The Multi-Disciplinary Information Research Symposium (MIRS) is an annual symposium that showcases the work of scholars and practitioners researching information and its impact on people. The research presented is about a range of topics including information technology, cybersecurity, information organization, archival theory, library science, computer science, linguistics, data science and many more.

One of the primary goals of MIRS is to encourage and empower participants who are new to scholarly communication. Scholarly communication through conferences and symposiums is the key way that students and early career professionals can network and present their research to others in the field. Presenting at conferences allows participants to receive feedback on their work before submitting their research to peer-reviewed publications. Additionally, conferences and symposiums are where students can find mentors and research collaborators beyond their immediate professors. These events open doors to new work opportunities and new connections.

However, professional conferences and symposiums are often cost prohibitive to students and early career professionals who are on tight budgets. This prohibition often means that the people who can benefit most from exposure to these events do not have a chance to participate. This is why we have decided to make MIRS free to all participants, allowing them to present their research without worrying about how they will pay symposium registration fees.