Information needs and Information seeking behaviour of Namibian pastors

Text Sample:

Chapter 2.5, Perceptions of pastors on their preparedness to meet their job demands:

Judging oneself is not an easy task. The Bible (Romans 12:3) encourages believers to evaluate themselves 'not highly' but with 'sober judgement'. Pastors are employed in one of society's most demanding professions and many church members may place unrealistic expectations on them. The Barna Group (2006) conducted a study with a representative sample of 627 senior pastors of Protestant churches in America on how they think of themselves and the churches they serve. The study revealed that pastors are self-confident in many areas of their ministry (Bible teaching, leading, disciple-making, etc.). Age was also shown to influence self-perception. The 'boomers' (aged between 41-59) said they had few close friends. Pastors above 60 years of age felt inadequately recognised for their efforts, while young pastors (aged between 22-40) described themselves as both introverts and risk-takers. In general, pastors struggle to maintain genuine friendships with others (Barna, 2006). This is in agreement with a research conducted by FICG (1991) in which 70% of the participants revealed that they did not have friends. The study revealed that risk taking decreased with the number of years in service. This shows that pastors are not different from people from other walks of life and that they do not view themselves as super humans.
In the Barna Group (2006) study mentioned above, findings showed that black pastors were more likely than white pastors to describe themselves as introverts and significantly more likely to feel under-appreciated. While the majority of pastors described their churches as theologically conservative and effective at disciple-making, the Barna Group argue that there are conflicts between pastoral self-perceptions and the condition of their congregations. They suggest that there is need for pastors to find tools and methods to evaluate themselves and their ministries.
Generally, one would assume that if pastors are doing well, then that should be seen in the transformed lives of their members. Thayer (1987) argues that knowledge does not always result in change of behaviour. Thayer could be right especially when one thinks of the advertisements on the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) on HIV and AIDS and yet the country remains one of the leading countries in Southern African Development Community (SADC) in terms of infection (Avert, 2012). People are increasingly talking about the evils of rape and murder, but the country seems to be experiencing a rise as far as these issues are concerned. In other words, it could be true that information exposure does not necessarily translate into a changed life and therefore can be difficult to use in judging the effectiveness or readiness of pastors in the delivery of their messages. Another example is that many medical doctors know about the effects of tobacco and even teach others about it, but they themselves continue to smoke. They choose not to act upon what they know. The preparedness of pastors therefore may not be easily measured from the change in their congregants since the latter may choose not to act on what they hear from their pastors.
2.6, Pastoral information service:

According to Helenius (1993), service design is about planning and organising people, infrastructure, communication and material components of a service in order to improve its quality and the interaction between the service provider and customers (p. 416). Different authors; Stueart and Moran (1987), Bryson (1990) and Bunch (1982), have agreed that an information service must be designed according to the needs of its customers or participants, so that the service is user-friendly, competitive and relevant to the customers. Service design may inform changes to an existing service or creation of new services.
Information service requires that the information needs of the users be assessed from time to time. The more denominations and pastors there are, the more varying information needs there are. Helenius (1993) points out that it is impossible to obtain information from all prospective users, but at least some representatives of each user group should be available (p. 419). In the Namibian context, groupings extend beyond denominations. They encompass such variables as race, gender and education. Bryson (1990) argues that the ideas of what constitutes needs change over time as influence increases (p. 62). However, when needs assessment is properly done, it enables information service providers to:

identify the difference between current provision and desired level of service;
forecast future needs;
plan provision to meet such needs in good time;
ensure that the operational policies are effective in reaching real needs.
There are a number of means of examining needs which are of relevance to the information service. They include interviews, protocol analyses, brainstorming and the analysis of existing information services.
In carrying out needs assessment for an information service, Bunch (1982) has recommended a number of factors to be considered. These factors include: firstly, why information is important. Service providers have to consider the importance of information and the effects of not having information for pastors. Secondly, what the information needs of these people are? The information needs of pastors must be identified so that the right information is provided. Thirdly, who provides these people with information? These could be public libraries, theological libraries or personal libraries. The fourth important question to ask is, what type of information do they use? These could be informal or formal sources of information. Lastly, what information management techniques do they have? Here we are looking at what techniques pastors have to manage both internal and external information.
The above questions illustrate factors that several writers have recommended for the designing and implementation of an information service. This requires a clear understanding of what information is and its role in pastoral ministry. Users' needs assessment should include a review of the current services, their deficiencies or gaps, their limitations in terms of quality, relevance and up-to-dateness of the information (Bertot & Davis, 2004, pp. 189-190). It is one thing to start an information service and another thing to sustain the service. It is for this reason that continuous evaluation and impact assessment becomes necessary for an effective information service delivery. However, the ability to evaluate and assess impact depends on the skills, tools and resources available to those engaging in the delivery of services (Bertot, 2004). Irrespective of one's skills or tools, the following questions need to be asked:

how often was the service or source used?;
what do users think about the quality of services or sources provided?;
what are the impact, benefits and changes in knowledge, skills or behaviour that users derive as a result of the service?
When this is done on a regular basis, it ensures that the services and sources provided meet user and customer needs.