Go to the Internet to learn how to behave? No, it doesn’t make any sense to me either. But I will take a tip from Emily Post, and she’s got an online resource aimed at teaching the finer points of manners. Check out the Etipedia at http://www.emilypost.com/etipedia.

You can do a simple keyword search or, if you have more specific questions, you can check out the category nav. I checked out “Forms of Address.” A category called “Titles” took me to five articles, including “The Correct Use of ‘Esquire'” and “Addressing a Husband and Wife Who Are Ministers.” I was expecting more of a list of royalty, professional persons, with titles, but the information is presented as a series of Q&As.

I recently had an etiquette question. I was walking and had to cross a bridge over a fairly busy road. The sidewalk on the bridge is narrow and if two people pass each other, one of them will have to walk on the outside next to traffic. It seemed to me that the common sense would be for the person walking facing the traffic to walk on the outside, as they can see the traffic coming. So that’s how I did it, keeping to the inside as I was walking one way and keeping to the outside as I was walking the other. But I didn’t know if that was correct.

Anyhow, that’s why I did a search on sidewalk in the Etipedia. I got four results, of which two (an article on cell phone courtesy) were the same. The article on gender-neutral courtesies didn’t help, but the article on sidewalk manners did help. The Etipedia instructs walkers to keep right, which is what I was doing.

In addition of the usual folderol about appropriate forks and how to address wedding invitations, the Etipedia keeps up with a section on technology manners as well as a blog, and a Twitter account.