Charles K. Bellinger
["The Creation of the
Wabash Center Internet Guide." Journal of Religious and Theological
Information 3/3-4 (2001): 87-96. Published simultaneously in Theological
Librarians and the Internet: Implications for Practice, edited by Mark
Stover, 87-96. New York: Haworth Press, 2001.]
1. A
Summary of My Activities
In
September 1998 I began working for the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning
in Theology and Religion as a consultant. I was given the task of setting up a
website which would provide guidance for faculty and students in theology and
religious studies who are seeking to locate Internet resources that have
academic value. My work was framed as a sixth month pilot project to determine
the current state of the resources available on the Internet in religious
studies, and to consider how those resources could be incorporated into
teaching situations.
The first question which I faced concerned the overall
shape of my efforts during the six month period. Three basic possibilities
presented themselves. 1) I could produce cataloging records for the websites I
selected similar to those traditionally produced for books; 2) I could attempt
to create records in conformity with Dublin Core standards for Internet
metadata; 3) I could create an organized and annotated collection of links to
the selected resources. In consultation with the director of the Wabash Center,
Raymond Williams, I decided that the third option was the most feasible one for
directing my efforts. The first option would be advisable for a full‑time
permanent cataloging librarian who would be able to incorporate the results of
his or her efforts directly into an institution's library database. Since I am
not a cataloging librarian, and was not in a position to incorporate the
results of my efforts into a library database, this was clearly not a viable
option for my efforts. Furthermore, certain key members of the American
Theological Library Association had been meeting during the previous year to
formulate a plan for cataloging electronic resources. I was aware of these
plans, which made it clear that my time would be more effectively spent working
in another direction. Concerning the second option, the Dublin Core standards
for metadata are intended to provide a means for the creators of websites to
"catalogue" their own materials to make the use of Internet search
engines more efficient. These standards are not intended, however, to provide a
way for an external visitor to a site to catalogue it. I have incorporated
Dublin Core metadata into the guide which I created, but this avenue of
resource description was not a viable option for my efforts. The third option
clearly emerged as superior to the others because it gave me a high degree of
flexibility in being able to adapt my work to suit the goals for which I was
aiming. My principal goal was to create a guide which would allow users to
avoid the often time consuming and inefficient process of locating resources
through an Internet search engine. In my own use of the Internet, I have found
that the most efficient way of finding resources is to use a subject guide
which has been created and maintained by a knowledgeable human being. This
observation has been echoed by others I have spoken with. Creating a set of
annotated links has the additional benefit of enabling the results of my
efforts to be made immediately available to anyone in the world who has
Internet access, rather than only being available to those connected with a
particular institution.
The next question which I faced concerned the overall
structure of the site which I would be creating. What subject area pages should
I create, and how should each page be organized? The answers to these questions
evolved gradually over a period of months, rather than appearing at the outset.
(This corresponds with the literature concerning webpage design, which speaks
of many iterations of a site leading to gradual refinements.) In terms of subject
areas, I used the program areas of the American Academy of Religion annual
conference, combined with my own knowledge of the courses which are being
offered in religious studies departments and seminaries, to set up a basic
framework. This framework was filled out as I proceeded to investigate the
Internet to discover what has been made available there. In other words, the
existence of a substantial body of material on the Internet relating to a
certain subject sometimes led to the creation of a page for that subject, even
though I was not aware at the outset of that body of material. Thus, the shape
of this guide mirrors to a large degree the shape of that portion of the
Internet which relates to religious studies materials. In this sense, this guide
is different from a guide which might be created at a particular institution to
support the particular courses that are offered at that institution.
The organization of each particular page also evolved
gradually. Since I was given the task of setting up a guide to assist in the
incorporation of Internet materials into teaching, I decided to segregate
resources according to their type or genre. This would enable a professor to
find relevant resources which relate to the various aspects of a course: syllabi
(for overall course organization), electronic texts (for primary reading
materials), electronic journals (for secondary reading materials), websites
(for other supplementary and introductory materials), bibliographies, and
listserv discussion groups (for possible dialogue with others who are studying
a particular subject). To this list the category of liturgical resources was
added when appropriate. This basic structure proved to be valuable in
establishing a large number of "cubby holes" in which to place
resources as I came across them. I have allowed this structure to be flexible
rather than rigid, as circumstances warrant. For instance, the page on the
visual arts provides links to digital images in the subsection which
corresponds to electronic texts on most of the other pages.
My task was to locate Internet resources which would
be of use to the academic community. This led me to emphasize selectivity over
comprehensiveness. I decided to add an "NB" to the sites which
appeared to me to have the highest quality, rather than developing a more
elaborate "5 star" rating system. The simpler approach struck me as
being more feasible because it is impossible for me to envision how valuable a
given site might be or not be to all of the different persons who could
conceivably visit it. I decided that the "NB" symbol would be
sufficient to indicate that a particular site should be among the first that a
person visits to determine if the resources available there are appropriate for
their needs. Approximately half way through the sixth month period of
employment, I was able to articulate the main criteria which were guiding my
efforts in selection. This was also a gradual process of discernment, leading
to this list of criteria for website selection: useful, significant content;
institutional origin; active maintenance; free access; good webpage design;
correct spelling and grammar; English language. This last point is not an
absolute, of course, since many resources linked to in the guide provide texts
in languages other than English; this point serves to indicate that the vast
majority of the sites linked to have their origin in North America, and no
special effort has been made by me to organize materials in languages other
than English.
After approximately four months of full‑time (40
hours per week) site construction, I began to feel that I had become aware of
about 95% of the high quality academic sites in religious studies in English. I
received this impression when visits to pre‑existing guides to religious
resources on the Internet led almost exclusively to sites I was already aware
of. It became harder and harder for me to locate sites in that other 5% which I
speculated were probably in existence. This result is interesting because it
contradicts the mistaken notion at work in some people's thinking that the
Internet is already a limitless source of information, or that "the
entirety of the Library of Congress" is on the Internet, or something to
that effect. In reality, even though the Internet contains many millions of
documents, images, homepages, etc., the amount of high quality material in a
particular academic field is clearly finite. It is a challenge to remain on top
of this situation, from the perspective of the librarian who is organizing
material for the academic community, but it is not an impossible challenge. The
dynamic, growing, changing, transient nature of the Internet adds to the
challenge, but this also is only a minor obstacle. I will speak further on the
topic of "staying on top" of religious studies resources on the
Internet in section 5 below.
2. A
General Description of the Wabash Center Internet
Guide.
Various
types of guides to Internet resources in religion were already in existence
when I began this project. The simplest and least useful kind of guide is just
a list of links to religion related sites, without any annotations or subject
organization. The next step up from there is to add subject divisions. The
number of such divisions might range from two (Christianity and World
Religions), up to something like one hundred. Generally speaking, the larger
the number, the easier it is to find what you are looking for. Another
important step forward in usefulness is the addition of annotations for the
links. Some kind of rating system to indicate the better sites is also helpful.
An internal search engine is sometimes valuable. Lastly, making the URL of the
link visible rather than invisible provides the user with another piece of
information about the site linked to.
The Wabash Center Internet Guide is now one of the
largest and most comprehensive guides to religious resources on the Internet.
It contains approximately 45 different subject area pages, and more than 20
other pages for material types, reference and teaching resources, etc. The
subject heading pages are further divided into six subsections: syllabi,
electronic texts, electronic journals, websites, bibliographies, and listserv
discussion groups. Multiplying 45 x 6 equals 270, which indicates a very high
level of "granularity" in the organization of materials. The total
number of links is in the vicinity of 2,500. If all of the pages in the Wabash
Center Guide were to be printed out on 8.5" x 11" paper, it would add
up to about 400 pages. It offers a simple rating system, annotations, and
visible URLs. The particular strengths of the Wabash Center Internet Guide are
links to syllabi, electronic texts, and free electronic journals in religion.
3.
How the Internet Can Be Used for Academic Research in
Religion
The
following list indicates some of the ways materials currently on the Internet
can be of assistance to those studying religion:
syllabi
Professors can consult online syllabi
to see how others approach the teaching of a certain subject. The number of
syllabi now on the Internet is probably one percent of the total number of
syllabi currently given to students in printed form. Nevertheless, the number of
syllabi on the Internet is already significant, and it covers most of the basic
course areas in religious studies. I am confident that in the future the number
of syllabi on the Internet will continue to increase, and many such syllabi
will begin to incorporate links to materials which are relevant to the course.
The process of converting a word processor file to an HTML file is really quite
simple with the right software, which can be obtained at reasonable cost or for
free. Further, most institutions of higher education now have websites, so
there is no major obstacle to a dramatic expansion in the number of online
syllabi.
electronic
texts Electronic texts can be used to
supplement printed reading materials; in some cases, there is enough material
on a given subject already available on the Internet that a student wouldn't
need to purchase most of the books for a particular course. When I say this, I
don't mean to imply that this possibility is preferable to the traditional
pattern; I am simply describing the situation. Personally, I would much rather
buy a copy of Augustine's Confessions as a book than print it out on 8
1/2 by 11 inch paper and read it in that form; reading it on the computer
screen is even less desirable as an option. Nevertheless, the existence of
electronic texts opens up new options that are often valuable. The photocopied
course packet, for example, is often an expensive, ungainly monstrosity that
students are required to purchase. The Internet makes possible the creation of
electronic course packets which are much more user friendly from the students'
point of view. The scarcity of library resources can also be overcome through
electronic reserves. If 30 (or 200) students need to read a chapter in a book
of which the library only owns 2 copies, an electronic copy of that chapter can
be made, thus avoiding the logjam at the reserve desk. This solution requires,
of course, the appropriate technological infrastructure to be in place, in
terms of student access to computers. (The copyright issues involved with
reserves and course packets are being debated currently.) The existence of
texts in electronic form also allows for texts to be searched for particular
words or concepts. This feature is very popular in the field of biblical studies.
Electronic texts also allow a passage to be clipped and pasted as a quotation
in a paper. This avoids the need for retyping and the possibility of typos.
As of early 2000, when these words are being written,
the total body of electronic texts in religious studies on the Internet is very
substantial. The basic core of canonical scriptures in the major world
religions is available online, often in several different English and non‑English
translations. Also, a very large number of theological and philosophical texts
can be found on the Internet. In some cases, sophisticated searching and
lexicographical analysis of these scriptures and texts is also available
online. A considerable amount of secondary scholarship is present on the
Internet, both in terms of introductory materials and more advanced essays. For
the primary materials, it needs to be noted that the quality of the texts
varies widely. It is often the case that older (out of date?) translations and
scholarship have been placed on the Internet simply because they were in the
public domain. Thus the Internet is often a strange combination of the latest
technology with scholarship from past generations.
electronic
journals There are a large number of
electronic journals currently on the Internet, though the total number of print‑only
journals is still much larger. The Wabash Center Guide has focused on gathering
links to free journals, rather than those which restrict access. I have
included links to approximately 200 electronic publications in this guide. The
quality of these publications varies widely, however, from well established
academic journals to ephemeral publications of little academic value. In my
opinion, electronic journals will eventually completely replace print journals as
a form of scholarly communication. This process is likely to take several
decades to complete, however, and we are only in its infancy.
websites
Websites, understood as a separate
genre from texts and journals, have some value to academic scholarship in
religion, in that they can provide both more "objective" scholarly
introductions to a particular religion or topic and also more
"subjective" or "committed" introductions by members of
that religion. They often provide a combination of texts, images, and perhaps
sound files which will be useful to students who are seeking to gain a broad
exposure to a particular tradition. As with the other genres, however, they can
vary greatly in their quality, depending on the intellectual abilities, aesthetic
sensibilities, and institutional resources of the site's creators.
bibliographies
There are a significant number of
bibliographies in religious studies already on the Internet, and that number is
likely to rise in the future. Since bibliographies are relatively easy to find
in traditional print sources in most libraries today, this aspect of the
situation does not involve any dramatic changes. It will simply be easier for
researchers to obtain the information they are seeking without having to physically
go to the library.
listserv
discussion groups This is a new form
of communication which has been brought into existence by the Internet. The
novelty is found in the ease with which people who are geographically separated
from each other can communicate very easily and inexpensively. Discussion
groups serve as a form of daily informal conversation between members of a
particular academic guild, or between people in different fields who are
interested in a certain topic. The Wabash Center Guide typically provides a
link to the homepage of a listserv, which offers a description of the group and
provides instructions for subscribing.
Another variation on the listserv concept is seen in
temporary groups formed to facilitate discussion within a particular course.
Students can post responses to readings, react to what others have written,
pose questions, etc. The professor can monitor all of this activity, make
assignments and announcements, bring print or Internet resources to the
attention of the class, etc.
4.
The Current Limitations of the Internet
As
stated above, one key limitation of the resources available on the Internet is
seen in their often dated nature. A professor may want to assign as reading a
text which is on the Internet, but be deterred by the fact that the only
available translation is from the 19th century. If a more recent translation is
available, particularly as an inexpensive paperback, this will most likely be
seen as a superior alternative. A more substantial limitation is seen in the
nonexistence of many modern texts in electronic form. If one is seeking texts
by authors such as Schleiermacher, Kierkegaard, Buber, Barth, and the Niebuhrs,
one will find next to nothing on the Internet currently. This situation is
likely to change in the future as more texts are made available online, but I
don't expect the change to be dramatic or rapid. The works of these authors are
for the most part still within the publishing domain, not the public domain,
and the need for publishers to earn income militates against the free dispersal
of these texts in electronic form. There is also a large body of high quality
secondary material which currently exists in printed form but not in electronic
form. This situation is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, unless
there is a large movement among the authors of such books to make their works
available electronically. As noted above, the total number of print‑only
journals exceeds the number that are available electronically. This situation
is likely to change more quickly, however, than the book publishing industry,
because the overwhelming strain which expensive serials place on the budgets of
academic libraries will break the back of the current system. The many advantages
of electronic journals as a form of scholarly communication, along with their
relatively inexpensive cost structure, spells doom for the traditional print
journal system. It is likely that this breakdown of the traditional system will
take the form of the academic community taking complete control of the journal
publishing process, removing publishers and information brokers from the
situation completely.
5. A
Vision for the Future of This Guide or Similar Efforts
In
my opinion, while the total number of high quality Internet resources in the
field of religious studies is finite, this entire body of material is too large
and too complicated for one person to organize effectively on an ongoing basis.
If several different people try to manage this large task separately from each
other, their efforts will be redundant as well as being insufficient. It is
clear that the most rational plan is for different parts of an Internet guide
in religious studies to be delegated to various persons. One person could be
responsible for the page on ethics, another for the page on Hinduism, etc. A
team of such persons could be recruited from the ranks of professors, advanced
graduate students, or librarians with subject area expertise. Each could be
paid a small amount, such as three to five thousand dollars per year, to spend
a small number of hours per week maintaining and improving their page. This
money could either come from a central source which sponsors the project, or
from the budgets of the various institutions with which the page maintainers
are affiliated. The overall guidance for the project could come from an
organization such as the American Theological Library Association or the
American Academy of Religion. The resulting guide would constitute the primary
resource which students and professors would turn to when they are seeking to
locate Internet resources in religion. In my view, the knowledgeable
individuals and modest financial resources which are necessary to make this
plan a reality are available within the North American academic community. All
that is required is coordination of efforts in this direction by individuals in
leadership positions in the American Theological Library Association or the
American Academy of Religion.