ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 635 Internet resources for religious studies By Je ffre y A. Coon Resources from listservs to clearinghouses T he Internet provides access to a multitude of resources relevant to religious studies. An in v a lu a b le in tr o d u c tio n is M ic h a e l Strangelove’s The Electric M ystic’s Guide to the Internet (Ottawa, Ontario: M. Strangelove, 1993). It is a nearly comprehensive directory of reli­ gion-related online discussion groups, electronic serials, file archives and other resources. The current version is available via FTP from the node PANDA1 ‚UOTTAWA.CA in the directory /p u b /relig io n / as the files: electric-mystics-guide-vl. txt electric-mystics-guide-v3.txt You can also receive The Electric M ystic’s G uide via e-mail by sending the following message to LISTSERV@UOTTAWA: get mystics vl-txt get mystics v3-txt Locating online discussion groups A thorough listing of major online discussion groups in all disciplines is Diane Kovacs’ Di­ rectory o f Scholarly E lectronic Conferences (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Libraries). The religious studies section describes over 25 groups. To retrieve it, FTP KSUVXA.KENT.EDU and get the file ACADLIST.FILE4 from the /li­ brary/ directory. You may also wish to get the ACADLIST.README file, which contains help­ ful explanatory notes. Alternatively, send the fo llo w in g e-m a il m e ssag e to LISTSERV® KENTVM: get acadlist.file4 get acadlist.readme Another way to locate groups is to send the om mand LIST GLOBAL /*** (where *** is a ubject keyword such as RELIGION) as an e- ail message to any valid listserv address. The esult will be a list of discussion groups whose itles or descriptions contain that keyword, sent o you as an e-mail message. elected online discussion groups ollowing are a few examples of the wide va­ iety of groups available. Most can be joined y sending the e-mail message “SUBSCRIBE roupname YourName” to LISTSERV©NODE, here NODE is the part o f the group address fter the “@” symbol. For example, to subscribe o AIBI-L@UOTTAWA, Jane Doe w ould send he e-mail message: “SUBSCRIBE AIBI-L Jane oe” to LISTSERV@UOTTAWA. Exceptions to his procedure are noted. As indicated, some discussion groups also ppear as newsgroups on Usenet, a network vailable at many universities. • AIBI-L@UOTTAWA or AIBIL@ACADVM 1. OTTAWA.CA focuses on the computerized nalysis of Biblical texts. • AMERCATH@UKCC o r AMERCATH@ KCC.UKY.EDU provides a forum for discus­ ion among scholars and teachers of the histo­ y o f American Catholicism. • ATLANTIS@HARVARDA or ATLANTIS@ ARVARDA.HARVARD.EDU (American Theo­ ogical Library Association Networked Theo­ ogical Information Service) promotes profes­ ional communication among members of ATLA nd other interested persons. To request sub­ c rip tio n , c o n ta c t CWILL@HARVARDA o r WILL@HARVARDA.HARVARD.EDU. • BUDDHA-L@ULKYVM or BUDDHA-L@ LKYVM.LOUISVILLE.EDU is an open forum c s m r t t S F r b G w a t t D t a a U a U s r H l l s a s C U Jeffrey A. Coon is reference librarian at Indiana University at Kokomo; e-mail:jcoon@ucs.indiana.edu mailto:CWILL@HARVARDA.HARVARD.EDU mailto:jcoon@ucs.indiana.edu 63 6 for exchange of information and views on top­ ics related to Buddhism and Buddhist studies. • ELENCHUS‹®UOTTAWA or ELENGHUS@ ACADVM1.UOTTAWA.CA discusses Christian thought and literature from AD 100 to AD 500. Messages in English or French are welcome. • FEMREL-L@M IZ Z O U l o r FEMREL- MIZZOUl.MISSOURI.EDU encourages discus­ sion on w om en and religion and feminist the­ ology. • IOUDAIOS@YORKVMl or IOUDAIOS@ VMl.YORKU.CA concentrates on discussion of first-century Judaism and Christian origins, par­ ticularly the works of Philo of Alexandria and Flavius Josephus. Knowledge of Greek is help­ ful. (“IOUDAIOS” is Greek for “Jew ”.) • ISLAM-L@ULKYVM o r ISLAM-L@ ULKYVM.LOUISVILLE.EDU carries non-sectari­ an discussion and debate for scholars and stu­ dents of the history of Islam. • JUDAICA@TAUNIVM o r JUD AICA @ TAUNIVM.TAU.AC.IL invites exchange o f infor­ mation and discussion of work in progress, elec­ tronic applications and new approaches which relate to Judaic studies. Participation by a broad audience is encouraged. • OBJ-REL@EMUVMl o r OBJREL@ EMUVMl.CC.EMORY.EDU seeks objective dis­ cussions of religion and its roles in society. • RELIGION@HARVARDA or RELIGION@ HARVARDA.HARVARD.EDU is sponsored by the Harvard Center for the Study of World Reli­ gions. Its purpose is to foster scholarly discus­ sion of the historical or comparative study and teaching o f religions. (It is not a forum for per­ sonal statements o f faith.) • SSREL-L@UTKVM1 o r SSREL-L@ UTKVM1.UTK.EDU (Scientific Study of Religion) focuses o n the study o f religion by scholars in various disciplines. Usenet new sgroups Usenet is an international com puter network available at m any universities. Contact your com puter center for further information on ac­ cess. As noted, some newsgroups also exist as In te rn e t d is c u s s io n g ro u p s. Note: N ot all new sgroups are available at all sites. Usenet n ew s g ro u p s o n relig io n are: a lt.atheism , a lt.h in d u , c la r i.n e w s .re lig io n , r e c .m u sic. Christian, so c .c u ltu r e .jew ish , s o c .relig io n . C h ristian , so c .re lig io n .C h ris tia n .b ib le - s tu d y , s o c .r e lig io n .e a s te r n , s o c .re lig io n , islam (also RELIGION-ISLAM-REQUEST@NCAR. UCAR.EDU), soc.religion.quaker, talk.origins (creation/evolution discussions), talk.religion. misc, talk.religion.newage. Electronic journals an d newsletters There are a growing number of journals and newsletters available through the Internet. Typ­ ically, they are retrievable through FTP or e- mail, but increasingly they are also available through GOPHER. • Bryn M aw r Classical Review publishes reviews of current work in Greek and Roman studies. To subscribe, send the e-mail message “SUBSCRIBE BMCR-L” to LISTSERV@ CC.BRYNMAWR.EDU. • A Byte o f Torah and A Megabyte o f Torah are com panion publications. Byte is a weekly newsletter providing analysis of Torah verses; Megabyte is a more detailed monthly publica­ tion. To subscribe, send the e-mail message “SUBSCRIBE BYTETORAH” to LISTSERV@ ISRAEL.NYSERNET.ORG. • IOUDAIOS Review is the review journal o f IOUDAIOS@YORKVM1, the discussion group on first-century Judaism and Christian origins. It is distributed to members o f IOUDAIOS. (See “Selected online discussion groups” above.) • Offline is a column by Robert Kraft which has appeared for a num ber of years in The Bul­ letin o f the Council o f Societies f o r the Study o f Religion and in Religious Studies News. It concen­ trates on the use of computers in religious studies. Distribution is to members o f IOUDAIOS. • Religious Studies Publications Journal— CONTENTS intends to serve as a com prehen­ sive source of information on pedagogical and research resources in religious studies. It elec­ tronically archives reviews, abstracts, conference papers, theses and dissertations, bibliographies and other documents and announces their avail­ ability to subscribers. It is not a discussion group. To subscribe, send the e-mail message “SUB­ SCRIBE CONTENTS Y o u rN a m e ” to LISTSERV@UOTTAWA o r LISTSERV@ ACADVM1.UOTTAWA.CA. To receive full texts of reviews and book notes announced in Reli­ gious Studies Publications Journal— CONTENTS, s e n d th e m e ssag e “SUBSCRIBE REVIEWL YourName” to the same addresses. O ther resources • CCAT GOPHER: Point your GOPHER at CCAT.SAS.UPENN.EDU (or telnet to that ad­ dress and login as “gopher”). The University of Pennsylvania Humanities Department and Cen­ ter for Computer Analysis of Texts (CCAT) provide 637 a collection of humanities course materi­ als and electronic texts through this GOPHER, including sacred texts which can be searched electronically and retrieved, course syllabi, glos­ saries, essays, and various information files. It also provides a wide variety of Internet-related documents and connections to other humani ties-related GOPHERs. • Johns Hopkins University Press Online Database: Tables of contents and abstracts are available several months in advance for Jour­ nal o f Early Christian Studies and other jour­ nals. To access them, FTP JHUNIX.HCF.JHU. EDU. Login as “anonymous” and give your In­ ternet address as the password. Get the jcearl-f and jcearl-p files from the /JHUJPress/.zjoumals/ .class/ directory. These files are also available through the GOPHER atJHUNIX.HCF.JHU.EDU. • Electronic B uddhist Archives: A w orld­ wide repository o f files for researchers of Bud­ dhism, Taoism, and other Asian religions. FTP WUARCHIVE.WUSTL.EDU, login as “an ony­ m o u s ”, a n d e x p lo re th e d ire c to ry / d o c / c o o m b s p a p e r s /o th e r a r c h iv e s / e le c tr o n ic buddhist-archives/. • fewishNet—The Global Jewish Informa­ tion Network Project: An electronic clearing­ house for a wide variety of information relevant to Jewish studies. You can connect to online catalogs at Jewish libraries or find out about other file servers, online discussion groups, ar­ chives and documents. Telnet to VMS.HUJI.AC.IL and login as “jewishnet”. • Locating sacred texts and related software: Access ARCHIE o n a GOPHER o r telnet to ARCHIE and search for PROG ***, w here *** is the name o f a text, such as Bible or Quran. You will receive a listing of related resources. PROG BIBLE, for example, produces a long listing of Bible text files and study software which can be retrieved via FTP. • Cruising the FTP sites: FTP PANDA1. UOTTAWA.CA and go to the /p u b /relig io n / directory. This is the home of the CONTENTS Project archives, including bibliographies, a di­ rectory of religious studies scholars, reviews of online discussion groups, theses, dissertations and more. Get the file ftp-index.txt for a help­ ful overview. FTP ISRAEL.NYSERNET.ORG for a vast archive of material on contemporary Ju­ daism and Israel. Included are the complete text of the Tanach and accompanying commentary, online discussion group archives, Hebrew fonts and other software. ■