TOOLS is one of the major international conferences and exhibitions devoted to the applications of object-oriented technology. TOOLS USA '97, the twenty-third TOOLS International Conference and Exhibition, returns to Santa Barbara and continues the commitment to excellence demonstrated by earlier conferences in Europe, the Pacific and the US. Standards established for TOOLS include:

• Emphasis on the practice of object-oriented technology and its application in industrial environments, complementing the more academically-oriented perspective of traditional conferences.
  
• Solid technical program, based on a strict refereeing process conducted by an international program committee comprised of both academic and industry leaders:
Richard Bielak CALFP Bank, USA
Dave Butler Sandia National Laboratory, USA
Jean-Pierre Corriveau Carleton University, Canada
Mahesh Dodani IBM, USA
Dov Dori Technion, Israel
Janet M. Drake University of Northern Iowa, USA
Wayne D. Elias Windmill Software Group, USA
Mohamed Fayad University of Nevada, USA
Don Firesmith Knowledge Systems Corporation, USA
Milton L. Fulghum FlightSafety International, USA
Joseph [Yossi] Gil Technion, Israel
James E HeliotisRochester Institute of Technology, USA
Brian Henderson-Sellers Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Haim Kilov IBM, USA
Rene R. Kloesch Technical University of Vienna, Austria
Juergen Knopp Siemens, Germany
Qiaoyun Li Sony Corporation, Japan
James McKim, Hartford Graduate Center, USA
Bob Marcus AMS, USA
Hafedh Mili University of Québec, Canada
Granville Miller BroadBand Technologies, USA
Toshimi Minoura Oregon State University, USA
Kingsley C. Nwosu Lucent Technologies, USA
Cyril U Orji Florida International University, USA
Roger Osmond Amalasoft, USA
Francois Pachet Université P.& M. Curie, France
Wolfgang Pree Universität Linz, Austria
Dave Rine George Mason University, USA
Richard Riehle AdaWorks Software Engineering, USA
Anthony K. Sarris Ontek, USA
Bran Selic ObjecTime Limited, Canada
Hermann Sikora GRZ G.m.b.H., Austria
Christian Stary Universität Linz, Austria
Jeffrey W. Stulin Computer Software Consultants, USA
Duane Szafron University of Alberta, Canada
Wei-tek Tsai University of Minnesota, USA
Jean Vaucher Universite de Montreal, Canada
Alfred R. Watkins AT&T, USA

• Balanced coverage of the wealth of approaches, trends and variants in the object-oriented community.
• Combination of tutorials by recognized experts, up-to-date exhibition of products and services, invited talks by innovators in the field, relevant panel discussions, and technical papers targeted to industry practitioners.

The TOOLS 23 Proceedings will be published by a major publisher and made available worldwide.

NOTE (APRIL 1997) The deadline for submitting a paper is now past. The information below is kept available in the interest of authors interested in submitting papers to future TOOLS USA conferences.

TOOLS USA '97 is soliciting papers on all aspects of object- oriented technology. All submitted papers will be refereed and judged not only according to standards of technical quality but also on their usefulness to practitioners and applied researchers. A non- exhaustive list of suggested topics includes:

• Reports of experiences with O-O technology
  
• Migration toward O-O software development
  
• Management and training issues
  
• User interfaces, persistence and databases
  
• Specification, modeling, and patterns
  
• Class management and evolution
  
• Empirical and field studies
  
• Production, distribution and revenue collection of industrial-quality reusable components

TOOLS 23 will feature a special emphasis on issues relating to the application and use of object-oriented technology in the context of the Internet. Technical papers that report and assess advances and experiences in this area are expressly sought. A special "OO vs. the Internet" track will include workshop(s), tutorials, panel discussions, and featured speakers.

Papers should be in the range of 10 to 20 double-spaced pages. Six copies of each submission should be sent to:

TOOLS USA '97, Attn: Dr. Raimund Ege
School of Computer Science, Florida International University
University Park, Miami, FL 33199 USA
Phone: (305) 348-3381, Fax: (305) 348-2336
E-mail: ege@cs.fiu.edu

Information on the submission and review process is available on the World Wide Web at http://tools.fiu.edu. General information on all TOOLS conferences can be found at http://www.tools-conferences.com.

Proposals for panels and workshops are also solicited and should be sent to the Panel and Workshop Chair:

Madhu S. Singh, Ph. D.
Bellcore, RRC 4E 9180,
444 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854-4182
Phone: (908) 699-4366, Fax: (908) 336-2980
E-mail: msingh@cc.bellcore.com

Tutorial proposals, exhibitor requests, and other organizational questions should be sent directly to the conference office:

TOOLS Conferences
270 Storke Road, Suite 7 Goleta, CA 93117 USA
Phone: (805) 685-1006, FAX: (805) 685-6869
E-mail: tools@tools-conferences.com

All submissions must be received by February 28, 1997 to be considered for inclusion in the conference. Submissions should be in English. Notification of acceptance will be mailed by April 20, 1997. Final manuscripts will be due June 1, 1997.