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Best books for Christians explaining the Web and digital communication culture
The books in this section explain the nature of the Web and digital communication, and are highly recommended.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/best-internet-books.php
Book review: Web-Empower Your Church, by Mark Stephenson
Stephenson tell us the story of his own church’s journey, lessons and challenges, as it started on creating and developing a website. If you are a non-techie, you can skip the the technical explanations and concentrate on Mark’s clear explanations for the huge potential for church website ministry, based on the lessons that Ginghamsburg Church have learned.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/web-empower-your-church.php
Book review: Reaching the Community with Church Websites, by Ceri Longville. Free ebook
Ceri Longville, a student at Redcliffe Bible College in Gloucester UK, has published her college dissertation on church websites.
Having been involved in church web development, Ceri saw the clear need for research. This free e-book is a valuable insight into the potential for making church sites truly ‘outsider friendly’.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/reaching-the-community-with-church-website...
Top books for technical and web design
Links to many of the best recommendations
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/technical-and-design-books.php
Books on effective writing
Reviews of best books on writing, especially for the Web.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/writing-books.php
Book review: Net Words - Creating High-Impact Online Copy, by Nick Usborne
We have a lot to learn from the people who make a living by communicating on the Web in e-commerce. Not, of course, that Christian writing should become glib sales patter. However, Usborne’s book is not merely about sales techniques. It reveals much about the nature of the Web and the expectations of web users, and how it differs from other mediums.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/net-words-creating-high-impact-online-copy...
Book review: Don't Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, Steve Krug, New Riders
This is probably the best book available on how to build usability into a website. ‘Usability’ means: enabling visitors to find what they are looking for, and present it to them in an intuitive way they can easily understand. Few websites implement all Steve’s common-sense recommendations, and lose out as a result. He also provides a vital section on how to use other people to test a website.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/dont-make-me-think-usability.php
Book review: Evangelism Made Slightly Less Difficult, by Nick Pollard
Pollard’s experience of evangelism amongst students is the bedrock of this strategic book. It is divided into four sections:
1. Helping people who don’t seem interested
2. Helping people who want to find out about Jesus
3. Helping people with difficult questions
4. Helping people who want to become Christians
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/evangelism-made-slightly-less-difficult.php
Book review: The Millennium Matrix by M Rex Miller
Miller's compelling thesis is that the church has been located in four different communication cultures over the last 2000 years, and that each one has profoundly influenced the entire fabric of the church - the way it is organized, relates together, and communicates to the outside world. For the first 1500 years until the invention of the printing press, society lived in an 'oral communication culture'.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/millennium-matrix.php
Book review: Flickering Pixels - How Technology Shapes Your Faith, by Shane Hipps
This is a very significant and strategic book because it explains the way that electronic media, especially computers and the Web, are changing our culture. As we use them, they are in fact using us, in ways we may not realize.
For 500 years, Western culture has been a 'left-brain' print-based communication culture, where we could express everything in 26 alphabetic characters. The way we preached the gospel, structured our Christian activities and systematized our theology - all have been completely shaped by print. But now technology is rapidly changing this print culture. When the medium changes, the message is changed too. Effective evangelism must take account of these changes.
http://internetevangelismday.com/bookreviews/flickering-pixels.php