On the border between France and Spain in the Pyrenees

On the border between France and Spain in the Pyrenees
According to legend, the Brèche was cut by Roland, supposedly a nephew of Charlemagne, with his sword Durendal, while attempting to escape the Saracens during the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. This geological gap, if you will, seems like an appropriate metaphor for my personal attempts at Sense-Making.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Online Repository of Religious Messages

The Center for the Study of Information and Religion (CSIR) at the School of Library and Information Science, Kent State University is in the process of creating a digital repository of religious messages to serve as a data resource for scholars. The repository is web based and keyword searchable. Currently, data records consist of less than one hundred sermons prepared by Christian clergy members, but the goal is to collect religious messages from all faiths. The small sample of records are available for demonstration purposes as CSIR is in the process of applying for grant funding to finance the development and expansion of the Religious Messages Repository.

CSIR invites scholars who might find such a data resource helpful to their research to visit the repository at http://csir.slis.kent.edu/sermons/search. Repository users may currently drill down into the data records by the date on which the religious message was delivered to a congregation, by the scripture text upon which the religious message was based, and the gender, ethnicity, denominational affiliation, geographical location, education level, and ordination status of the clergy person delivering the sermon. Eventually, scholars will be able to search the repository by faith tradition.

CSIR also seeks the support of scholars interested in using the repository in the grant application process. After visiting the repository, scholars are asked to take a short online survey at http://kentstate.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_a3u9j5jTTIGgrmA

The purpose of this survey is to demonstrate to grant funding agencies the extent of interest in and the need for the Religious Messages Repository. CSIR will compile the survey data regarding the number of scholars expressing an interest, the various academic fields represented, and the different types of research that the repository would benefit to potential funding agencies.

Please direct any questions regarding CSIR, the Religious Message Repository, or the survey to Dr. Daniel Roland, droland1@kent.edu.

Posted by DRR59 at 3:29 AM

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