This first module sets a basis for our understanding of information in our strange technology-driven world. D.Min. students will encounter information from many venues and in many forms. Is that website authoritative? Is that study to be believed? Is that scholar a reliable source or does she have vested interests that have skewed what she is telling us?
I want you to do specified reading in the textbook (see the assignment below) as well as reading and responding to a presentation and a couple of articles. This assignment calls for your intelligent response to the challenges of our information world.
1. View the following presentation (opening it to full screen). The guided questions regarding it are in the assignment below.
2. Read the following papers. Note that they were written for fellow academic librarians yet lay out crucial principles for understanding information. Questions related to them are in the assignment below.
Badke, William. "Fake News, Confirmation Bias, the Search for Truth, and the Theology Student." Theological Librarianship 11, no. 2 (October 2018): 4-7. https://serials.atla.com/theolib/article/view/2589/3233
[Click on the file link above to download a template in rich text format (works in most word processors). It will form an outline so you can insert your answers under each heading. You can then submit the complete document to Prof. Badke by e-mail attachment].
1. Read Research Strategies, Chapters One and Two.
2. Take each of the six principles of scholarship from the "What is Scholarship?" presentation, and explain in a couple of paragraphs:
a. What the principle is.
b. Why the principle is important to scholarly work.
The principles are:
Authority is constructed and contextual
Information creation as a process
Information has value
Research as inquiry
Scholarship as conversation
Searching as strategic exploration
3. From the article - Badke, William. "Expertise and Authority in an Age of Crowdsourcing," in Not Just Where to Click: Teaching Students How to Think about Information. Ed. Troy Swanson; Heather Jagman, 191-215. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2015. [link is above] - answer the following questions:
a. Describe two barriers to recognition of authority. How would you respond to these if you wanted people to recognize authority?
b. What is Badke's definition of expertise?
c. Comment on the pros and cons of the author's suggested solutions to the authority recognition problem. Are any of them preferred?
d. Comment on Badke's preferred solution.
4. Comment on the article - Badke, William. "Fake News, Confirmation Bias, the Search for Truth, and the Theology Student." Theological Librarianship 11, no. 2 (October 2018): 4-7.
https://serials.atla.com/theolib/article/view/2589/3233. Answer the following:
a. What is confirmation bias? How do you see it operating in your own life and ministry? How does it affect those to whom you are ministering?
b. What do you think of Badke's push-back on searching for truth?
c. What do you think of Kaufman's argument?
d. What should you tell those to whom you are ministering about the problems raised in the article?
5. State the topic with which you will be working and explain briefly how you are hoping to address it. (The topic will be the one you are using for the Preliminary Project Proposal for this course).
Well done assignments will show:
1. A firm grasp of the principles of scholarship and their ramifications.
2. A good grasp of the problems of expertise and authority as well as critical evaluation of options.
3. An understanding of the challenges found, and messaging required, in our current information age.
Land Acknowledgement
Trinity Western University's Langley campus is located on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Stó:lō people. We are grateful for the opportunity to live, work, and learn on this land.
