But what happens to networking in a church context? Obviously, with the self-effacing mandate of Christ, there can be no question of doing this to get that. And while it does happen (in every church), it is often subsumed under headings of service, brotherhood, and progressing the Kingdom of God. This thin veneer of kingdom civility can be seen in the lovely video on what it might look like if Starbucks marketed like the church by BeyondRelevance … Church marketing and networking in a nutshell.

Small churches, of particular note, rely heavily on networking because their “staff” (paid or unpaid) is small, and thus reduces the natural skill set of the congregation. It is hard to have a church website without someone in the church being a phenomenal webmaster or shelling out money that the church may not have. And yet church websites are truly a necessity in this digital age. Who even reads the Yellow Pages anymore? Do they even still make phone books? (Kidding … sort of).

The point is that people today (yes, even Christians) are demanding more and more from churches of all stripes — big and small — and those churches are ill-equipped to handle the demand. So smaller churches network. We’ll hold our fund-raiser/car-wash/army-shoebox-care-package/whatever drive at your store and then your customer traffic will increase for that day. Etc. Etc. Or if you donate something to our church we’ll thank you from the pulpit and maybe even in the announcements. Fliers on check stands equal free advertising; a symbiotic and recursive relationship. The age-old adage of I’ll scratch your back and you’ll scratch mine.

But with the geas of authenticity under which the church should labor, how can this seemingly false relationship equate? The key to understanding networking within the church should be that key word: Relationship. As long as the church networks within an honest relationship with the other entity, be it another church or a secular institution, networking can be a powerful tool for small churches to keep up with the technological tide. However, once the church (or the networking partner) loses sight of that honest relationship and becomes greedy or petty or spiteful (none of which are Christian values) then that same networking relationship becomes a stronghold within the church. And strongholds within the church are always divisive, always malignant, and always growing.

So, yes, keep networking. Keep using your contacts to do what God has called your church to do. But never, ever lose sight of the fact that our very contacts are those to whom we are to pastor, to shepherd, and to bring the good news of Jesus Christ. The moment the church begins to take advantage of its contacts, it loses sight of the forest for the trees — or in this case, the kingdom for the network. And a kingdom would be a terrible thing to waste.

CDC - Government Clipart (Federal works are in the public domain)

In my process of making posters and videos and Yuba College, I need to think very carefully about copyright. It is very easy to make extensive use of the fair use clause, though it may not always be correct. To this end, I am also taking a copyright class this semester, to ensure that I understand how to navigate the confusing morass of copyright law. Before I began the semester, I had thought of copyright like, I assume, most of the general public: That copyright laws were biased toward big-business and there was not enough room for the current digital culture (i.e. remixes, mashups, and P2P).

The first thing you learn about copyright is that it originally (in the US Constitution) exists for the public good. It would make sense then, to currently loosen standards to allow for remixes and P2P. After all, if the majority of the public does it, wouldn’t that be for the public good? After the first month of study, however, I find myself changing my opinion. Consider these statements:

1. “The public good fully coincides in both cases with the claims of individuals.” ( Thomas Jefferson, The Federalist Papers, No. 43)

2. “But, the more I have looked upon the status of authors in this country and the fact that the public interest is badly served when authors are badly served, I have felt that too often the public interest has been identified with economic users rather than with authors.” (Barbara Ringer, Copyright Law Revision Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives Ninety-Fourth Congress, First Session on H.R. 2223, section 117.)

So that has lately brought me to a much less revolutionary mindset. Instead of throwing copyright out the window and ridding the restrictions in mind of the digital era, it is important to remember that authors are also members of the public. It is the childhood Golden Rule in action: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

It is always interesting to me that we can shout about free access and such, but the moment we see someone infringing on our copyright, we cry foul. It is human nature to protect that which is ours. As it is human nature, shouldn’t that be the public good as well?

As the Register of Copyrights, Barbara Ringer, said: When authors are ill-served, the public is ill-served. We are all, each of us, both users and creators. It is a balancing act, but we cannot forget that the “public good” includes both users and creators.

Yuba College is a very small community college, and as such, she is the only Librarian. She has full autonomy for anything she does. I am working virtually with Credo Reference and I gave her an overview of what I provide for Credo in hope that she could use some of my skills. During the meeting I was able to walk her through a quick tutorial of the Credo Reference Librarian Admin section and we went through the past year of Credo search stats for her library. The findings (search terms, books searched, etc.) corroborated what she had mentioned were the most popular topics due to common assignments. They have a very robust nursing program, and there is a popular first year assignment for the student to write a paper on a contemporary issue. It was very interesting. For a first assignment, she is having me update her Credo admin section.

My other duties will be to maintain the social media and come up with a posting schedule. She thought every other week might be a good schedule. She has plans to do an essay contest this semester; the prompt is “how the library has helped you in your academic career”, and she requested my help is setting up the contest rules and to generally assist with the contest. Finally, she wanted a “welcome to the library” video, which I am starting on getting a draft together.

With my work in Credo I have had the opportunity to work with very large academic libraries (Columbia University, Duquesne, and the entire LOUIS Consortia, etc.) and I am highly used to the academic politics that come with such large universities. I am very excited to work with a small college with little to no politics and much more professional freedom. It will make for a very interesting semester!

She paints a frustrating picture — the coveted copyright in the middle, with the different stakeholders pulling in their own direction. On one side, there are the artists themselves, the original copyright holders and their use of the fair use doctrine. On the opposite, are institutions (like the Museum of Modern Art) who either try to copyright their photographs of uncopyrighted works, or even assert copyright where they have none. On another side is the general public, who doesn’t really understand (nor do they truly care very much) about the copyright struggle going on over the very same images they use and see every day. Finally, the fourth stakeholder in copyright are the educational and non-profit institutions, who are used to the educational exclusion (where they can use copyrighted works for education without permission) and chafe at the tighter copyright restrictions (just don’t ask them to un-copyright their own work!).

For example- she wanted to include a famous photograph of Picasso’s dog in his studio. The photograph is copyrighted by the photographer (logically). However when charting her joinery to include this photo in the book, not only did she have to gain permission (and pay) for use from the photographer’s estate (The Brassai Estate), but also to to the Picasso Administration (in the US that is held via the Artist’s Rights Society) AND to the museum that currently holds the photograph (Reunion des Musees Nationaux). Two difference agencies asserting copyright to the same photo, with a third demanding payment to the use of its picture. Total fees paid: nearly $275. Just to include a photo in a book! No wonder less and less authors seem to be including photos or images in their books. Who truly has copyright for this photo? Logically the Brassai Estate because he took the photo. The Picasso Administration seems to have a flimsy case for copyright, as it is unclear what portion of the copyright, exactly, should go to Picasso. Was he there? Did he arrange the shot?

Are you confused yet? It’s the timeless question: What happens when an immovable object meets an irresistible force. The bedrock institutions are the immovable objects (either by longevity or size), and the irresistible force are the artists and copyright producers. The tug-of-war between them will decide the fate of the other minor stakeholders, education and the general public.

This is a war, and I have the awful feeling that whatever happens, whether the winner will be the immovable object or the irresistible force, it will be the rest of us that will lose out, whether it be through higher copyright fees, tighter restrictions, less free access for education, or even the fear of litigation. Somehow, this is a war I don’t think that we can win.

But I put it out of my head, and bravely set about my week. And then I saw this story on CNN: Research into computers that reason and can think for themselves. The precursor to the ever-elusive, all-encompassing, terrifyingly powerful thing that is artificial intelligence.

And it’s one thing to think about this back in 2004 (only seven years ago!!) when we watched the movie “I, Robot”, and the idea of such smart computers seemed so far off. But as I type this on my iPad, listening to an artificially intelligent application (Pandora) choose music that it thinks I may enjoy, and searching the specs for “I, Robot” on Google while it suggests similar search avenues … That day doesn’t really seem all that far off. And the technophile in me salivates for the Next New Thing; but the humanity within me is hesitant and watchful …

For example: A grandmother who simply uses her computer for email and to print photos from her digital camera gets her email hacked. It is easy for us to say that it’s ok, that it happens to everyone, and do a quick lecture on password security.

Remember, however, that we are technologically human and we cannot lose sight of the particular human with whom we are working. This grandmother is probably really quite beside herself at this seeming intrusion. There are levels of emotion involved, and the primary emotion is panic. Who is this stranger who has intruded upon my life, my friends, and often professional contacts? To what else do they have access? How did they gain access? Do they know my home address? Are my grandchildren in danger? The questions are endless and panicked.

The second emotion can either be anger or embarrassment. Or a mixture of both. The person can be angry at the hacker, at themselves, at the person who gave them the technology, or even at the technology itself. The information professional dealing with the angry person must be clued into the distinct nuances of the anger: To whom directed, and why?

Embarassment is similar (and often may lead to anger) in it’s direction. What must my friends, family, or professional contacts think of me now? I hope they don’t think that I am truly ill / insolvent / homeless / etc. Or, on the other hand, a seeming highly technologically literate person got her email hacked and was embarrassed and worried that people thought less of her or thought her stupid.

Hacking happens. It happens so often that it should be a bumper sticker or a t-shirt. Hacking happens. More and more it seems these days as well. And information professionals, librarians, and educators need to be aware and cognizant of the vast range of emotions involved once someone’s online identity is stolen. Because behind that profile or computer screenname is a living, breathing, sometimes emotional person; and it is that person whom we are called to serve.

Imagine with me, for a moment, if you will: It is late on a Tuesday afternoon. The weather doesn’t matter much, but it does change the setting a little. This Tuesday, we will be thinking of a rainy day; late autumn. I have the entire afternoon to myself. The husband and kids are elsewhere for the moment. Or maybe they’re in another room and I have been given a free pass. Regardless, I am alone. I start a cup of tea and peruse my bookshelves for a good book. Tonight I will be reading The Time-Travelers Wife, but I could just as easily have chosen Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, or Drood. All new books sitting crisp and unread on my bookshelf.  The prelude reads: “I hate to be where she is not, when she is not. And yet, I am always going, and she cannot follow,” and I am lost.

I am lost in a love-story that spans a lifetime, all at once. A man who is past, present, and future, and the woman who is the center of his galaxy. I read for hours straight, only finishing at 1:30 in the morning. I have lived a thousand lives this afternoon and I am spent. I luxuriate in the residue of the story – though the novel is finished, the feelings remain , my tears remain. I am in limbo as I process the emotions the book evoked within me. Eventually, I place the book aside and make some notes – jot down my thoughts and feelings for future reference. Bookmark my favorite quotes to write down, so I can revisit them later and feel the same emotions or enjoy the musicality of the words. I claim the book and integrate it into myself: These emotions are mine, and these characters, a mirror. This is the promise and release of a good book. A book is intensely personal – colored by our experiences and history.

If a book is so personal, how, then, can we possibly figure out what to read next? Book recommendations are only as good as the giver – so be sure to verify the source. When I am out of books and don’t have a clue what to read next, the absolute first place that I go to are the bestseller lists: The New York Times list, Amazon’s list, Amazon’s kindle top sellers, Barnes and Noble. If, however, I have exhausted the best seller lists (or, conversely, nothing seems appetizing) I head to Google.

Google is a great place to start and all too easy to get lost as well. From the basic start page, I usually start by typing in a statement about the type of book for which I am in the mood. For instance: the search query “best (fill-in-the-blank) books” will bring up millions of book recommendation lists for whichever genre you desire. That is the easy part. The difficulty comes in wading through the mire of book recommendations and reviews. And which reviewer should you trust, “Joe from Poughkeepsie” or “Mr. MLitt”? The answer, again, depends on your mood and what kind of books you enjoy.

I, personally, enjoy lyrical books. I even enjoy books where nothing much really happens (plot-wise) and there is no clear ending. But the sheer musicality of the words is manna to my soul. So I often enjoy reading the Mann Booker forum where literary people alk about literary books. I find that I would fit right in and I usually love every book I glean from there. I also search for my favorite author and see if they have a blog or journal. Neil Gaiman (my current favorite) is a prolific blogger and churns out regular and always new and surprising book recommendations. Next, there are book recommendation websites specific to recommending books. Some use social networking, some use straight algorithms, and some use a blend of both. All of these sites are based on (what I call) the Reading Rainbow model. You know the time where Levar Burton (after reading a book) says, “and if you liked this book, then you’ll love ….”

All of the above are some of the easiest and best places to get book recommendations. Some of my absolute favorite books, however, have usually come quite unlooked-for: A passing conversation at work in the break room, an advertisement on the side of a city bus, a local book signing, or an NPR program. Those are the wonderful times of frantic scrambling to (if I’m driving) pull over or (if I’m not driving) to find a pen and WRITE IT DOWN!! And then keep it. And then add to it. And then cross some out. And make notes. Your very own, personal, book recommendation list (maybe even annotated!) will become your best friend and bosom bedtime buddy.