Goals & Objectives



Center for the Study of Information and Religion


Goals

  • To investigate the importance and use of information in the religious world.
  • To understand the relationship between the information-seeking behavior of clergy and the body of knowledge which exists to serve their information needs.
  • To advance our understanding of the role of information in religious practice especially in the contextual realms of belief, faith, knowledge, and wisdom.
  • To investigate the role and influence of religious communication forms, i.e., sermons, in the social construction of knowledge.

    • Objectives  

  • Conduct research in the area of Information and Religion focusing on a variety of topics including but not limited to the following:

    • The information-seeking behavior of clergy;
    • The role of the sermon as an influential communication medium in society; 
    • The utilization of multimedia in sermon delivery; Information in its application to local congregations as communities of practice;
    • Faith and many types of intelligence (e.g., emotional intelligence);
    • Information, entropy (understood as the rate of transfer of a message), and belief;
    • Case studies of pastors, priests, rabbis and other religious leaders to explore the role of information in the sermon preparation task;
    • Longitudinal study of religious leaders engaged in congregational ministries to study changes in the sermon preparation task over the course of their careers.Present research findings at various conferences in the LIS and sociology of religion fields.

  • Publish research findings in various peer-reviewed journals of the LIS and sociology of religion fields.

  • Establish and publish a quarterly journal for the dissemination of peer-reviewed research in the area of information and religion.

  • Work with researchers, organizations and associations across the disciplines to identify various data sets in the study of religion that includes components applicable to library and information science.

  • Establish and maintain a website dedicated to the publication of research findings and research opportunities in the area of religion and information.

  • Depending on clearance from participants, the website might be made available to registered users, including interview transcripts and other data obtained through the research activities of center-affiliated researchers. Such data would be cited in such a way as to indicate that CSIR is the publisher.

  • Collaborate with researchers and organizations in the development of research instruments pertaining to the research interests of the CSIR.

  • Recruit of Master of Library and Information Science and doctoral students interested in the area of information and religion.

  • Work with various faiths and denominations to provide educational opportunities for religious leaders in the application of information technology and information management skills for ministry and congregational administration.

  • Become a provider of commissioned research in the area of information and religion.

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