Baptist Research and Statistics

On Wednesday, May 31, I will be speaking at the ALABI meeting in Richmond, Virginia. I am involved in a section on Baptist Research and Statistics. Basically, I will be looking at the way researchers at my institution use Baptist statistics, and proposing a way that I think librarians, Lifeway, and the entire Southern Baptist Convention could work together to better preserve and make accessible our data. My proposal is just an idea that I had, and should in no way be construed as anything more than this. I would love for the convention to consider it, but it could be nothing more than one archivist's pipe dream. I will try to post a series that will better explain all this later, along with what I see as the advantages and disadvantages of my proposal.

As a service to those attending, I include the text that will appear in my Power Point presentation below. For the record, the section on connectors, mavens, and salesmen is taken from Malcom Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point.

• How researchers at SBTS use statistics
  • To answer cultural questions
  • To corroborate findings
  • To analyze worldview patterns
  • To analyze church health
  • For background information on a potential employer
• Statistical resources researchers use
  • Diaries, journals, serendipitous reading
  • Reports from Joshua Project and IMB
  • World Christian Database and CIA World Fact Book
  • Baptist newspapers
  • Baptist Minutes
  • Southern Baptist Directory Service
  • Baptist Quarterly Review
• What SBTS Researchers Want
  • The nearly impossible
  • Ease of access to Baptist statistics
  • Ease of access to non-Baptist statistics
  • Standardized data
• Difficulties for creating access
  • Acquisition Issues
    • Collecting minutes takes time and space
    • Who is responsible?
  • Preservation Issues
    • CD-ROMs
    • Proprietary formats
• An Answer
  • A web based solution for Baptist minutes
    • Multi-platform
    • Open Source
    • LAMP
    • Exports to multiple formats (XML, HTML, PDF, .txt, .doc)
  • Able to handle all types of minutes
    • All levels (Convention, State, Associational, Church)
    • All time periods (retrospective and prospective)
    • All data (statistics, reports, circular letters, queries, list of ministers)
  • A Convention wide effort
    • Promoted and underwritten by Lifeway
      • In conjunction with the research initiative
      • Lightning press printing of minutes
    • Able to be contributed to by people at every level
      • Spreads labor
      • Many eyes looking at it
• What can we do
  • Volunteer to help work on an answer
  • Talk to others about preservation and access problems
    • Connectors– unique people who connect us to everyone else
    • Mavens– those who accumulate knowledge
    • Salesmen– persuade people to accept new information

    Urge better statistic gathering practices

  • Make relationships with archivists from other denominations