Licensed under Creative Commons Licence. Attribution - Non-Commercial. Powered by Blogger.
People Seeking
People are trying to make sense of their lives; seeking answers to profound questions.
Seeking Faith
Sometimes these are questions of faith and belief.
Faith in the Information Age
Technology is changing culture often subtly. As culture changes so does the pursuit of faith.
Faith Endures
Yet faith remains, and the questions that people are seeking to answer persist.
Informing Faith
This is a blog about faithful people seeking answers, and the information they seek gather, and use to find their answers in the rapidly changing, yet unchanging information age.
Churches have had a long history of adopting new media to communicate their message whether it was plays, the printing press, or contemporary film. New technology offers resources that impact preaching by integrating
multimedia in worship, expanding outreach through streaming services and
podcasts, and providing live feedback through tools such as
Twitter/chat. The life of religious communities is also impacted by new
communication technologies that blur the boundaries of local and remote
participation and challenge traditional ideas of koinonia (fellowship).
This year's annual conference at the Center for the Study of Information and Religion at Kent State University (June 5, 2015) will explore the impact of new tech on religious organizations. I will be speaking about the potential legal, ethical, and theological implications of the tech we bring into the church. Join our conversation; this is a whole new world to explore!
Doesn't strike terror in the heart does it? There really was a band but it was a ukulele jam. For five days the Canadian Association of Law Librarians met in warm and sunny (!!!) Moncton, NB for their annual conference. You can get a flavour of the conference by following the tweet stream from the conference. Great to see old friends and make new ones, and we will all remember the closing reception at Parlee beach when the power went out!
I wanted to share a few of my favourite moments from the conference:
Fred Headon, Chair of the CBA’s Legal Futures Initiative, was our first keynote and raised questions about the direction of the legal profession. He drew on his experience as In-House Counsel with Air Canada (we learned lots about pilots and airline processes, and a few things about dentists) to ask how the profession can innovate to place the client at the centre of service delivery. Relevant question for librarians as I often feel our innovations still have us at the centre. Favourite Quotes (via @conniecrosby): "Law today looks a lot like his grandfather's law practice in Moosejaw - unlike other industries that have changed", (via @smireau) "There is not much sacred about how we do our jobs."
Jen Adams and Jon Shapiro (and Mark Lewis in spirit) deserve mention for their presentation on using online student engagement platforms in the classrooms to transform mundane content to an interactive experience. They demonstrated that the tech use was rooted in their pedagogy and more than a cool trend. The use of technologies like this in their flipped classroom experiment is cutting edge and it is important we share these innovations. Favourite quote: "Just ask my students, I'm like this all the time."
Annette Demers breakout session on "Beyond Bureaucracy: Building a User Centred Library from the Ground Up" was inspired by her own frustrating library experiences. Indignation is usually the root of revolution. She spoke about transforming services from top down bureaucracies to client centred where we ask "how can we make this happen?" I loved her enthusiasm and passion! Favourite quotes: "we are soft-shelled organisms on a ball of burning rock hurtling through space. Change is likely," "My job as a leader is to resource you," and "bureaucracy, patriarchy and micromanagement stifle employee engagement and initiative."
Surprisingly, Law Prof. Wayne MacKay's presentation "Effectively Responding to Cyberbullying: There's No App for That" struck a nerve for me. I say surprisingly, as Wayne and I work in the same faculty and I have heard his presentation before. He questions how it is that someone could bully another in this way so cruelly "just for fun." I think we have created digital "Lords of the Flies" islands where immature people are left to govern themselves and then we are surprised by the results. There were lots of solutions suggested like restricting access to the Internet and better parental tech training, but it struck me that with the speed technology changes we will never be ahead of the curve. I wondered if we need to be teaching ethics rather than tech to parents, teachers, and students. Here is where my personal beliefs are reflected: in our increasingly ego-centric and self-gratifying world, we all need to be reminded that we are each made in the image of God, by virtue of that, each of infinite value, and how we treat those around us will have eternal consequences for good and for evil.
Lots more sessions, and I can't describe them all. It was a good conference, I learned a lot, and they fed me well (far, far too well).
Photo Credit: JoshJRobbins, P1010511 https://www.flickr.com/photos/35699781@N07/6073292857/ cc licence.
No one is advocating selling your Mom. Let's that get that clear. But maybe your Mom's blog. It is cool when a set of presentations builds on each other. The Saturday morning Social Media conferences presentations explored blogging. "Monetizing the Mommy: Community and the Commodification of Motherhood in Blogs" by Andrea Hunter explored the world of motherhood blogs where Moms share their personal lives as wives and mothers. These are opportunities for self expression as well as community building. The most popular ones command large audiences
and not surprisingly have drawn corporate attention. Many of the leading blogs have become monetized; i.e. they have ads and sponsored posts. Andrea described how one mommy blogger is estimated to earn $500,000+/yr in corporate sponsorship. For many followers this has become problematic as the attraction for these blogs is the authenticity and openness of the bloggers. Research has found that content changes with corporate sponsorships; less about kids and marriage. I imagine it is hard to empathize with the struggling Mom pulling down big bucks to be "vulnerable" online. But as one participant countered, these blogs have built strong communities both on and offline that have had impacts on people's lives. Laurence Clinnot-Sinois' paper "Working on My Online Cred: a Study of Quebec Women's Blogging" explored how online and offline relationships are used to "solidify and expand one's social networks." For example if my blog is associated with a popular blog then I perhaps I will gain more followers. How do I do that? Well maybe I include popular blogs in my own blog role. Or I can post on big name blogs and maybe people will notice me and my blog. You might also draw attention to offline relationships that would help you be seen as more credible. This goes both ways, I need to be mindful how my online activities impact my offline life. Will my spouse's offline life be negatively impacted by my blogging for instance? Or do my kids want me blogging about them after they start junior high? Trust. Why do I trust you online? Why do I share your posts, follow your tweets, friend your profile? How do you convince me you are authentic, honest, and sincere? I can't meet you in the market, or chat with you at work. I don't see you drop you kids off at school. Why does someone from Russia keep reading my blog?
Laurence's research explored how bloggers drew on the offline to bolster their online cred. That raises an important point: are the offline and online worlds really distinct worlds anymore? That's the next blog post. :-)
So I was at the SMSocial13 conference @ Dalhousie University. It is a conference on Social Media: its use, impact, and possibilities. The presentations from the first morning went from 'big data' analyses (1 billion tweets) to small networks of Canadian military spouse bloggers. It is good to see old friends and meet some new ones. Interestingly conversations among both groups turned to when I'm finishing my PhD. I suspect collusion but I digress.
Saturday Morning Keynote: Our keynote speaker was Sharad Goel, a senior researcher with Microsoft. He's the guy who has the system big enough to map out 1 billion tweets. He asked an interesting question: "what does 'going viral' really mean?" Oddly enough my blog has never gone viral (insert kitten picture here) so I listened intently. He examined the way videos, online games, tweets, and pics spread online, and mapped out those relationships. Guess what he found? 93% of stuff posted never gets reposted/retweeted, 5% gets one reposted by one person, and fewer still by two and three. What percentage of posts get reposted by someone, and in turns gets reposted by another? 0.3%. This is not viral yet; you have only graduated from friend repost to social repost. A few of these continue to spread, and these are the ones Sharad focused on.
How do they spread? Well a variety of ways, sometimes it starts with a broadcast to a wide audience, and some of those begin to repost. Other times it starts with one person, and then like the common cold you give it to your friend, and it spreads one person at a time. It can be various combinations of the two; I think of Gangnam style as one that spread through a variety of means including word of mouth. He did raise questions about this thing the media calls "going viral"; we know it happens but it seems that the way it happens is still the person to person, one "like" at a time. So in the end Sharad couldn't tell me how to make my blog go viral. His exact words to us were, "if I knew that I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't tell you, and I'd start a company."
I had a good discussion with a couple of other attendees about the role of "trust" in online sharing. We share through our personal networks, but we share differently based on trust relationships. The broadcast post assumes we trust in the broadcast source. In an earlier post I noted that Lady Gaga and "the Beib" have many more followers, but religious leaders like the Joyce Meyers, Joel Osteen and Dalai Lama are much more likely to be retweeted. The trust relationship is different.
In the 1980s before online communication, I read a lot about the role of trust in the context of cross cultural communication and religion. Religious conversion is one of the most dramatic shared experiences, and requires a prior trust bond: I trust you so I am more willing to trust your Jesus. Religious proselytizing had its own broadcast models through traditional media. Evangelists like Billy Graham reached many people this way. But rarely was this their first experience with the message. They usually had a prior one-to-one interpersonal trust relationship (the friend who brought them). Broadcast played a role but by building on the trust of individual relationships.
The theme of trust came through in other social media presentations so we'll continue this conversation later this week. In the meantime enjoy one of my favourite viral videos again.
I'm off to the Atlantic Provinces Library Association conference this week and will be presenting a poster on the Theology of Information Seeking. You can check out the APLA schedule (and my abstract below). More about the presentation to come...
Boulder, Colorado...in January. No, I don't ski. I am told there is a great Sherpa restaurant in Boulder so that's on the itinerary.
So my proposal:
The Theology of Information Seeking: Understanding Church Leaders’ Source Selection
in a Digital World. I will argue that leaders cite theological orthodoxy as an important criterion for selection of information sources, but will then frequently cite materials outside of their own religious tradition. Baptist might use a Nazarene study guide online, or a Pentecostal a Mennonite video. This is certainly the case with online sources due to their convenience. Is there a contradiction here? And is there also a risk that these theologically diverse online media will undermine traditional authorities and create a hodge-podge stitched together faith? Bapta-costals and Menno-renes?
Perhaps not. When I look at the sources they cite closely, and how they use them, I am seeing a pattern. Leaders may not feel inhibited to "borrow" from those outside their faith community, as long as the borrowed bits still "fit" their church's teaching. So Pentecostals can borrow from Baptists the bits that fit Baptist doctrines, in part because they are both part of the same evangelical theological traditions. What I am not seeing is evangelicals borrowing from mainstream protestant or catholic traditions. These are outside of their theological family. Do those boundaries exist for other traditions? I am also fascinated when diverse religious groups use the same secular materials. Are these safe because they are non-theological?
So things to do: finish the paper, get my air ticket, and buy wooly socks.
Who do leaders turn to when they want to grow their leadership?
On September 29-30 I had attended the Global Leadership Summit, a webcast conference on Christian leadership, hosted by the Willowcreek Community Church, an evangelical mega-church of 24,000 attendees. The conference was attended by 165,000 leaders meeting at sites in 70 countries. I met with the several hundred leaders at a Canadian site at Stoneridge Fellowship.
The conference was about Christian leadership, though not necessarily church leadership; many of the speakers and attendees were from the business world; and not all were Christians. One central idea is that wisdom can be found in many places. Consider the panel of speakers:
From the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies to the garbage heaps of Cairo. Pastors and politicians; academics and bloggers. There was such a wealth of knowledge and experience in just two days, that I will take some time to process it all. I found some leaders impacted me emotionally like Mother Maggie, who lives and serves among the poorest peoples. Seth Godin for instance inspired my imagination.
Let's go back to that earlier premise: wisdom can be found in many places, or "all truth is God's truth." The theological foundation is natural theology: we can discern truths about God and human beings through an understanding of the natural created order. Dating back to Thomas Aquinas, this was a fundamental motivation for medieval western science. So we can enrich ministry through insights from psychology, sociology, business, marketing and the arts. But don't think for a minute that this was happening uncritically. Attenders come with theological filters that will determine what information that will take and integrate into their worldview. Bibby's observation that Canadian evangelicals should be engaging with Canadian Catholics might have had sound sociological support, but ran up against deep theological prejudices (enough so that the session chair first warned us that "we might not all agree with everything the next speaker will share.") McManus' plea for the arts and the revival of storytelling would fall flat for those whose theology rejects such things as frivolous. McManus' film group created one of the winning Doritos superbowl ads, but faced criticism for not using the opportunity for a Christian message (McManus' response: "But it was a Doritos commercial!") Some speakers made conscience attempts to correlate their teaching with the Bible like Dr. Cloud, while others like Seth Godin did not, even though the idea of faith was there.
My personal theology allows me to learn from wise leaders inside the church and outside. The Bible will remain my final authority on what I adopt and integrate into my faith. And whether I engage with my Catholic neighbours. But that's next week's post....
P.S. I bought the DVD if you want to borrow it. :-)
Suddenly my ears perked up; I was hearing familiar themes. People are wrestling with health challenges, and are seeking information. They talk to health professionals, but also friends, neighbours, and "experts" on television and increasingly the internet. Seekers attribute authority to these non-professional sources (the "Oprah factor"), and that concerns health professionals. Tami Oliphant addressed related issues in her paper on alternative medicine at last year's conference.
More than a few pastors have expressed their views on Oprah's "theology", and their concerns about where their parishioners are looking for spiritual information. Whether health professionals or pastoral professionals, they are concerned for the well-being of those in their care. They want them to get "good" information. People are more open to considering different kinds of expertise. Whether doctor or minister, you are no longer the only source in town. Time to get past that and focus on the next task, equipping discerning information users. The information world is a big place.
I guess I need to talk to more health information researchers; I have much to learn from them! And now for something completely different: Trust me, I'm the Doctor.
So, day four of the 7th International Conference of Media, Religion and Culture. I've so far attended 1 plenary session and 27 papers. My head is getting full!
Did you know that "narrowcasting" (cable/subscription TV) allows issues of religion and faith to be explored in ways that could never happen in broadcast TV. Battlestar Galactica is a good example where the dichotomy between faith/science was played out.
Guess what? If your church puts up a generic website that soft peddles what you believe, in order to not offend potential seekers, they'll only turn off your surfers. A good example is the United Church of Canada's WonderCafe project. People are at your site to find out what you believe, so tell them!
So how do you subscribe to an Orthodox Jewish community website? More than knowing Hebrew, you should also know the neighbourhood.
How about what digital storytelling can tell you about your Church/Synagogue Youth Group's identity? What is their group all about and how is that a part of who they are?
Is there such a distinction between offline and online? Are the boundaries breaking down? What about religion; is the online and offline beginning to share the same space?
These and more questions explored in upcoming blogposts. Now time to take in some of the Toronto sights.
I wanted to tell you about a paper by Cameron Hoffman and Sarah Polkinghorne. The session was entitled “Discourse identity and practice: analyzing librarians’ conversations about information literacy and the social web.”
They analyzed posts to the email list ILI-L (an email discussion list for Information Literacy Instruction Librarians). The idea behind the study was that by examining how we talk about something we can often identify the assumptions and motivations behind the text. Hoffman and Polkinghorne considered what instruction librarians said about the use of the social web (Facebook, MySpace, Youtube etc.) in information literacy instruction.
I wasn’t surprised by their results, though I am certainly concerned. Although librarians are adopting social software for instruction, their concerns, as expressed on the list, aren't always about pedagogy; rather it was often about control. First, librarian posters frequently portrayed their clients as consumers not learners, and then themselves as service providers. (Wait a second, isn’t this list about teaching? Why does it suddenly sound like marketing?)
Hoffman and Polkinghorne then identified four themes in this discourse:
Tips, tricks and techniques – Librarians weren’t really interested in pedagogy (learning theory and practice). They wanted tips on “making them listen” etc.
Moral language – Wikedpedia is pure evil, we are gatekeepers to the good.
Anxiety – There is a lot of anxiety around social web and instruction, and the future role of librarians.
Sensitivity to new technologies – We think we need to be masters of the social web. (I guess the joke is on librarians: no one masters the social web.)
I’m over simplifying their research, but what I began to ask "is it really about the social web or is it whether librarians know how to teach?" Are wikis a tool in your teacher kit or is that the sum of your game? If you don’t understand teaching, then the gimmicks will only take you so far. But if you understand learners and learning, and when the social web can be engaged to foster learning, then you really have little to fear.
The plenary session of the CAIS conference was with Danielle Boily, Manager, Portal Management and Design, with the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN). (So if they had their budget cut, would it be “taking one on the chin”?)
This department's mandate is to "allow Canadian museums to engage their audiences through the use of innovative technologies." Started in the 1970s with a mandate to record the collections of Canada's museums, CHIN has substantially increased its size as the organization has matured. (Does that mean they have a middle-aged double chin? :-p ) She spoke about the work they are now doing to publicize Canada’s artifacts and treasures (do you have any Canadian treasures?). One branch of CHIN (cleft chin?) is the Virtual Museum of Canada, and they have engaged in a re-design of the websites. She shared some of the inspiring design principles they were following: (I believe she said that these originated from a presentation at Southwest by Southwest).
Beauty in Design: there is an Aesthetic-Usability effect as beautiful things are easier to use. The tips: get emotional, think bigger, lead, be brave.
The art of persuasion: persuasion versus manipulation. The tips: use curiosity, play hard to get, lighten up, take a chance, and be frisky.(Can you imagine how the “be frisky” went over in a room of librarians and information scientists? Then imagine what happened where they tried to imagine “frisky” web designers.)
Thinking Visually: Solve any problem with a picture (portrait, chart, map, timeline, flowchart.)
I was thinking about these ideas in relation to both church and library websites. Both are information institutions, that rely heavily on text to communicate. I looked at some "best" church websites particularly for their aesthetic qualities. Some are very visual like Watermark or Renaissance. Others are edgy like Red Rocks. I don't know if I saw any site that was particularly beautiful. Suggestions?
Then there are library websites. Many are very functional but are any really beautiful? Or inviting? Something to think about as we re-design our own website. I know I want it to be functional but "a thing of beauty" as well? Can you think of a beautiful library website?
So between the CSSR and CAIS society meetings I attended one plenary, one workshop, one banquet, one business meeting and twenty-eight papers, and ate untold number of cinnamon buns over four days. Yeah, I know, brain strained, body tired, belly fat. So what did I learned-ed at the Learneds Congress?
I was reminded again that in Montreal, traffic lights are mostly decorative. I learned that there is fascinating research being conducted by scholars and librarians. Inspiring stuff, and I needed the inspiration. I’ll share some of the more personally intriguing papers over the next few blogs. I learned once again that not even brilliant content can overcome a bad powerpoint presentation. I chose to use Prezi software that, incidentally, went over very well. (Thanks again Karen.)
I learned again that behind the research are interesting personal stories. Most research does not pop out of thin air. As I talked to researchers one-on-one, I heard stories about personal struggles, compassion, anger and frustration. These are real people wanting to change their little corner of the world. It is too bad that the academic and publishing structures will strip the personal out of the research. Now some research is strictly an intellectual exercise (“what in the heck was that flow chart??? It even confused you and you made it!!!”)
I can’t share all the private stories, but next time you hear about interesting research, ask about the story behind the story; the passion that gave it life.
I'm off a-conferencing again; this time to Congress 2010 in Montreal. For those unfamiliar with the event (most of the population for instance), this is a gathering of scores of scholarly societies for business meetings, academic presentations and networking. Oh, and food (I've got a banquet to attend, poor me.) As last time, I'll blog the more interesting sessions. I'm presenting a paper on Thursday June 3; it remains to be seen whether it is one of the interesting ones! I'm still undecided on a few sessions; any suggestions?
Guess what? I'm actually making progress on my research! No Really...at least I think I am.
This week:
I submitted my paper for the graduate student competition of the Canadian Association for Information Science . My paper proposal " Seeking God’s will: the experience of information seeking by leaders of a church in transition" already had been accepted for the conference. I was invited to participate in the competition based on my proposal.
I was also notified that another article "Preaching and the Internet: Dipping into a shallow pool or beginning a deeper conversation?" has been accepted for publication with the Journal of Religious & Theological Information vol. 9 (1).
I've enjoyed the research I've done this year, and I have learned a lot. It regrettably has taken a backseat to my daytime librarian job and progress has been too slow! Now I just need to get some more teaching experience. Anyone looking for an Instructor of Librarianship or Sociology of Religion?
Now time to start thinking about that dissertation...
and with it conference registrations! I found out Friday that the proposal I'd submitted for the Canadian Association for Information Science conference has been accepted. This will be part of the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences held in Montreal this May 28-June 4. The extended abstract I submitted was an overview of the research I have done this far on the information seeking behaviour of leaders seeking the will of God for their churches. It is an ethnographic study which simply means I am creating a description of a particular group of people's way of living and interacting with the world around them. I am trying to understand that world from the perspective of my respondents, the folks I'm interviewing. We do it by talking to people, observing people, and gathering documents and artifacts. Most of the time when people think about ethnography the image is of anthropologists like Malinowski living in remote jungles, writing about the exotic and strange. But ethnography as a research methodology can help us understand ourselves but making us question what we do, why we do it and what does this say about how we understand the world and our place in it.
In my research I am concerned with how my respondents are seeking the will of God for their church. They value the Bible in this process and they believe in prayer. Whether I understand the will of God as they do is not important. It is their world view I'm trying to understand (though it might make me ask important questions about mine.) They believe prayer is important and that it makes a difference. It is important to them so it is important to me as a researcher. Sometimes sharing their beliefs makes the task harder I think. It might be too easy to make assumptions and forget to ask important questions. When it is very different it is easy to come up with lots of questions. So I'll continue to ask questions of my respondents and hopefully of myself. Maybe I'll see my own world a little clearer in the end.
I had a scare recently: I thought I was scooped. No, not hit by a shovel but it almost felt like it. I thought someone had already published my research. Let me explain. It might seem sometimes that academics spend a lot of time researching stuff topics that are obvious to the rest of us (e.g. "wearing a helmet while skiing or snowboarding reduces the risk of head injuries" - um, ok.) Or some research just seems plain silly (e.g. "pressures produced when penguins poop"- eww.) Good research however is intended to expand our understanding of the world (and its people). It is intended to be original unless it clarifies or confirms earlier research (how about no repeats on the penguin study, please.) Researchers take great care to determine what about their subject area has been researched and to build upon the previous work. No point reinventing a perfectly good wheel. And good researchers give credit where credit is due.
I took great care to review all the literature in my area and was certain that I had done a more than reasonable job of ferreting out anything relevant. So I was submitting and abstract for an upcoming conference and decided to check out last year's abstracts to use as a model. I noted an abstract submitted by an acquaintance of mine, Don Wicks. It wasn't on my topic but it was of interest. As I read the full paper, I discovered that the coauthor, Daniel Roland, like Don had written in the area of pastors' information seeking behaviour. It was his PhD dissertation in 2007. Uh-uh...how did I miss that one. As I read through the abstract I found that he also approached his topic from the same theoretical perspective as I. My heart skips a beat. Did he already do my research?!!
(OK, you are thinking get a grip Michels...research something else then. But this has been a long three years. Back tracking here would not be good.)
I located a copy of the thesis and found that though there were similarities, it was not what I was doing. I did help me in my reading though so in the end I'm glad to have found it. So back to work. Time to pick up the pace on data collecting and writing or maybe next time I really will get scooped!
Actually it is the American Academy of Religion conference...though given the range of topics covered I'm sure there is room for something on buccaneer theology or privateer prayers. Groan...I just googled "pirate's prayer" and wouldn't you know it someone "piratized" the 23rd Psalm...will I never learn?
But I digress...the AAR conference is next week and I hope to attend (with a laptop to blog the sessions). There is so many concurrent sessions that I am having a hard time choosing. One session I am interested in is about sacred spaces especially spaces that become politically contentious. The folks at Oxford Press are offering a "how to publish your book" session. Now I just need to write one. Of course I'll be taking in a few sessions on Law and Religion (there is one of blasphemy that is very intriguing) and even Music and Religion. I'm fascinated to see how many sessions revolve around Religion and Obama; both the role of the religious right in the past presidential election, but also I expect the near messianic role Obama was cast in during the campaign. There is a session with William P. Young, the author of The Shack. A number of you know that I am of mixed feelings about this book: on one hand it explores important themes of deep pain and disillusionment that the Church often is afraid to address; but is a fictional work with sometimes problematic theology. I'm still thinking about that session. There are lots more sessions, some way over my head (buddy, if your title itself is five lines long...) and some just seem strange (is "transhuman" like the borg?) If you're interested take a look yourself and let me know if you see any you think I should attend. My schedule is still being drafted. :-)
The American Academy of Religion conference will be held in Montreal on November 7-10. That it is in Canada is an extreme rarity and I'm registered to attend (I'll blog my sessions). In the course of planning for this conference, I had a discussion with a prof who has given up conference travel for environmental reasons. I've often thought of this over the past few years both from fiscal as well as environmental standpoints. Such conferences are great learning experiences and even greater networking opportunities. But it is a lot of travel and expense for what is usually 3-4 days. As a Christian I need to be concerned with these questions. Sometimes I think Christians get so focused on the future "new heaven and new earth" (Revelation 21) that we neglect this one. Don't get me wrong; the idea of an earth restored into what it should have been in God's original intention is fantastic and I want to live in such a world! But from the very beginning of the Bible there is also the idea that human beings rule the earth only as regents or stewards (Genesis 1). We enjoy its benefits but it is not ours to do as we please. I do believe God will hold us accountable for our poor stewardship. So where does that leave me? I think it is valuable for me as a young scholar to attend this conference, but I need to find ways to reduce my carbon footprint. First, I'm taking the train to Montreal. It is a longer but greener trip. I plan to find other ways to reduce. Anyone know of any good virtual conferences upcoming?
I am fascinated by the people side of information. I am the Public Services Librarian at the Sir James Dunn Law Library, Schulich School of Law. I hold an Interdisciplinary PhD from Dalhousie in Human Information Behaviour, and Sociology of Religion and New Media.
Posts
5/15/2015 09:15:00 AM
David Michels
.jpg)
