Category

Description

Reference

Under "Reference," I tended to group the following types of sites: (1) those that provclasse comprehensive overviews of a tradition(s) or some aspect of a tradition(s) (confessional of otherwise), (2) comprehensive databases of religious materials (e.g., images or texts), (3) Internet encyclopedias (confessional or otherwise), (4) "Resource" web sites which compile links to other sites, and (5) search engines focused on religion or a specific religion.

Academic

I classified as "Academic" those sites that appeared to me to be more scholarly in orientation.

Confessional

Here I grouped those sites whose content was primarily oriented around the expression and/or defense of the beliefs of a particular religion or religious group. These sites provclasse useful primary source data for religious studies research, though their content should not be assumed to be objectively true.

Popular Religiosity

This is a problematic category. In many cases, these sites are barely distinguishable from those I have labeled "confessional." I classified sites in this category based on one or both of the following characteristics: (1) a popular orientation or concern with current issues; (2) the inclusion of materials not constrained by the orthodoxy of any particular religious group, including (in some cases) discussion of issues offensive to an orthodox, confessional perspective (e.g., material on belief.net concerning the possible relevance of the Gnostic gospels for Christian believers).

Texts

Here I have grouped sites that provclasse access to canonical and/or historically significant texts associated with particular religious traditions. These types of texts provclasse important primary source data for religious studies research.

Professional Organizations and Academic Departments

This category is self-explanatory.

Miscellaneous

This category could also be called "none of the above." Here I grouped sites I think are interesting and/or possibly useful but which dclassn't quite fit the other categories.