[Air-L] CFP: Special Issue on "Internationalizing Information and Communication Design"

[connexions journal]

Dear Colleagues,

I am sending the CFP copied below on behalf of Kirk St. Amant.

Best,

Rosário

______________

Call for Proposals

*Special Issue on "Internationalizing Information and Communication Design"*

*Communication Design Quarterly (CDQ), *the peer reviewed publication of
the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)’s Special Interest Group on
the Design of Communication (SIGDOC) is soliciting article proposals for an
upcoming special issue that will examine how aspects of culture, language,
nationality, and globalization affect information and communication design
in international and intercultural contexts.  This special issue will be
published in November of 2015, and the guest editor is Kirk St.Amant of
East Carolina University.



SPECIAL ISSUE DESCRIPTION

Until relatively recently, the idea of designing interfaces, informational
materials, and instructional content for international audiences was seen
as an “extra” or additional process reserved for multinational
corporations.  Today, it has become a near imperative for almost any
organization.  But developing effective materials for individuals from
different nations and cultures is no easy task.  Rather, doing so requires
an effective knowledge of how individuals from different cultures and
nations

   - Use various technical and informational products


   - Access and share information and ideas via different technologies


   - Perceive and evaluate different aspects of information and
   communication design

For individuals working in the areas of information and communication
design, these factors are central to developing materials that effectively
meet audience expectations and are used as intended.

The question thus becomes

*How can information and communication design be effectively extended to
international contexts? *

The entries in this special issue will seek to answer this question.  In so
doing, the articles published in this issue will constitute a resource for
examining and understanding information and communication design issues and
practices in global contexts.



POSSIBLE TOPICS FOR THIS SPECIAL ISSUE

The guest editor invites proposals for papers on applied research or
theory, case histories/studies, commentaries, teaching approaches, and
annotated bibliographies that address issues and questions including

   - How do aspects of culture, language, and national identity affect
   expectations associated with information and communication design?


   - What theories, models, or approaches can help us better understand and
   address cultural factors affecting expectations of information and
   communication design in international contexts?


   - What technological factors (e.g., access to the Internet, uses of
   hand-held devices, and perceptions of social media) do we need to consider
   in relation to information and communication design in international
   contexts?


   - What constitutes “best practices” or “effective practices” for
   internationalizing information and communication design, and why are such
   practices effective?


   - How should information and communication designers work with
   translators and localizers to create more effective materials for
   international audiences?


   - What international legal or policy factors need to be considered (and
   addressed) when designing materials for users located in other nations?


   - What kinds of research should information and communication designers
   do – and on what topics should their research focus – to better understand
   the expectations of users from other cultures and in other nations?


   - How should – or can – information and communication designers expand
   ideas and practices associated with usability, user experience design, and
   user testing to develop effective materials for users from other cultures
   and in other nations?


   - How should educators re-think or revise the teaching of information
   and communication design to better prepare students to create effective
   materials for international audiences?

Individuals are invited to submit proposals that try to answer these – or
related – questions or ideas in order to further our understanding of how
to expand information and communication design practices to global contexts.



SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Proposals should be between 250-300 words in length and are due by 1
February 2015.  Proposals should be sent to kirk.stamant @gmail.com



All proposals should include

   - The submitter’s name, affiliation, and email address
   - A tentative, descriptive title for the proposed article
   - A summary of the topic/focus of the proposed article
   - An explanation of how the proposed topic/focus connects to the theme
   of the special issue
   - An overview or outline of the structure of the proposed article (i.e.,
   how the author plans to address the identified topic within the context of
   the proposed article)



PRODUCTION SCHEDULE

The schedule for the special issue is as follows:

1 February 2015 – Proposals due

5 February 2015 – Decisions on proposals sent to submitters

5 April 2015 – Initial manuscripts due

5 May 2015 – Reviewer comments to authors

15 June 2015 – Revised manuscripts due

1 July 2015 – Final publishing decisions to contributors

November 2015 – Publication of special issue



CONTACT INFORMATION

Completed proposals should be sent to Kirk St.Amant at
kirk.stamant at gmail.com

Questions about proposal topics or about the focus of this special issue
should be sent to Kirk St.Amant at kirk.stamant @gmail.com

______________


Rosário Durão and Kyle Mattson
Editors

*www.connexionsjournal.org <http://www.connexionsjournal.org/>**connexions
•** international professi**onal communication journal *(ISSN 2325-6044)
*Dept. of Communication, Liberal Arts and Social Sciences - **New Mexico
Tech, and *Dept. of Writing - University of Central Arkansas