Another week has gone by and numerous hours on the computer has yielded some more gold. I have started a background section in my personal bookmark file that includes information on organizations and people important in the mission movement. This is important because websites are connected not just by links, but by the people who create them and by the people they report on.
A few people emailed back and provided some encouragement. Two so far have expressed doubt about being able to charge for this service, though one said my rate was "on the low end of the scale." A rough estimate of mine put those paying to those who wouldn't pay at 1:200 at $30 per hour. Because of this I have decided to offer this service initially at no charge.
If in the future there is greater response than I can handle, I may look for others to help or decide to charge a nominal fee of $5.00 per search. The advantage to offering a free service is that it could benefit those who have limited access to the internet - and limited funds. These are the people who could benefit most from having internet research done for them.
I wonder a little why I am doing this. One person said that it could generate a lot of work. This is true. But in the scheme of things helping those who are doing missions can also help the mission work be more effective and efficient. I can't go at this time, and I seem to be built more for helping others than I am at being out in front, so if this is the way that God would use me, then so be it.
On the whole, the initial explosion of links I was able to find has slowed down. I have been reading some periodical articles on the stratigecnetwork.org site. This site archives several very good missiological journals which are provided in html as well as pdf format where possible. Reading these has alerted me to several new sources as well as showing who is behind some of the resources on the web.
I have also been going through my online bookmark file (spurls) and refining that. It is a handy service I recommend (spurl.net). I am still thinking of using it as a container for collecting links if I do research for someone else. It still doesn't allow for a full export of links, but it has a nightly backup to two different locations, so it should be pretty safe. The links which were accidentally deleted were fully restored.
I have deliberated providing my bookmarks to others. I hesitate because I really want my service to reduce the number of links people look at and increase the time they spend looking at quality sources. At the same time, there are many good sources of missiological information out there (such as MisLinks.org) which people can use to complement a good search engine. Another excellent source for primary documents is strategicnetwork.org. Journal articles can be browsed for a modest fee of $20 per year.
That is about all for now. I welcome your comments and feedback.
Until next week,
God bless,
Clarence
About Me
- Clarence Bos
- Clarence was born on a farm in southwestern Ontario in the mid 60s. He received his B.A. from the university of Guelph in 1990. Since then he has worked at a variety of jobs, both in the trades and in the office. He has established a company which reflects his experience, one which allows him to work both in the theorectical and practical realms and which is focussed on a current issue: the environment and sustainability, or more specifically, ecological footprint.
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