This presentation builds upon the growing consensus to rethink the DIKW pyramid and to replace it with a more accurate model that represents the true source of knowledge – people. It also proposes that a new research area be considered in the field of knowledge sciences, specifically one that addresses the relationship of knowledge and wisdom, drawing from work in religious studies. The paper highlights important factors that are missing from the knowledge sciences discussion – understanding, learning, and spirituality.

In his 2010 blog, David Weinberger, Director of Harvard’s Innovation Lab, accurately described the origins and popularization of the DIKW (Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom) pyramid. The pyramid was first described by T.S. Eliot in his poem, The Rock. In 1989, it gained popularity in a reference by Russell Ackoff (International Society for General Systems Research). Weinberger correctly describes the promotion of the DIKW concept as a desperate attempt to justify the high dollar investments that were made in information systems in the 1990s. While the DIKW pyramid served an economic goal in the 1990s, it came at a high opportunity cost – the side-tracking of further explorations of the relationships of knowledge, wisdom, spirituality and understanding. A brief review of the past 20 years of knowledge sciences research suggests there are few references to these topics. This research reconnects wisdom, knowledge, spirituality and understanding drawing from the wealth of work in religious studies and Biblical references in particular. This research is anchored in the recent recognition of the role of spirituality, morals, ethics in the 21^st knowledge society. This is a view that is well received in Asia, where knowledge sciences are understood to include the spiritual side and knowledge resides in people and results from understanding. It also adds to the growing consensus that it is time to refocus our thinking away from the DIKW pyramid and towards a more complete view people, the source of knowledge, and of a more complete knowledge life cycle.

Foundational authors, Nonaka and Takeuchi, correctly recognized the role of spirituality in gaining understanding and attaining wisdom. With the pivot of knowledge management (the practice) to technology in the 1990’s, though, this recognition was lost. In religious studies we see attainment of knowledge and wisdom without any references to “information” or “data”. Clearly, over millennia, data and information have not been prerequisites for attaining knowledge. From the technology perspective, where structured and encoded data may through interpretation produce information, the attainment of “wisdom” too often takes the form of humor and jokes. The lack of treatment of wisdom in the knowledge sciences discipline is significant and obvious. We believe that by characterizing the treatment of wisdom in religious studies and connecting it to the treatment of knowledge in knowledge sciences, we will be opening a new line of inquiry in both disciplines. This new line of inquiry is critical to the healthy development of a knowledge society in the 21^st century. At the same time, we hope to expand the discussion in the field of religion and information to include the broader concept of knowledge.

This study will concern itself with two primary questions regarding Orthodox Christian evangelism: Why is the Orthodox East reticent when it comes to outspoken, mainstream evangelism, as it is presented in the Christian West, and what is the evangelical philosophy of the Orthodox Church? The research will endeavor to firstly introduce a little known branch of Christianity to an unaware public. Secondly, the writers will seek to demonstrate why a modest presence has worked well for Orthodoxy, preserving its integrity, with little compromise to its tradition. The final endeavor will be to represent Orthodox Christianity as a religion concerned with the public by discussing its efforts to disseminate information about itself through evangelism.

This paper will discuss the role of the Orthodox East in Christian evangelism. Whatever the degree of Orthodoxy’s presence in mainstream Christianity, it cannot be disputed that it has been somewhat of a muted one when compared to Western presence. But it’s precisely this enigmatic silence, coupled with a resolute unwillingness to deviate from its ancient principles, that attracts new members and religious enthusiasts alike to its doors. Drawing from missionary and out-reach efforts from a Church-wide and monastic perspective, we shall examine why Orthodoxy has maintained its presence over the years, and how it continues to attract new adherents to Christianity through its subtle, though staunch, evangelism.

This study will concern itself with two primary questions regarding Orthodox Christian evangelism:

1) Why is the Orthodox East reticent when it comes to outspoken, mainstream evangelism, as it is presented in the Christian West?

2) What are the main evangelical initiatives within Orthodoxy, and how do they serve as informative means to educate the public of Orthodox Christianity?

The primary research method will be to conduct several first person interviews. We shall consult priests, monastics, and academics who will contribute their own insights and experiences with Christian Orthodoxy and evangelism. Our secondary method will be historical scholarship. The co-author and I will examine Orthodoxy as an evangelical phenomenon in the first few centuries after the death of Jesus Christ, tracing the paths of the first evangelists in efforts to provide a foundation for the evangelical initiative. Lastly, we will conduct a survey to gauge the public’s knowledge of and interest in Orthodox Christianity.

The research will endeavor to firstly introduce a little known branch of Christianity to an unaware public. The second result will be to expose Orthodox Christianity as a religion concerned with the public by discussing its efforts to disseminate information about itself through evangelism, and we shall attempt to prove that such efforts to inform the public have been effective. Lastly, the writers will seek to demonstrate why a modest presence has worked well for Orthodoxy, preserving its integrity, with little compromise to its tradition.

Such findings are significant in the age of globalization because, not only does the research inform the public of its history, but the research also creates an awareness of how religion is practiced and revered in the modern world. Given the recent persecution of Christians in the Middle East, where Orthodoxy is predominantly practiced, this study will also offer insight into how this silent sect of Christianity has survived for so long, despite its reticence to have a pronounced public presence. Ultimately, our work will seek to demonstrate that Orthodoxy’s brand of evangelism, though somewhat unorthodox when compared to the ways of the West, is just as passionate about informing the public, though the method is slightly more modest.

Shannon Smith teaches Religious Studies at the University of South Carolina, Aiken, dedicating much of her pedagogy to the study of Orthodox Christianity. She is also a student of the University of South Carolina’s Master’s of Library and Information Science program.

Joseph Studemeyer is a student at the University of South Carolina, where he studies Philosophy and Religion. A recipient of USC’s prestigious Magellan Scholarship, Joseph has just recently returned from a trip to Mt Athos, the monastic center of Orthodox Christianity.

This paper uses a discourse theoretical framework (the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse) to explore the tensions between the “science discourse” and the “theology discourse” manifested within public debates around two major issues: the existence of God and the creation of the Universe (including human beings). Scientific information is often marshaled by representatives of scientific-academic organizations (scientists, academics, and public intellectuals) as evidence against the existence of God and the intelligent design theory of the Universe. Representatives of religious and theological organizations (clergy leaders and theology scholars) mobilize religious information to respond to these scientific challenges. The paper aims at mapping out the main types of information used in these debates and the relationships between the “science discourse” and the “theology discourse” emerging from them.

This paper has three objectives: (1) identify the main types of scientific information frequently mobilized in public debates by scientists, academics, and public intellectuals to challenge theological views of God and the Universe (including human beings); (2) identify the main types of religious information mobilized by clergy leaders and theology scholars to address these scientific challenges; and (3) map out the spectrum of extant types of relationships between the “science discourse” and the “theology discourse.”

The paper employs a discourse theoretical framework called the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse which assumes that discourses determine what kinds of information count as evidence in specific contexts. The paper analyzes a sample of twenty recorded public debates around two major issues: the existence of God and the creation of the Universe (including human beings). These debates involve actors representing scientific-academic organizations (scientists, academics, and public intellectuals) on one hand and Judeo-Christian religious and theological organizations (clergy leaders and theology scholars) on the other hand. These actors are publicly known as the strongest advocates of their respective positions in regard to the existence of God and the creation of the Universe.

The paper uses content analysis of debate transcripts to identify the relevant types of scientific and religious information employed in these debates. Also, the paper relies on topological metaphors to map out extant relationships between the “science discourse” and the “theology discourse” with regard to the existence of God and the creation of the Universe.

First, I anticipate finding among scientists an emphasis on the use of scientific information to explain natural phenomena in terms of a combination of hazard and physical laws, without the need to postulate a Creator.

Second, I anticipate finding among theologians an emphasis on the limitations of information acquired through scientific experiment. I also expect them to discuss the relevance of religious information acquired through religious practice and, ultimately, the personal experience of faith.

Third, I anticipate finding a range of relationships between the “science discourse” and the “theology discourse” with regard to the existence of God and the creation of the Universe: (1) use of scientific information in support of theological views; (2) accommodation of scientific information within the theological framework; (3) irrelevance of scientific information to religious matters.

This study is relevant in the present context where the “science discourse” is dominant, yet many people continue to declare their religious commitments. Since both discourses are valuable to our contemporaries and neither shows signs of decline, it is important to examine the kinds of information people mobilize to talk about religious issues and map out of the strongest existing positions. This has the potential of clearing out the ground for a better engagement with both science and religion. Also, the study will reveal bodies of information that are often marginalized or even neglected, e.g., religious information embedded in the Scriptures, the tradition of Biblical interpretation, and liturgical practice.

I am a PhD candidate in Library and Information Science at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information. My dissertation uses a discourse theoretical framework called the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse to study discursive constructions of indigenous knowledge by North American indigenous curators of museum exhibitions. Also, I have a background in Philosophy and Theories of Interpretation which has provided me with a thorough understanding of Discourse Theory and of philosophical aspects of Christian spirituality. All these lines of intellectual inquiry are brought together in this interdisciplinary study of religion and information.

This paper will present a content analysis of questions related to religious belief in Islam and in Christianity, as posed to social media Q&A sites. We choose Yahoo! Answers as a representative social media site because we wish to investigate religious information behavior by laypeople. We will conduct a concept analysis of the questions, to create a categorization of questions by intent (e.g., a factual information need, self-expression of personal viewpoint, etc.), and for factual questions, we will further categorize the types of conventional metadata expressed in the question.

everyday, authentic information seeking. To that end, we investigate the motivations for posting questions on religion on social media websites, and explore the match between conventional document metadata and the metadata offered by users in their questions to describe their factual information needs.

Research methods:

We choose the concept of ‘belief’ as the focus for our investigation of religious information behavior. This concept is selected because it is central to both Islam and Christianity (whereas other concepts such as tithing, religious laws, etc. are more specific to practice rather than to ideology). We examine queries pertaining to both Islam and Christianity so that we can compare the emergent question categorizations across the two.

The questions are sampled from the “answered” queries posed, that are retrieved by a search on the Society & Culture > Religion category by searches on “Christian belief” and “Islam belief” (as well as alternatives such as “Christianity believe”, “Muslim belief”, etc.). We will sample recent Yahoo! Answers until we identify 400 questions for each of Islam and Christianity (after eliminating duplicates, mis-categorized questions, and other noise in the dataset).

Content analysis will be employed to categorize the questions by intent of the questioner. Previous research suggests possible categories, but we anticipate that additional / different categories will emerge from the analysis. We will further categorize the types of conventional metadata that users specify in factual questions; we will seek to match these metadata types to the metadata offered in digital libraries with a focus on religion.

To our knowledge, there has been no previous study of religion-related information seeking behavior of laypeople; results of our concept analysis will provide the first evidence-based insights into the motivations of laypeople for posting questions regarding religion, and for seeking religious information through social media. Moreover, this study is based on authentic information behavior (rather than post-hoc recollections of behavior obtained through surveys or questionnaires, or artificial behavior exhibited in IR laboratory experiments).

We anticipate that our analysis of the Yahoo! Answers data will produce:

• a taxonomy of question types likely including emotional / affective, task-based, and self-expressive categories, as well as more conventional factual or evidence-based question categories. We base this assumption on the findings of previous analyses of queries to social Q&A sites (e.g., Bowler et al, 2012; Cunningham and Bainbridge, 2013),

• a categorization of metadata presented in the question and type of document or response requested as a successful answer. This type of categorization can inform the design of information systems / digital libraries to support information behavior in the target field (e.g., Cunningham and Bainbridge, 2013; Hinze, 2010).

Cunningham, S. J., and Bainbridge, D. (2013). An analysis of cooking queries: Implications for supporting leisure cooking. iConference 2013 Proceedings (pp. 112-123). doi:10.9776/13160

Bowler, L., Oh, J. S., He, D., Mattern, E., & Jeng, W. 2012 Eating disorder questions in Yahoo! Answers: Information, conversation, or reflection? Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 49(1), 1-11.

Hinze, A.M., Chang, C. & Nichols, D.M. Contextual queries express mobile information needs, Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (MobileHCI 2010), ACM. 327-336.

Dr. Sally Jo Cunningham has an extensive research background in information behavior, including studies that are interview-based; ethnographic studies of music and ‘serious hobby’ document searching and browsing; and studies of queries posed to online community systems for music, images, and cooking information. She primarily studies everyday information behavior in its ‘native’ context. She has over 150 peer-reviewed publications, primarily in information behavior, digital libraries, and human-computer interaction.

Dr Annika Hinze has an established research track record on information seeking, contextual information delivery, and personalization, as well as substantial experience in data analysis regarding information seeking behavior (exploration of information needs based on location and context). She has been involved in a number of projects on human-centered search and contextual information delivery. She has almost 100 peer-reviewed publications on contextual information delivery, digital libraries, and information behavior.