Parish & School Planning and Support Services

What is the Internet? The Internet is information--pictures and words, sounds and video clips that can be accessed from anywhere in the world using a computer linked up to a phone line. Typically, you connect to this service, or "log on" and you search for something. What are you interested in? Whether it is turnips or turtledoves; Vatican statutes, or statues; cheese or cheap plane tickets to Florida, you can find information, products, services and enthusiasts. Search for anything you want, and most likely, it's out there on the Internet. Eventually you'll find it.

Most of the information and resources are free. But there are others that charge for time and expertise. The Internet is useful for research, obtaining expert advice, or networking with your parishioners. You can search the Massachusetts general laws on line to see what statutes effect a non-profit organization running a Bingo game. You could look up the resale value of that used car; find clipart for your bulletin; or develop resources for a project you are working on. Keeping parishioners informed on how the pledge drive is going and planning fundraising activities becomes a lot simpler with the Internet as your assistant.

The Internet allows you to quickly access information. As with any other tool, the use and the need depend on the wielder.

Where is the Internet? How do I find it? Or Search? First off, you start with a computer that is connected to the phone line using a device called a modem (probably built in to the machine). The computer uses a program called a net browser, (i.e. Netscape, or Internet Explorer, America-On-Line). The computer uses the modem to dial up a pay service and connect to the Internet. You, the user, would use the browser program to search, view, print, and so forth. If your computer is already used to transmit your bulletin for example, it already has a modem, and might be ready to use the Internet as is. (Except for the cost of the service, of course)

What type of computer do I need? The question of "can my machine do this" is relevant to any machine that is a year old or more. Maybe it will do it, maybe not; it is really a case by case basis. Going with a new machine, I am confident in saying that it is not possible to purchase a bad computer today. Even the machines that start as low as $400 are more powerful than the best computer on the planet of two years ago.

The speed of the modem and machine are an issue, as are the size of the hard drive, and memory. Some of the files you are looking at are pictures, or video clips, and these take a certain amount of performance from your equipment. We have included a list of typical computer specifications in the appendix. There is a certain baseline standard a computer must meet before accessing the Internet becomes usable and interesting, and not simply a curiosity.

So what should I buy, if I want to get a machine for the Internet?   Here is a quick profile of the minimum machine we would recommend. The entire system cost is approximately $600-$800. For further details about a computer purchase, please refer to our computer comparison list. The basic profile would consist of: 2.5 Gigahertz (think of this as 'miles per hour'), 128 Megabytes of disk space, 20 Gigabytes of disk storage space. 56.6K modem, video monitor, sound card, speakers, Windows XP, a net browser, and inkjet printer.

In general, when comparing computers, the larger the numbers the better. It is all a matter of scale, and the specific value isn't so critical.

If I get a computer and browser, and it's hooked to the phone line... then what? Do I get E-mail? Once the computer is set up in your office or home you need a place to call up and connect to. This is called the ISP (The Internet Service Provider). It can be America On-Line, Mindspring.com, TIAC, etc. These are all independent companies offering a subscription to their service, much like a cable company. This monthly fee allows you to connect to the Internet. Typically this costs about $20 per month for between 100 hours a month up to unlimited time. The dial-up would be a local phone number for you. With this service you would also get an E-mail account (or accounts) which is a place where people can send you electronic messages. Your E-mail name, which you could give out to people or put in the bulletin would be something like FrBill@AOL.COM This is the address that people would type in their own browser to send a message to you.

The choice of an ISP, of an Internet service is not as crucial a decision. You need a place with a local number, coverage, if you want to dial in from elsewhere. There are ISP's that are FREE, and places that will host your web site for free. Free commercial sites are NOT recommended for a parish environment, because the 'hook' for these free services is that your site would have some advertising inserted into your site that you have no control over. The advertising may be objectionable or offensive, and you would not have control over the (presumably unintended) association with your material. See the appendix for some low cost or free sites.

What is a web site? And how is that different from E-mail? A web site is like a kiosk, or a display stand at a trade show. Random people come by and see what it is you have to tell them. It can be a small static display - such as a picture of your church, and the hours and masses listed, or it can be an active, engaging presentation. You might show before and after renovation photos or pictures from the CYO ski trip. A click-- and your guests see the new stained glass windows you had installed, or conference notes from the regional meeting. Any dynamic group could use a web site as a forum or for outreach. Sharing information with many people more effectively than you could manage one at a time, in person, with a handful of photos.

E-mail is a note sent electronically. It is usually text, and just a few paragraphs that someone wanted to write you. A picture, even a song could be attached to the E-mail for you to use. E-mail notes are often dashed off quickly and generally have VERY relaxed standards of punctuation and spelling.

So I can put anything I want, and as much as I want on my web site? You can to some degree. What you can do depends on how much disk space your ISP gives you with the account. The ISP will typically provide between 5 and 10 megabytes of space. It is hard to judge in advance how much space your site will take. A few pages of text, and a dozen pictures might be 4-5 megabytes all by themselves. Also, picture size is an important factor. The more that you try and do with your web site, the more that space becomes an issue. More space can be added for an additional charge.

The space allotted you differs from ISP to ISP, and as your needs change, you might find yourself outgrowing a particular provider. Changing to a new one is not difficult, but you do have the chore of E-mailing everyone you know to inform them of the change. Your E-mail address will change.

IF I change my Internet provider, would I have to redo my whole web site? You can bring over all your files and pages as they are. Your E-mail address will change, however (as mentioned above). The method for getting your web site files from your disk to your provider differs from site to site.

You should always have a copy of your files, however. A web site is NOT a storage spot; it is a traffic spot. It is the electronic equivalent of hiring someone to wear a sandwich board sign, stand in the middle of route 128 and wave. People will see it, but it is not expected to stay there. Your master copy of your pictures, and screens, etc. will remain safe in your parish, while the working copy is out on the web site.

What are all the @'s, and the ftp's and http, and WWW. and .com and stuff? They are all artifacts of computer details that were never meant for the casual user to see and worry about. More specifically, they are the nuts and bolts that help your computer sort out the information they find on the Internet. For example, a web address is also known as a "URL" which stands for Universal Resource Locator. You can see why the term "web address" is more popular. The http:// part of a URL (web address) is optional. You need only type part beginning with "WWW". The "HTTP://" is the default portion of the web--left over from the web's early days.

In web addresses such as "WWW.QUAKEROATS.COM" the "WWW" means World Wide Web, the ".com" identifies this site as belonging to a COMmercial account. Other abbreviations include networks (.NET), organizations (.ORG), government (.GOV), and educational (.EDU) sites. For the end-user browsing on the web, these don't really impact your life much, as they are generally handled by the browser, and you only encounter them when you must type in an E-mail address, such as "Yourfriend@ISP.net" or a web site address such as "www.microsoft.com."

One other name type that you might see is FTP.companyname.com The F & T stand for File Transfer. This indicates that the site is a file archive (a location on an internet machine with a large amount of files). FTP sites don't bring flowers, only files. On FTP sites, there is usually little help, few graphics, and they look much like a directory listing of a disk drive. The same file you want is probably on a WWW site as well, but might be slower to download, or harder to find. Using an FTP site takes a little more effort than a regular WWW site, and I would recommend waiting until you have some experience on the web and feel comfortable navigating on it.

How do I know if I want to be on the Internet? You need to answer a couple of questions, such as: Who is my audience? If I have a web site, who will see it? And what will they do with the information they find there? How will this help our parish? How will the people I want to find our site find it? Try asking your parishioners how many use the Internet. The wide range of ages, and types of people who use this service may surprise you.

One priest in the Archdiocese uses E-mail to send in articles and items for the bulletin to the parish secretary. The unusual thing about this is that he E-mails them from a laptop computer on the beach on Cape Cod! This is technology at its best, helping people stay in touch, and getting their responsibilities done, while easing their tasks.

Won't anyone who looks for it see it? Yes, but why does that help you? Does someone in Phoenix or Sri Lanka seeing your web site, and learning about your parish help you? There is no right answer. This is a pastor by pastor, site by site decision. It depends what group affiliations you might be involved with, social actions, or reason to network with people across the parish, or across the country.

For determining what you should have on a site, or how it will be used, I like to use the kiosk model. Disregard the 'computer' side of this, and plan out the 'pages', as you would for a kiosk, bulletin board, or trade show. What would you put if it were on paper? A paper that everyone who walks by can see. Do you have anything to communicate to people that could benefit from the immediacy, and visual elements that Web sites excel in?

Ok, so I can put whatever I want on a web site. What If I want people to be able to send things to me from the web site? Soliciting your guests input, or commentary is usually done by having a spot on your site, which allows E-mail to be sent back to you. It might say something like: To Respond to Fr. Bob click [[HERE]] .

If you need anything more complicated, such as filling a form, looking though a database or some of the other complex things you might see on other web sites, then you would likely need outside help to develop that portion of the site.

One of the best ways to find out if you have that sort of help is to ask. After mass, or in the bulletin. "This parish is considering a web site for the parish. If you have expertise in this area, we would welcome your assistance in developing the content."

How would I go about choosing an Internet provider? First consider price. Most ISP's are $20 per month for the Internet connection, one E-mail account and some disk space should you want a web site in the future. (See table in appendix). There are some services that are as cheap as $15 per month, but these typically want one or two years paid in advance. Should you decide to go with a different provider you may lose the advance fees. Another option for some of you is a cable modem. This is a special modem device and service provided by your current cable TV company to allow your computer to connect to the Internet over the cable, and not using a phone line. While this service costs about $40-$50 per month, the connection is 10-15 times faster than a modem and phone line can achieve. Plus, if you have a network with several computers, you could have several people with fast Internet access. The speed of a modem is slow enough that sharing it would not be practical. Cable modems are only available if your cable company in your area offers it. While the areas where it is available continue to grow, it is still a case by case basis.

You should really determine how many people would need Internet access in your organization to accomplish the goals you want for your parish.

An Internet provider that almost everyone has heard of is called America On Line. They are famous for mailing out disks to everyone on the planet offering a month or two free services. They are neither the cheapest nor the best, but they are fairly easy to learn, and get the bulk of the first time Internet users. They hope that people, being creatures of habit, will stay with them as a provider. See appendix for list of other providers.

Does everyone get his or her own E-mail account, or do we all share one? Each person would have his or her own account. Most companies offer discounted prices on additional accounts. With a standard Internet service you get one account and one mailbox. Some services allow five or six E-Mail addresses, with each additional one costing extra. Similarly, with a cable modem you get one account, but more can be added later. Web sites generally don't have a separate E-mail address; instead there is an address to which visitors can send E-Mail. If you don't have the need for individual accounts, then yes, you could have one account for the office, for example: Youth_Ministry@MSN.COM and several people in the office might collectively support the site, update the content, answer E-mail, etc.

Are these E-mail accounts completely separate? Could each person have their own web page? Yes to both. However, if the content of the web pages are parish related, it would make more sense to have them 'linked' or as part of the overall parish site. For example: There might be a place on your parish site that said "Click here to see our staff" and there would be a list of personnel. By clicking on the person's name you could send E-mail to them. This would make it easier to update, and revise them, as well as making any personnel changes from affecting the web site. If the pages were separate, you would not be able to access the account of someone who was no longer at the parish.

If we only have one E-mail account for the office, how do we keep from being flooded with messages? One way is to answer the messages promptly. This reduces the "Did you get the message I sent?" messages. If the messages you get are junk mail (things about investments, get rich schemes, etc.) it is best dealt with by ignoring and deleting the notes unread. Do not respond to junk mail (known as "Spam"), even to say "TAKE ME OFF YOUR LIST". This will have the opposite effect, as it only confirms that they have a live body at that E-mail site.

The best way of avoiding unwanted E-mail is not to leave public messages on the Internet with your E-mail in it. Should the quantity of junk mail or offensive material become an issue there are software 'filters' that plug-in to your Netscape browsers. A few names are Net Nanny, Net Watch. Filters are built into Internet browsers, which can block or automatically delete certain unwanted mail.

I'm concerned about the offensive material I have heard is available on the Internet, how can I prevent people from accessing it from my computer? The filtering software (i.e. Net Nanny, Surf Watch, etc.) is a good beginning. These will filter out most of the unwanted material. However it is important to have a written office policy as well. Something to the effect that "Internet access is available through these machines for parish purposes. Improper use of the facilities is not permitted". Since people can access material and leave it on your machine, only to have it surface months later and embarrass the office it makes sense to have a policy, and an attempt at filtering the material out. This would constitute a good faith effort at policing your facility. The goal is to prevent an unwanted and unintended association and any embarrassment. There are even some Internet providers (ISP) which pre-filter all the objectionable material they can find before it has a chance to get to you. (www.mayberry.com, www.crosswalk.com) These maybe be desirable, but you would not be able to get cable-modem access, and they may filter out things that are relevant to your parish (various right to life materials, etc.).

Why is this material out there anyway? The Internet is not in any one place. It is not a single country, nor a single computer, or company. Thus, restricting or filtering out the content is very complex. Each individual can be self-published on their own web site. They can put anything and everything on-line for all to see. The Internet is a word that describes the ongoing dynamic exchange of files over millions and millions of computers. There is no one computer where all the bad stuff lives; it is constantly in motion, from one machine to the next (along with all the good stuff). Filter or stop one place and it will be repaired, copied from another site, and replaced. This is by design. The Internet was designed to ensure it would be impossible to knock out this flow of information even in the event of a nuclear war!

I'm still concerned. There are stores that sell bad things, but we still shop at others. Similarly, though there are objectionable magazines, we still read others that better suit us. As with any tool, it is the user who determines the function and results of that use. While some Internet sites and content may offend, there are many others who are valuable and wholesome. With a few nominal precautions, concern over content should not prevent you from using this resource.

What is a computer virus? If we are connected to the Internet, can a virus get into my computer? A virus is a computer program, that when run does something bad to your computer, or your files and letters. You would never run a program like this if you could recognize it, so it masquerades as another program, or attaches itself to another program that you were interested in.

You can look at anything on the Internet and not get a virus. If you download a file-- that is bring it onto your computer (your browser will ask you for a name, and a location) you run a slight risk. When that file you downloaded is run, it MAY have a virus. When you run a file that you have downloaded, even if it claims to be a terrific golf game, you run the risk of losing your work and the system files on your computer. IT can NOT damage the hardware itself, but it can cost you a lot of money and time to recover.

The Archdiocesan MIS (Management Information Systems) department recommends using McAfee Virus Shield, ($30, at any computer store). This program shields your computer from many kinds of virus, and is a great choice for peace of mind. Another candidate would be the Norton Anti-virus program. Since new viruses are being created all the time, the software would need to be updated on occasion. When you purchase anti-virus software it includes free updates for a year via the Internet.

Wouldn't it be safer to just not let anyone download anything? Technically yes, it would. But it would be impractical. It would be difficult to enforce, remove one of the great features of the Internet (someone being able to send you a file, attached to their E-mail,) and finally, by the nature of the Internet, you don't have control over what will appear on pages that people see. You leave yourself open to the risk that someone will forget your rule, download the wrong thing, and cause a problem. It is safer to have the protective software (such as McAfee virus scan or Norton Antivirus) in place.

Can I get Internet service that doesn't let me download? No. The very fact that you can view a web page means you have already downloaded a dozen or two files. Each page of text, each button, each decorative border is an individual file that is quickly downloaded, and assembled live on the screen in front of you.

Let's say I want to get on the Internet, I want a web page and E-mail. I have a computer and a phone line. Now what do I do? First you need an ISP. That is your provider, who you will call up to connect to the Internet. The next step is to ask your provider to set up some space for you, as the actual mechanics of getting stuff up onto a web page varies from ISP to ISP.

The third thing is to find someone who can do this site for you. In step two, you will be told a lot of mysterious things by your ISP, and you may need some professional assistance in creating the pages. Is there someone in your parish that can make them? Quite possibly; there are also a few other sources that will help you make a web page for free.

Finally, while you are finding someone in step three to handle the details in step two, you can work on the important part - step four. This is the content. What will be on your web site? The easiest way to do it is on paper. Sketch out what you would want on a brochure, or flyer, or a kiosk display at a conference. What do you want to say? How do you want to say it? What pictures will I have? What color should the background be? One way to help you answer these questions, is to visit other churches web sites and take notes on what you liked. We have included a partial list of sites in the appendix.

Once you have the content, and a place to put it, the material is written up in a program like word perfect, or Word for windows, and then sent or UPLOADED to the ISP, very similarly to how your bulletin might be transmitted to your bulletin company. Except, instead of printing a few reams of paper, they put it on their hard drive, and allow people to browse it. Once it is there, it is live. It has an address. You can tell people to go to the web address. The address might look like the following: "www.aol.com/users/stmary".

What should I ask the Internet Provider before I sign up? 1) Is their modem line a local call from your exchange? 2) For your monthly fee, do you get unlimited usage? 3. What is the monthly fee? 4) Is there a setup or activation fee? 5) Is free web space provided, and how much of it? 6) How many E-mail accounts are included? 7) Is their service agreement month to month/quarterly/annually? 8) What savings are offered for prepay terms? 9) What are their usage policies?

Once I have a site on the web, what do I do? Do I need people to maintain it, or can it just sit there? What if my computer crashes, does the web site go away? You can leave your site and let it sit there. However, you should consider what happens to flyers posted at a bus stop that just sit there. They are ignored and the effort becomes wasted. If the information doesn't change people don't need to go back again. In effect, it becomes a static advertisement, like the yellow pages listing. If that is sufficient for your needs, then there is nothing wrong with stopping there.

If you want updated pages with your latest projects and faith community efforts, then someone would need to update and transmit the new pages to your ISP every once in a while (weekly, monthly, etc.). If your computer crashes, the site is still there. The files are not on your computer. You don't need to have you machine turned on for other people to see your web site. The files are on your ISP's computer -- on their hard drive. What you should have are the BACKUP files for that site (a copy of everything that is on the site, in case THEY lose something).

What else is on the Internet? Pages and pages of information can be found on every topic possible. How do I repair a roof? Who has the best stained-glass repair service? What is my old car or my old computer worth? What is wrong with my golf swing? What are the lyrics to that song that starts, "Louie, Louie..." The answers to these and other questions lie at your fingertips. Using free information and services on the internet, you can: Purchase a book, tape or CD at the lowest price. Translate a document to or from any language. Send a note to a friend in Budapest. Get driving directions anywhere in the country. Find a good restaurant near your hotel in Quebec. Print a replacement instruction sheet for your VCR. Find the phone number or address of anyone in the hemisphere. Lookup newspaper articles for the past few weeks. Fire off a letter of praise or complaint to the newspaper, a company, or the FCC.

Discussion forums and special interest groups that allow you to exchange messages with people on a variety of subjects, from woodworking, to pastoral issues. Does anyone have a good homily on this subject? How can I get my office to run smoother without having to supervise every little detail? There are religious discussion groups, and personal/hobby groups. There are many questions you can answer using the Internet. How can I fly to California cheaply? What hotels are near Disney World for under $70 a night? Where can I find that out of print book I want?

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