CFP for the 2024 ABC MLA Panel: Information Literacy, Undergraduate Education, and Business/Organizational Communication

Information Literacy, Undergraduate Education,

and Business/Organizational Communication

Conference: Modern Language Association Convention

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dates: 04-07 January 2024

Full name of organization: Association for Business Communication

Contact email: wbrown@midland.edu 

Due date for abstracts: 10 March 2023

Call for papers/abstracts: The Association of College and Research Libraries defines "information literacy" (IL) as "the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning" (ALA, 2015, p. 8).

Many students are required to take business/technical/professional communication courses to increase their information literacy within workplace communication contexts (Cyphert & Lyle, 2016). Other students experience the need for information literacy in humanities courses as they complete service learning or internships. Information literacy influences workplace communication as organizations consume information to make decisions, share information with stakeholders to garner support, and influence the public for profit (Ottonicar, Valentim, & Mosconi, 2018). Social media adds another layer of complexity to the role of workplace communication as minimalist communication has maximal influence on outcomes (Kinsky & Bruce, 2016; Lam & Hannah, 2016).

This panel seeks presentations on the role of information literacy in the teaching or practice of workplace, business, professional, or organizational communication. Presentations can focus on theoretically sound, research-informed, in-class practices for teaching information literacy within the context of business communication; studies of internships or service learning opportunities for students; case studies that illustrate effective or ineffective information literacy by organizations; research-informed studies of internal professional and interpersonal communication; analyses of written/filmed representations of information literacy in the workplace; etc. Focuses could include businesses, non-profits, colleges/universities, governmental entities, etc.

Submission: Submit a 300-word abstract, including references, for a 15-minute presentation to William Christopher Brown at wbrown@midland.edu by 10 March 2023.  Selections will be made through anonymous review. All identifying information should be removed from submissions. 

Required memberships: To participate in this panel, all participants must be members of both the Association for Business Communication and the Modern Language Association by 07 April 2023.

References

American Library Association (ALA). (2015, February 02). Framework for information literacy for higher education. https://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/issues/infolit/framework1.pdf

Cyphert, D., & Lyle, S.P. (2016). Employer expectations of information literacy: Identifying the skills gap. In B.J. D’Angelo, S. Jamieson, B. Maid, & J.R. Walker (Eds.), Information literacy: Research and collaboration across disciplines (pp. 51-76). The WAC Clearinghouse & University Press of Colorado. https://wac.colostate.edu/docs/books/infolit/chapter3.pdf

Kinsky, E.S., & Bruce, K. (2016). "It throws you into the ring": Learning from live-Tweeting. Teaching Journalism and Mass Communication, 6(1), 36-52. https://aejmc.us/spig/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2016/04/tjmc-w16-kinsky.pdf

Lam, C., & Hannah, M.A. (2016). Flipping the audience script: An activity that integrates research and audience analysis. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 79(1), 28-53. DOI: 10.1177/2329490615593372

Ottonicar, S.L.C., Valentim, M.L.P., & Mosconi, E. (2018) A competitive intelligence model based on information literacy: Organizational competitiveness in the context of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Journal of Intelligence Studies in Business, 8(3), 55-65. https://ojs.hh.se/index.php/JISIB/article/view/366

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