Evan: You’re probably wondering who is sitting across from me here. This gentleman is Nathan Onciul—or Onsol, I always get confused. Is it German or English?
Nathan: It’s Romanian.
Evan: Romanian, okay! That’s why it’s so hard to pronounce. I always struggle with that. Nathan, we’ve been good friends since 2007, so we are approaching 14 years. In terms of education, you did some post-secondary, right?
Nathan: Yeah, I hold a Bachelor of Arts. I didn’t major because I wanted the freedom to get an education. I got out of high school and my parents strongly encouraged me to go to college. I didn’t know what I wanted to do right out of high school, I didn’t have a career path, and unfortunately, I am still kind of figuring things out. But they told me, “You’re going to get an education,” so that’s what I did. I went to school and earned a Bachelor of Arts from Athabasca University. Most people know Athabasca as an online university, but to give a little bit of background, I spent my first three years at Taylor College and Seminary before transferring to Athabasca to finish my degree up. So I have a heavy background from my undergrad in History and Theology especially, but I also delved into the Social Sciences and have taken all kinds of courses. It is a pretty well-rounded degree.
Evan: So you love books?
Nathan: Oh, I love books. I love to read. Especially if you go to college, you have to love reading and learning to a degree, right?
Evan: Yeah, we both love books. I know our genres are a little bit different, but also a little bit similar. As you know, there has been an explosion of the informational age. I think the market—whether it be e-books or physical books—is just saturated with published works. There’s information absolutely everywhere at our fingertips, and I think people are always trying to wonder: how do you determine which books are credible and trustworthy, and what’s not?
Nathan: Yeah, well, I think it’s important to first distinguish between a couple of types of books out there. There are general reading books on History, Theology, Politics, or anything really. If you’re looking for general information and aren’t necessarily looking to dive deep into a topic, general books are the way to go. Then, there are academic books, and there are two big differences there.
Say, for example, you go to Indigo, Chapters, or any local bookstore and pick a book off the shelf. On the back, you’ll generally see commentary from a journalist, a publishing company, or maybe a celebrity or someone famous giving their thoughts on how they felt about it. It’s important to remember that when you read stuff like that on the back of a general book, all they’re trying to do is give you their take on how they found it. That’s not speaking to whether or not it’s credible—it’s just their perception to help you get a sense of whether you’re going to be interested in it.
If you’re looking for just general knowledge on a topic, a book in a bookstore is probably the way to go. But an academic book goes through a process we call “Peer Review.” Peer review means that experts in a particular field—typically professors at a university, or other people who have their Master’s or PhD on a subject—fact-check it. Academic books are traditionally written by people who are experts in their field. When it goes through a peer review process, other professionals with that level of education go through the book as well and review it.
Just to bring up an example, I was reading about Cambridge University. They actually have an 18-person committee through Cambridge University Press. They go through a peer review process, review the book, give their feedback, and actually have to give their formal approval before the book is cleared for publishing. Sometimes an academic book has to be rewritten several times, not just submitted to the publisher and “here you go.” It’s actually quite a long process in some cases, and sometimes it takes years.
Evan: So for the skeptic that’s at a bookstore and just wants to determine, “Is this a credible book?” what would be some quick tips?
Nathan: I would for sure go online to see what some of the reviews are. Even at a general bookstore, you can find an academically published book. I would really check who the publisher is and make sure it’s a well-known publishing company. Some people maybe are quick to dismiss academic or university books as “the books of the elites,” but in fact, universities are incredible engines of learning. All the stuff they put out and review can be trusted because people are going with factual evidence that’s based in fact. They’ll have eyewitness reports, scientific evidence, or, let’s say if you’re looking at history, they might have archaeology to back them up as well. It’s important that people have factual information when they’re writing a book or even reading a book—especially when reading a book. Those are just some of the factors. There’s probably a lot more out there, but yeah.
Evan: Because that’s a tough one, right? Like you alluded to, this is an age of information but also misinformation, so it’s a big, tough one.
Nathan: It’s a big, tough one, yeah.
