserted into your paper in the order of the numbered images e.g. (ConferenceNo)(YourSurname)fig01.jpg will be inserted first followed by (ConferenceNo)(YourSurname)fig02.jpg etc.

Note the left and right brackets used above are just to delineate the ConferenceNo and YourSurname in the filename. They should not and cannot be used in filenames. Spaces should not be used in these filenames either.

Image Size and Format

Please provide the images in the largest size that you have available (less than 8Mb please) and in either JPG, GIF or PNG file formats.

Captions

The Caption: tag can be used to describe or number a Figure, Table or Image. Please do not place formatting in the caption text as the captions are automatically formatted by the Template scripts.

If you require a multi-line caption then please use soft returns (Shift-Enter) at the end of each line in the multi-line caption.

Numbered Lists

Should you require a numbered list within your paper, create the numbered list using the word "Numbering" toolbar button. Once the list is created place the StartNumbers: tag on the line immediately above the numbered list and place the EndNumbers: tag on a line immediately after the list. e.g.

StartNumbers:

Item 1
Item 2
Item 3

EndNumbers:

Bulleted Lists

Should you require a bulleted list within your paper, create the bulleted list using the word "Bullets" toolbar button. Once the list is created place the StartBullets: tag on the line immediately above the bulleted list and place the EndBullets: tag on a line immediately after the list. e.g.

StartBullets:

Item 1
Item 2
Item 3

EndBullets:

Nested Lists

Should you require one list within another e.g. a bulleted list within a numbered list (see below)

StartNumbers:

Numbered Item 1
Numbered Item 2
StartBullets:
- Bullet Item 1
- Bullet Item 2
EndBullets:
Numbered Item 3

EndNumbers:

Once the list above has been created then place the StartNumbers: tag on line immediately above the bulleted list and place the EndNumbers: tag on a line immediately after the list. Then place the StartBullets: tag on a line immediately above the first Bullet item and then the EndBullets: tag on a line immediately following the last Bullet item. e.g.

StartNumbers:

Numbered Item 1
Numbered Item 2
StartBullets:
- Bullet Item 1
- Bullet Item 2
EndBullets:
Numbered Item 3

EndNumbers:

Indentation

If you require a paragraph or text within your paper to be indented e.g. for a quotation. Create the text with no indentation, and then place the tag INDENT: at the beginning of the first line of text e.g.

INDENT: “ the integration of karst knowledge by providing a comprehensive, community-driven central repository of this knowledge, including gray literature, raw data, and published journal articles.”

Note that the indented text or paragraph can contain any formatting such as Italics, Bold or Underline etc that you require.

References Section

References should have the following format. Examples provided. If you have no references then please delete this entire section including the EndRef: tag.

Example references follow:-

Fleury E. S., G. Veni, T. Chavez, P. J. Boston, D.E. Northup, H. L. Vacher and P. Seiser. (2008). Superior Karst Stewardship through Superior Data Management: The Karst Information Portal. Proceedings of the 18^th National Cave and Karst Management Symposium. St Louis, MO. Edited by William R. Elliott. pp 290-294.

Kowallis B. (2009) The Cave Hazards Rating System. NSS News (Submitted for publication). http://www.brandonkowallis.com/Resources/CavePrograms/CaveRatingSystem.htm

Webb, R. (1999). Cave Management Prescriptions – An alternative to Cave Classification Systems. In Henderson, K and Bell, P., (eds.) Proceedings of the Thirteenth Australasian Cave and Karst Management Association Conference, Mount Gambier, South Australia, April 1999, Australasian Cave and Karst Management Association. http://www.ackma.org/papers/cmprescriptions.html

If you want to reference these works within the body of the text they should be referenced like one of these Fleury et al. (2008) or (Fleury et al., 2008) depending on the context of the text or for multiple references at one time (Fleury et al., 2008; Kowallis, 2008; Webb, 1999).

Things to Avoid if Possible

Overall the macros that process the ACKMA Paper template are able to cope with most features that can be placed into a Microsoft Word document. However one feature that is difficult to translate into both the full document for the proceedings and the HTML document are footnotes. So please avoid these if at all possible. Some authors have indicated the "normal" referencing is difficult for certain types of papers e.g. historical references and have requested to use footnotes instead of references. This is possible but is not the preferred paper format.

Also our documentation and the ACKMA Paper Template contain angle brackets (< >) which are used to delineate the beginning and ending of items such as the paper title etc. These brackets should be removed when you place your text into the template.

When you refer to a Figure or Table within the body of paper please refer to it using the full word Figure e.g. Figure 1. When you place the caption on the Figure follow the Caption: tag with Figure 1.

Spelling Check and ACKMA Dictionary

Before submitting your paper please perform a spelling check by downloading the ACKMA dictionary zip file from the ACKMA website (http://ackma.org/papertemplate/ACKMADicV1.0.zip). Place the ACKMA dictionary zip file into a new folder called "Dictionary", anywhere on your computer. Extract/Copy the files from the zip file to the new "Dictionary" folder. If you are using a version of Microsoft Windows then to configure the ACKMA dictionary for use in Microsoft Word (2000 or 2003) just double click on the file "InstallACKMADicFile.vbs". This script will configure the ACKMA dictionary as your default custom dictionary, but any other dictionaries will remain available.

Once this has been done then perform the spelling check and any words relating to caves and karst that are not located in the dictionaries then just choose Add to Dictionary and the will be added to the ACKMA dictionary. If you have updated the ACKMA dictionary then just email the latest copy (ACKMA.DIC located in your Dictionary folder) to webmaster@ackma.org. The updated dictionary will then be shared with all members.

Note that if you don't download and use the ACKMA dictionary then during your spelling check you are likely to get prompted for all of the ACKMA tags. If you use the ACKMA dictionary they are already in the dictionary and hence you will not be prompted.

Conclusion

Many organisations around the world use Conference Paper Templates (AIAA, (2010); ALS, (2005); CHI, (2008); IEEE, (2011); IEPDE, (2010)). However all of the organisations wrote extensive complicated templates describing every possible item that anyone was likely to place in their paper. These templates also dictated exactly how the paper's were to be laid out. The ACKMA Paper Template takes a different approach that allows flexibility within the template with the full knowledge that the template macros will resolve any problems in the final document(s).

The ACKMA Template was used for the 18 conference proceedings but the proceedings editors had to do all the work. For the 19 conference proceedings the paper authors have been requested to write their papers using the conference template. We are certain that considerable time that would have been spent formatting documents will all allow the 19 conference proceedings to be delivered in a timely manner but still ensure that the quality of the proceedings are maintained.

References

AIAA. (2010) http://www.aiaa.org/events/jpc/Papers_Template_S1_03192010.doc

ALS. (2005) http://www.als.asn.au/proceedings/als2005/kurniasih-gender.pdf

CHI. (2008) http://www.chi2008.org/chi2008pubsformat.doc

IEEE. (2011) http://www.icsdm2011.org/download.asp?FileName=samplePaper.doc

IEPDE. (2010) http://www.iepde.org/epde10/Files/Paper%20templates/EPDE10-Word_Instructions_FINAL%20Full_Paper.doc