There are various times when you look back on school and realize that your teachers were preaching something not just because it was in their curriculum, but because it had true value. I'm coming to find one of those times now. A great deal of energy was spent talking about the dangers of plagiarism, and the necessity of citing your sources. It had value when I was in school because it earned the grade, but I'm finding a new value for it now.
Grad school has taught me how to research. Believe it or not, I actually didn't do much of it at UT, probably because I was in the business school. But research is even more real life now at LINC NT. I'm finding that the best practice in ministry is not to go out there and start something because you feel like it needs to be done, the best practice is to supplement your work with constant research to find out what other people are doing and what studies have shown about your type of work. For one of our main programs, SALI, I have spent a considerable amount of time this year researching what has been written on in the fields of character education, parent involvement in schools, and Latino issues in education and society. Not only will it help enhance our grant applications, it will inform our direction of the program.
However, I'm now finding the value of those citations. Bibliographies are my best friend, when I am doing research. Moreover, I have come across those prevalent stats that everyone refers to, but few people cite. Digging those original sources is frustrating, but rewarding when I finally find the original source, only to realize that it is sadly outdated and no longer relevant. I'm finding that I have little patience anymore for websites or articles that fail to cite their sources, because I can see how they can spread false information and outdated facts. In the digital age, citations are as critical as ever, because it is so easy today to spread half-truths and outright lies. We need a commitment to the truth that comes through leaving a trail for our readers to follow.