If you’re a member of SIGGRAPH, one perk is that you have access to the ACM Digital Library’s graphics related content. The SIGGRAPH benefits document notes:

• Access to all ACM SIGGRAPH related content in the ACM Digital Library (This includes SIGGRAPH, SIGGRAPH Asia, and about 20 or more small conferences)

I learned where to find the list of 20 small conferences, it’s here. And it’s not 20, it’s over 100. Admittedly, some of these symposia were run just once or twice, but I appreciate the access nonetheless. It’s a big world! Wandering through this list is fascinating, and a little nostalgic – “Ahh, remember when that topic was a hot new trend? Whatever happened to it?” Honestly, it’s exciting to see so many areas where graphics has an effect. If I had students looking for research topics in graphics and no strong preference about what area they wanted to explore, I’d point them at this page as a source for inspiration, dry as it looks.

I asked about this list because I had a problem accessing some NPAR papers through the DL. As usual, I drove around the damage by using Google Scholar and finding the papers I wanted elsewhere, for free. To the ACM’s credit, they responded to my query about whether I was supposed to have access to NPAR, since I had access in the past. I was indeed, and they fixed the DL the next day. So, the takeaway is that if you find you don’t have access and think you should, let the ACM know at acmhelp@hq.acm.org.

Finally, I found this just peculiar, on this page:

Seriously? The secrets of the teapot cannot be fully revealed? Who (the heck) would not give reprint permission? Or was it just a matter of someone being unreachable, and the default being the text couldn’t be reprinted? There’s a story there…