Research Guide for Religion
Contact:
Rachel Bridgewater
,
Electronic Resources Librarian
Getting Started
There are many handbooks,
dictionaries, and encyclopedias that provide basic information for
Religion. If you are not clear about your topic, these reference
sources provide definitions and introductory information about the
subject. You can also browse them to brainstorm for more ideas. Other,
more specialized resources are available in the Reference Room.
Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd ed.
Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
Oxford Reference Online: Religion & Philosophy
Religions of the World
Ref BL31 .E46 1986
Ref BL31 .E46 2005
The first edition, edited by Mircea Eliade and published in 1986, is a
classic text in the study of Religion and features broad essays with
substantial detail and bibliographies. The second edition (the online
version) is completely revised with substantial additional content.
Ref BL31 .O84 1997
Brief entries on concepts, deities, people, places; many entries have references for further reading. Topic index.
A collection of reference books accessible online.
Ref BL80.3 .R45 2002
"Comprehensive encyclopedia of beliefs and practices of contemporary religions."
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Selected Reference Resources
Biblical Studies
Anchor Bible Dictionary
Oxford Companion to the Bible
Ref BS440 .A54 1992
Ref BS440 .M434 1993
Buddhism
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Encyclopedia of Buddhist Deities, Demigods, Godlings, Saints & Demons
Ref BQ128 .E62 2004
Ref BQ130 .B88 1994
Christianity
Encyclopedia of Christianity
Encyclopedia of Early Christianity
Encyclopedia of Protestantism
Encyclopedia of Saints
New Catholic Encyclopedia
Ref BR95 .E8913 1999
Ref BR162.2 E53 1997
Ref BX4811.3 .E53 2004
Ref BX4655.8 .G85 2001
Ref BX841 .N44 2003
Hinduism
Historical Dictionary of Hinduism
Ref BL1105 .S85 1997
Islam
Atlas of the Islamic World Since 1500
Encyclopedia of Islam (online in reference room only)
Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World
Encyclopedia of the Qur'an
Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World
Ref DS35.6 .R6 1982
Ref DS37 .E56 1960
Ref BP40 .E525 2004
Ref BP133 .E53 2001
Ref DS35.53 .O95 1995
Judaism
Dictionary of Judaism in the Biblical Period
Encyclopaedia Judaica
Historical Atlas of the Jewish People
New Encyclopedia of Judaism
Ref BM50 .D525 1996
Ref DS102.8 .E52 1982
Ref DS117 .J8513 1992
Ref BM50 .E63 2002
Mythology
Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend
Ref BL303 .M45 2004
Religion in the United States
Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religions
Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion
Encyclopedia of the American Religious Experience
Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements
Ref BL2462.5 .E53 2001
Ref BL2525 .B45 1998
Ref BL2525 .E53 1987
Ref BP601 .C47 2001
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Locating Books
To locate books, search the library catalog. If you know the author or editor, search Author, last name first. To search by Title, you must know the first few words of the title, but you do not have to know the complete title.
To search by topic, try a Word search. Once you locate some appropriate book titles, make note of the subject headings assigned to them. You can then do a Subject
search on those headings to locate more books. Alternatively, you can
check the stacks for other books with similar call numbers. To search
successfully by Subject, you must use subject terms from the Library of Congress Subject Headings. These can be found in large red books directly behind the Reference Desk.
To search for books in the Summit
system, access the library catalog as usual, and select the "Search in
Summit" button. If you find books in Summit which are not owned by
Reed, you can request the books directly from the Summit catalog. You
will need to enter your barcode number, which is the number under the
barcode on your Reed ID. You will be notified when the book arrives,
and the borrowing period is three weeks with one renewal.
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Finding Journal Articles and Critical Essays
Indexes (sometimes called databases) allow you to search the contents
of periodicals to identify articles on your topic. Some indexes are
interdisciplinary, and some focus on a particular subject area. Because
Religion is itself interdisciplinary, you many need to use indexes from
several disciplines in your research process. At this time, only some indexes contain
fulltext or links to fulltext from other sources. Many include
citations for books, dissertations, and conference papers as well as
for journal articles. Most of the time, after you find a citation for
an article you want to see, you will need to check the print & electronic journals list to see whether or not Reed subscribes to the journal and if we have the particular issue. (See also: How Do I Find Journal Articles?) If the article is not available at Reed, you can request it from interlibrary loan (periodicals cannot be borrowed from Summit).
Academic Search Premier (1975 - present)
Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975 - present) and Social Sciences Citation Index (1956 - present)
ATLA Religion Index (1949 - present)
Bibliography of Asian Studies (1971 - present)
Essay and General Literature Index (1985 - present)
Humanities Abstracts (1984 - present) and Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retrospective (1907 - 1984)
Index Islamicus (1906 - present)
JSTOR Periodicals - Religion titles
New Testament Abstracts (1985 - present)
Old Testament Abstracts (1978 - present)
Periodicals Index Online
Philosopher's Index (1940 - present)
Project Muse - Religion titles
Religion & Philosophy Collection (1975 - present)
Sociological Abstracts (1952 - present)
Interdisciplinary academic content; many full-text articles.
Part of the "Web of Science" (along with the Science Citation Index).
The indexes may be searched singly or together. Enables searching of
references cited in books and journal articles, as well as subject,
author, and title searching.
A comprehensive database that supports religious and theological
scholarship. It includes citations to journal articles, essays in
multi-author works, book reviews and Doctor of Ministry projects.
Indexes western-language monographs, articles and book chapters on all parts of Asia.
Use this database to find essays and articles contained in collections
(i.e. books) of essays and miscellaneous works published in the United
States, Great Britain, and Canada.
An index of articles in the humanities.
Indexes literature on Islam, the Middle East, and the Muslim world.
Electronic access and searching capability to the journals in many
disciplines. Will be useful for some topics in Religion. Most content
is from the first issue of the periodical until 3-5 years before the
present.
Indexes scholarship related to the study of the New Testament as well
as related topics in archaeology, history, and philology.
Indexes scholarship related to the study of the Old Testament as well
as related topics in archaeology, history, and philology.
PIO is an electronic index to the contents of thousands of periodicals
in the humanities and social sciences, from their first issues (some
back to 1665) to 1993.
Indexing and abstracts from books and journals of philosophy and
related interdisciplinary fields published throughout the Western World
since 1967. Coverage from 1940 for U.S. materials.
Electronic access and searching capability to the journals published by
the Johns Hopkins University Press and other academic publishers. Most
content is from after 1995.
Fulltext database covering journals on world religions, major
denominations, biblical studies, religious history, as well as
philosophical studies.
Covers material in sociology, anthropology, social psychology, and cultural studies.
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