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Information Habits of Religious Leaders

I want to jot down a quick research question so that I can pick it up at a later date.

Essentially, I’d like to research how religious leaders gather and use information. By religious leaders, I mean pastors and clergy (though I’d be interested in other religious traditions as well) and I think I’m defining “information” in the most general sense – including biblical and theological commentary. Here are a few more basic questions:

  • What is the role of technology (blogs, social media, etc.) in information gathering?
  • How can denominations and Christian organizations package content so that it is most meaningful to religious leaders?
  • What is the relationship between information gathering and “politics”. Does diversity (or lack of diversity) in information sources translated into a particular theological point of view?
  • How do seminaries (and seminary libraries/librarians) prepare students to succeed in this information landscape?

I’m interested and energized by this topic for several reasons:

  • It connects with my thesis work. I could extend the framing metaphor of that work – centripetal and centrifugal force – and look at how denominations (the Covenant in particular) could better use information resources to build and foster identity.
  • It connects to my work with the Covenant Quarterly. My strong sense – supported by research and other people’s experience – is that moving toward and online, Open Access publication will allow for the publication to have a greater reach and impact.
  • It connects to my work with the Commission on Covenant History and could guide our work there.
CC image – https://flic.kr/p/nK7kRW
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“The library is like…” Exploring metaphors and the language of libraries

I’ve been thinking a bit about language recently and the role language has in shaping our perceptions of reality. In summary, I’d like to catalog and analysis some frequently used metaphors and images for libraries, unpacking them to see what they mean and – ultimately – to make recommendations about what language is most appropriate or beneficial. Some quick notes with my own questions and ideas:

What are libraries like? What should they be like?

  • Cathedrals/Sanctuaries
  • Starbucks
  • Home
  • Portals
  • Purchase agents for communities
  • Warehouses
  • Google
  • Netflix
  • Amazon
  • Wikipedia
  • Community centers
  • Publishers

Who are the people that use libraries?

  • Users
  • Patrons
  • Community
  • Customers
  • “future generations”

What are librarians?

  • Tour guides
  • Instructors
  • Organizers
  • “better googlers”
  • Metadata experts
  • Community leaders
  • Creators

A few notes after making this list. First, some of the language isn’t exactly metaphoric, per se, but I’m still somewhat interested in how differences in language impact perceptions or library collections and services. Second, I’m also perfectly aware that there isn’t one “best” answer or word for these questions. For example, librarians sometimes acts as an instructor and other times act as a metadata expert for an institution. So my question is not to settle the debate by saying “libraries should be instructors and not googlers” but merely explore what difference the linguistic framing makes.

For example, popular culture often juxtaposes libraries and Google. The nature of this justaposition changes based on the context – are these competing forces? complimentary? has one superceded the other? – but that is the language of the conversation. Students want a “google like experience” – but what does that mean? Librarians want their collections to be searchable by google…but some are reluctant to embrace and endorse google as a good searching tool.

Additional Thoughts/Questions

Is there a relationship between the language people use to describe libraries (cathedral, starbucks, etc.) be related to library architecture and design? Those two examples seem clearly connected – but I’d like to explore that relationship in more detail. Or perhaps someone has already.

It seems like other fields have done similar research. A few come to mind immediately but my frame of reference is currently the church and the way language is used in that context. Is it a “congregation” or an “audience” – does it matter? What is a pastor: a leader? A shepard? A servant? Again – my contest is limited but I would imagine that other fields have studied how language shifts with role and culture.

Would there be cultural/national differences in the framing metaphors people use? Thinking just about the English language – what is the cultural element to this and how does it impact people’s thoughts or feelings?

How could I begin to answer/address the question? Through a literature review? Interviews? Testing? Seems almost like an ethnographic research project.

So that’s a sketch of a research project I’d like to tackle some day. At core, I think it would be an exploration of what libraries are on a very basic and philosophical level and that it would be impossible for me to “catalog” the metaphors and languages while remaining neutral.