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 October
2002
Find it on the Web!
Want to use the Internet to
answer your Catholic question? Here's how to use one secular resource to
do it.
I get a lot of calls for
information on various subjects, from sacramental preparation to canon law
issues. More times than not, I can come up with an answer to a question
within a few minutes. Some of this info is right off the top of my head,
but most comes from a quick scan of the Internet. While I am afraid it may
debunk my "guru" status, I happily share some tips this month
for finding Catholic information on the Internet.
When in doubt, GOOGLE
it out!
Before looking at any Catholic
sites, my first Internet stop when searching for information is always Google.com.
This remarkable search engine is extremely fast. In my experience, it
brings up results that are just what I am looking for, ninety percent of
the time. Let me give you a recent example.
A colleague asked me about a
reference to "Sullivan, p. 137" in some materials that we had
both used to teach a course on the Church. There was no bibliography
included with the outline, so I had not bothered with the resource. I was
curious to see how Google would do
this, however. In the search field I typed "Sullivan
ecclesiology", since our course was on ecclesiology. The very first
links listed on the page pointed me to Francis Sullivan, SJ. In a few more
clicks I found the book that this man wrote about the Church. Just like
that!
Here's another quick one: Want
to know which saint is the patron of blacksmiths? Simply type "patron
saint blacksmiths" in the search field, and off you go!
One Stop Searching
The great part about a Google
search is that you do not need to know anything other than how to get to
Google.com to do the search. While the site does an amazing job surfacing
relevant web links, you may have to tweak your search a bit to get
helpful results. Here are some hints.
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Work from specific to
general. Notice that in my example I used the word
"ecclesiology". I tried the same search today with
"Sullivan church", and came up with no helpful links on the
first five pages. The word "ecclesiology" narrowed the
search to someone who studied the church, while the search with the
word "church" brought in all sorts of general things,
including websites for all manner of parishes. If you get too many
results in the first try, you might add another word that can narrow
things down. If you get too few results, you can try removing a word.
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Use Catholic terms. Sometimes
adding the word "Catholic" to a search will help. Sometimes
you can use a phrase that is pretty exclusive to Catholic circles. In
my second example, "Patron saints" was a pretty good
narrower, because this concept is pretty darn Catholic! Other searches
that will get relevant results include: "real presence eucharist,"
"Catechism Catholic Church, " and "find Catholic
diocese". Google works very well with proper names. I have often
typed the full name of a Catholic organization, and found their main
site on the first page of links. Get the idea?
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Look for
"official" sites. Once you get a listing of pages that
look relevant, click on the web pages that seem to be the most
authoritative. Diocesan sites are usually quite reliable. If you find
your answer on someone's personal website, I would suggest that you
verify the information elsewhere. There are numerous commercial and
non-profit sites that contain excellent information. Some of examples
are found at our Links Page, http://www.centralmdcatholic.org/links/indexa-d.htm#ccc
You can often verify a site's "pedigree" by clicking on an
"About Us" link on their main page.
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Sift out data amidst
the "tone". A major blessing of the Internet is
that you can find all manner of opinions expressed. This is also the
curse! How do you sift out fact from opinion? How do you find solid
data about what the Church teaches? Try this example: Type
"Catholics abortion" in the Google search field. This very
charged issue elicits all manner of emotional reaction. But what does
the Church teach? In questions of actual policy or teaching,
note the sources that are cited. The Catechism of the Catholic
Church is a solid resource. You can search it online via: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/ccc_toc.htm
Search for pages...and
more.
This simple ideas should be enough
to get your started. I find this search engine so useful that I downloaded
a Google Toolbar for use
with Internet Explorer that I can use to initiate my searches without
having to go to the Google main page first. Google also offers options to
search for images. This works particularly well with people (My photo was
on page four of a search under "Chris Weber"!).
One down side to using this
service is that your searches do not always generate content that is
acceptable. You can minimize this by clicking on "Preferences"
and selecting Strict Filtering under "Safesearch Filtering".
Keeping your searches very specifically Catholic will avoid most mishaps.
However, if this is not satisfactory for you, you may want to look up you
information on a dedicated site like http://www.internetpadre.com
or The Theology Library at
Springhill College.
It is amazing what you can
find - have fun hunting!
Chris Weber
Director,
Catholic Education Ministries of Central Maryland
301-447-3707
Copyright © 2002 by the Catholic Education
Ministries Center of Central Maryland, Emmitsburg, MD 21727. All rights reserved.
Comments about this
article? Great ideas that you want to share? Send me your remarks via Email...
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Want
to know which saint is the patron of blacksmiths? Simply type "patron
saint blacksmiths" in the search field, and off you go!
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