Source: Amuta 2.0
Alan D. Abbey, the website manager of The Shalom Hartman Institute, writes about how he has been utilizing the web and web2.0 tools to create an effective web presence for the Institute.
The Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem is a wide-ranging, pluralistic, Jewish research and educational and leadership training institute which trains and ordains rabbis and educators and runs religious high schools for boys and girls in Jerusalem, among many other things.
Their website includes regular Op-Ed length essays by its leaders and scholars on topics of interest to the Jewish/Israeli worlds.
“Talkbacks” (reader comments) on articles are included, some of which draw many responses.
Lectures from the Institutes scholars and leaders are streamed both onsite and offsite using Blip.tv for full-length videos, and YouTube for short ones.
Educational material, including complete course syllabi, are made available online.
Video-enabled distance learning has been made available to rabbis, teachers and community leaders in North America for over five years via dedicated, non-Internet lines.
This fall the Institute will be moving over to online video via Ustream.tv and/or Mogulus.com.
A blog running on wordpress.com has been established, to allow for the use of some Hebrew, to enhance search, and to give a less formal view of Institute activities.
Separate blogs for some of the leading Institute individuals are also under construction.
The Institute is developing a Facebook strategy to encourage social networking activity and promotion.
Twitter microblogging is also used to promote Institute activities.
The Shalom Hartman Institute was recently featured on Richard MacManus' blog: Read Write Web as a good example of a religious organization's use of web technology.