CALL FOR CHAPTER PROPOSALS
250-500 word Proposal Submission Deadline: October 15, 2011

_Online Credibility and Digital Ethos: Evaluating Computer-Mediated Communication_
A book edited by Shawn Apostel and Moe Folk
To be published by IGI Global: http://bit.ly/oESA7c

Introduction
With the near ubiquity of smartphones, tablets, and laptops, acquiring and publishing online information has never been easier; however, increased access to consuming and producing digital information raises new challenges to establishing and evaluating online credibility. These challenges are important because they affect a broad range of meaning-making, both inside and outside of academia. For example, the events of the Arab Spring show that in the absence of what were traditionally seen as relatively reliable information sources, “unofficial” online sources deemed credible by a wide range of actors played a key role in successful uprisings.

Objective of the Book
Offering chapters written by scholars from across the disciplines and from different countries, this book will provide general approaches to evaluating the credibility of digital sources, specific advice for popular websites, and techniques useful for a wide variety of digital genres.

Target Audience
This book would be useful for a variety of academic disciplines, as students continue to utilize online sources in their research. Information literacy specialists would find useful the chapters which focus on particular types of popular sources like Wikipedia, Facebook, and iReports). Journalists and educators in the field of Mass Communication and Library Sciences would find the book useful in establishing protocols for approaching a wide variety of sources. Web designers and writers could use this book to establish a more credible online presence. However, we feel the target audience would be instructors of introductory level courses which involve research. Graduate students and academics could utilize certain chapters to establish a method for determining the credibility of a source they use for research purposes.

Recommended Topics
Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

- General approaches to evaluating online credibility (typos/grammar, design/usability, advertisements, urls, links, contact info, search engine listing, use of stock photos, use of phone/address, date of publication, author, expertise, overall strategies, online universities).
- Establishing and evaluating credibility with popular websites: (Ebay, YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter, Second life)
- Establishing and evaluating credibility in a variety of digital genres: (Blogs, travel websites, online journals, restaurant reviews, emails, product reviews, online games, websites, discussion lists, iReports/news, app ratings, freeware ratings, avatars)

We are particularly interested in submissions that situate how to evaluate and incorporate digital ethos and online credibility as part of researched arguments in various disciplines. While we expect many chapters will examine issues related to the displayed content of the sites in question, we also welcome chapters that evaluate the behind the scene effects on content such as research funding, domain holders, etc.

Submission Procedure
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before October 15, 2011 a 250-500 word chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of their proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by November 15, 2011 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by February 15, 2012. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Publisher
This book is scheduled to be published in spring 2013 by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference,” “Business Science Reference,” and “Engineering Science Reference” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com.

Important Dates
October 15, 2011: Proposal Submission Deadline
November 15, 2011: Notification of Acceptance
February 15, 2012: Full Chapter Submission
April 15, 2012: Review Results Returned to Authors
May 15, 2012: Revised Chapter Submission
May 30, 2012: Final Acceptance Notification
June 15, 2012: Submission of Final Chapters

Editorial Advisory Board Members:

- Lisbeth Kitson, Lecturer, School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University, Australia
- Trenia Napier, Research Coordinator, Eastern Kentucky University, United States
- Miriam J. Metzger, Associate Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara, United States
- Andrew Morrison, Professor of Interdisciplinary Design, Institute of Design, Norway
- James P. Purdy, Assistant Professor of English/Writing Studies, Duquesne University, United States
- Jennifer Roswell, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Multiliteracies, Brock University, Canada
- Malin Utter, University of Borås, Sweden

Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (.doc, .docx, or rtf) to digital.ethos@gmail.com

Shawn Apostel
Communication Coordinator, Noel Studio for Academic Creativity
Eastern Kentucky University
Library 210Q, 521 Lancaster Avenue
Richmond, KY 40475-3102
shawn.apostel@eku.edu

Moe Folk
Assistant Professor of Digital Rhetoric and Multimodal Composition
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
238 Lytle Hall
Kutztown, PA 19530
folk@kutztown.edu