ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 426 / C&RL News ■ June 2002 IN T E R N E T RESO UR CES World religions on the Web A guide to some of the most helpful sites by John Jaeger T here is an abundance of materials on the Internet related to the field of religion. This is true in relation to religion in general and also for specific w orld religions. A simple Google search on “religion” or on “Buddhism” brings forth a great num ber of results, which is generally encouraging for those w ho are searching for information related to religious topics. However, the num ber of results can be a bit daunting; it can becom e a tim e-con­ suming effort trying to sift the solid resources from the w eak ones. This can be a particular problem w h e n searching in the area of world religions because the terrain is often unfamil­ iar, and it can be difficult to know w hen bias is p resen ted in materials. During times of political tensions, such as the current ones in the Middle East, these kinds of issues par­ ticularly com e to the forefront. Subtle bias also can a p p ear in sites due to insular or mis­ sionary zeal. Web guides are useful in just these kinds of situations. They can help pull out from the abundance of sites on the Web the ones that are m ost helpful and most balanced in a p ­ proach. This Web guide covers several main areas: w orld religion sites, specific religion sites, religious text sites, historical research sites, reference resource sites, and electronic journals. W o rld re lig io n s ite s • F in d in g G od in C y b e r sp a c e . This is one of the best Web sites on the Internet for finding information on religion. John Gresham has built and m aintained this site for several years. The section devoted to w orld religion links to som e of the best gateways to infor­ m ation available. His site also provides brief annotations. Access: http://w w w .fo n tb o n n e. edu/libserv/fgic/fgic .htm . • R e lig io n s o f th e W orld. Minnesota State University’s Emuseum is a kind of introduc­ tion to the major w orld religions. The o p e n ­ ing page has a “clickable” w orld m ap show ­ ing how religious groups are concentrated geographically, with links to the specific reli­ gions: Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Animism, Christianity, and Hinduism. The information provided on these religions includes history, basic beliefs, terms, and links to other sites. I About the au th o r] John Jaeger is reference librarian a t Union University, e-mail: jjaeger@uu.edu http://www.fontbonne mailto:jjaeger@uu.edu C&RL News ■ June 2002 / 427 Access: http.-//em useum .m ankato .m sus.e d u / cultural/religion. • W a b a sh C e n te r f o r T e a c h in g a n d L e a r n in g i n T h e o l o g y a n d R e l i g i o n . Wabash Center maintains this excellent and large site. There are probably m ore world religion sites here than in any other general gateway. The site is extremely well organized. Access.- h ttp ://w w w .w ab a sh c en te r.w a b ash . edu/Internet/front.htm . R e lig io u s te x t site s • T h e I n te r n e t S a cre d T ex t A r c h iv e . W ithout question, this nonprofit site is the single largest religious text archive on the Internet. The content here is quite broad, taking on religion, mythology, legend, folk­ lore, occult, and esoteric topics. The topical listing of religious materials has 46 catego­ ries, not only dealing with such standards as Jainism but also such novelties as Piri Re’is Map, Shamanism, and Tantra. The site states that it gets about 2,000 unique visitors each day and an average of 150,000 hits a day. Access: http://w w w .sacred-texts.com /index. htm. • R e lig io u s a n d S a cred T e x ts. Here is another excellent source for full-text religious writings. Interestingly, this collection, w hile far sm aller th an the In te rn e t Sacred Text Archive, in m any w ays is co m p le m e n tary to it. There are a nu m b er o f resources here, su c h as th e U rantia B ook, th a t are not fo u n d o n th e In te rn et Sacred Text Archive. It sh o u ld also b e n o te d that this co llection is stro n g in Old T estam ent a n d N ew T esta­ m ent p e rio d texts n o t fo u n d in the Bible. Access: h ttp :// d a v id w il e y .c o m /r e li g io n . html. S p e c ific re lig io n s H induism • T h e H in d u U n iv erse . Probably the larg­ est and best single site on Hinduism on the Internet, the Hindu Universe provides links to m ore than 17,000 sites. The resource di­ rectory offers a helpful organization frame­ w ork for finding resources related to such topics as scriptures, god, worship, philoso­ phy, customs, history, and interfaith relations. The Hindu Universe is a project of the Hindu Students Council and is the Web site for the Global Hindu Electronic Networks. Access: h ttp :// w w w .hindunet.org. B uddhism • B u d d h ist S tu d ie s WWW V irtu al Li­ b rary. The Buddhist Studies WWW Virtual Library is one of those sites you wish was available for every religion. It is so thoroughly organized and classified that locating specific informational sites is easy. Buddhism is re­ ally not a single thing, but a com plex of mat­ ters, and this site recognizes this. There are links within the pages to the WWW Virtual Libraries for “Pure Land Buddhism ,” “Tibetan Studies,” and “Zen Buddhism .” There is also a link to a Theravada Buddhist InfoWeb. A helpful search engine is available as well. Access: http://w w w .ciolek.com /W W W V L - Buddhism .htm l. • R e so u rc es fo r th e Study o f B u d d h ism . If you need a gateway to general Buddhism resources, this one from Ron Epstein of San Francisco State University is a good choice. His site points to such places as other general resources on Buddhism, sites for Theravada Buddhism teachings, sites for Mahayana Bud­ dhism teachings, sites on Buddhism and sci­ ence, and online collections of Buddhist texts. His site also, interestingly, links to sites on death a n d dying. Access: h ttp ://o n lin e .s fs u .e d u / ~rone/Buddhism/Buddhism.htm. Islam • T h e I s la m P age. The nam e says it all; this is the page to go to for finding informa­ tion on Islam. Near the top of the page, one has the opportunity to read the Q ur’an in any of m ore than 20 different languages. There also are several different search tools avail­ able for the textual and topical examination of the Q ur’an. As one searches further on the Islam Page, one moves into large subject ar­ eas of links, which include beliefs of Islam, Muslim character, comparative religion, and Islamic history. There are 20 pages of links on this site. Access: w w w .islam w orld.net. • I s l a m i c T e x t s a n d R e s o u r c e s M etap age. Here is another linking page or gatew ay to Islamic resources. While it is not nearly the size of The Islam Page, there are interesting links here, such as “Islam— Fre­ quently Asked Questions at CalTech FTP,” that are w orth visiting. The site also links to pam ­ phlets put out by Islamic organizations, as well as links to important ideas in Islamic thought. Access: h ttp ://w in g s.b u ffa lo .e d u / student-life/sa/m uslim /isl/isl. htm l. msus.edu/ http://www.wabashcenter.wabash http://www.sacred-texts.com/index http://davidwiley.com/religion http://www.hindunet.org http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVL-Buddhism.html http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVL-Buddhism.html http://online.sfsu.edu/ http://www.islamworld.net http://wings.buffalo.edu/ 428 / C&RL News ■ June 2002 Ja in ism • J a in is m : J a in P r in c ip le s , T r a d itio n , a n d P r a c tic e s . This Colorado State Univer­ sity-maintained site is the best on the Internet in term s of Jain study. The links are gathered aro u n d ten basic categories, w hich include such areas as Jainism introduction, Jain texts, Jain images, Jain pilgrimages, Jainism in the eyes of others, directories and lists, slides, a n d regional organizations. The listed direc­ tory items seem quite small, but this seem ­ ingly negative feature also allows the searcher to brow se through larger sections at a time (providing his or her eyesight is fairly good). Access: http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~m alaiya/ jainhlinks.html. Ju d a ism • J u d a is m a n d J e w is h R e s o u r c e s . An­ d rew T annenbaum ’s site has b e e n the p re ­ mier gatew ay to Jew ish resources on the Web for m any years. W hen printed, the links com ­ prise 29 pages of text. W hat m akes that m ore impressive is that Tannenbaum has annotated all o f the pages of links. This is the place to go to find resources. The table of contents on the first page is helpful in that one can link directly to the part of the site o n e w ants to visit (say, “Jew ish Studies”). It is a nearly flawless site. Access: h ttp ://w w w .sh a m a sh . org/trb/judaism . htm l. Sikhism • G a te w a y t o S ik h is m . The G atew ay to Sikhism is am ong the best resources for find­ ing material on the Sikh religion. The site is o rg a n iz e d a ro u n d k ey Sikh subjects a n d them es, such as Sikh gurus, Sikh history, Sikh w ay of life, Sikh scriptures, and Sikh youth. There is also a search engine feature. Access: http ://w w w . allaboutsikhs. com /h o m e .htm . • S ik h ism . This resource states that it is “the largest Sikhism resource for Sikh and non Sikhs alike.” In my ow n research, I w ould tend to give that honor to the Gateway to Sikhism listed above. Nonetheless, this really is a good, if not great, site, offering helpful resources on Sikhism of various kinds. W hat is of particular interest is the large collection of online videos available for viewing in RealVideo format. The videos are instructional and devotional and can be view ed from the com puter over a period of several m inutes each. Access: h ttp ://w w w . srigurugranthsahib. org. Taoism • T a o ism I n fo r m a t io n P age. The title of this site makes it sound as if there is merely general information on Taoism provided, but that is quite misleading. In fact, this is a large and in-depth site offering links for com m en­ taries and interpretations to the philosophical/ religious writings of the Tao, as well as links to sites on Chinese philosophy in general. Other subjects are also addressed, such as Taoism and modernity, Buddhism and Confucianism, and Taoism and Martial Arts. Access: h ttp :// w w w .das.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/taoism . Zoroastrianism • Z o r o a s tr ia n is m P a g e. The single best Zoroastrianism Web resource for good infor­ m ation is the Zoroastrianism Page. Listed at the top of the page are several aw ards the site has won, including Study W eb’s Academic Excellence Award. What I have observed over a p eriod of time is that the site keeps reliable inform ation and is well-m aintained. Access: h t t p : / / p a l e t t e .e c n .p u r d u e .e d u / ~ b u l s a r a / ZOROASTRIAN/zoroastrian.html. In te rn e t H is to ry S o u rc e b o o k s Fordham University has developed and m ain­ tained the Internet History Sourcebooks Project. Each of the Internet History Sourcebooks fo­ cused on here— the Internet African History Sourcebook (http://www.fordham .edu/halsall/ africa/africasbook.html), the Internet East Asian History Sourcebook (http://www.fordham .edu/ halsall/eastasia/eastasiasbook.html), the Inter­ net Indian History Sourcebook (http://w w w . fordham .edu/halsall/india/indiasbook.htm l), th e I n te rn e t Islam ic H istory S o u rc e b o o k ( h t tp : // w w w .f o r d h a m .e d u / h a ls a l l/ is l a m / islamsbook.html), and the Internet Jewish His­ tory Sourcebook (http://w w w .fordham .edu/ halsall/jewish/jewishsbook.html)— is extremely large, with links comprising perhaps 30 pages of text a n d links to prim ary and secondary r e s o u r c e s o f all ty p e s . T h e E ast A sian S ourcebook lists sites for several religious groups, including Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto. The Indian Sourcebook also covers Hin­ duism, Buddhism, and some other traditions. Access: http ://ww w.fordham .edu.halsall. R e fe re n c e to o ls • C y b r a r y o f t h e H o l o c a u s t . T h is u n iq u e referen ce reso u rc e p ro v id es a g o o d http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/ http://www.shamash http://www.das.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/taoism http://palette.ecn.purdue.edu/~bulsara/ http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ http://www.fordham.edu/ http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/islam/ http://www.fordham.edu/ http://www.fordham.edu.halsall C&RL News ■ June 2002 / 429 deal of information about the Holocaust in a searchable fashion. It is a good educational resource. Access: http://rem em ber.org. • J e w is h V ir tu a l L ib rary. This library, on ce it is en te red , is m ore like a living e n ­ cyclopedia th an it is anything else. O ne has o p tio n s to click on, such as history, w om en, biography, politics, Israel, m aps, a n d Judaic T reasures at the Library of C on­ gress, w ith each launching a p e rso n into a different realm . The site is extrem ely well p u t to g e t h e r . A ccess: h t t p : / / w w w . u s - israel. o r g /in d e x . h tm l. • T h e P e a c e E n c y c lo p e d ia . Yahoodi Communications, working with the Interna­ tional Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, has m ade available this creative and interest­ ing encyclopedia. Under “A,” such entries as abuse, antisemitism, anti-Zionism, apartheid and Israel, Arabs, Arabists, and assimilation appear. The encyclopedia is not solely fo­ cused on Israeli-Arab concerns, but that is certainly a major focus of it. Access: h ttp :// w w w . yahoodi. com /peace/index. htm l. • A S h i’it e E n c y c lo p e d ia . The e n c y ­ clopedia can be view ed section by section, o r it can be se arc h e d by k eyw ord of c o n ­ cept. It also is available for d o w n lo a d as a zip file. O ne can tell that a g o o d d eal of effort w en t into th e e n c y clo p e d ia by the size of th e d o c u m e n t a n d th e efforts that have b e e n m ade to m ake it available for searching a n d accessibility. Access: h ttp :// w w w .a l-islam .o rg /en cy clo p ed ia. E le c t r o n ic jo u r n a ls • R e lig io u s S tu d ie s E le c t r o n ic J o u r ­ n a ls . This site is from a pag e on Saundra Lipton a n d Cheryl A dam ’s ex cellent g a te ­ w ay to religious resources. I view th e site as th e single b est listing o f electronic jo u r­ nals o n w o rld religions o n the W eb. The journals are o rg an iz ed according to reli- RELIGIOUS STUDIES WEB GUIDE gious grou p in g , a n d th e b rie f an n o tatio n s p ro v id e th e re a d e r w ith helpful inform a­ tion as to w h at kind of c o n te n t is available a t th e s ite s . A c c ess: h t t p : / / w w w . a c s . u c a lg a ry .c a /~ lip to n /jo u rn a ls.h tm l. ■ http://remember.org http://www.us-israel http://www.us-israel http://www.al-islam.org/encyclopedia http://www.acs