Varieties of Belief: Researching Religious Traditions

I. Finding Books

Background Information: Suggested Reference Books

Encyclopedia of Religion – R. 200.321 E56E (Lincoln Park and Loop)

Religions on File – R. 291.0223 R382D (Lincoln Park)

Times Atlas of World History – R. 911 T583T3A (Lincoln Park and Loop)

Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion -- R.291.095 L679fE1994 (Lincoln Park)

Encyclopedia of World Cultures – R. 306.097 E56L (Lincoln Park and Loop)

Dictionary of Comparative Religion – R.291.03 D554b (Lincoln Park and Loop)

Historical Atlas of the Religions of the World -- 200.9 F247h (Lincoln Park)

An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mysticism --R.291.42 F352I (Lincoln Park)

Oxford Dictionary of World Religions – R. 200.3 O98b (Lincoln Park)

 

Using Illinet Online – Two strategies

    1. Browse Subject using the name of the religious tradition of interest (e.g., Taoism, Buddhism, Judaism)
    2. Keyword. Use one from column A, and one from column B:

A (religious tradition)

B (subject)

Judaism, Hinduism, Islamic, Buddhism, Taoism, etc.

customs, prayers, history, description

 

Browsing

Call numbers are your most useful guide to browsing for books. That is, books with the similar call numbers are on similar topics. Start in the reference area, and then use the call numbers on those books to browse on the 3rd and 4th floors of the library.

Call Numbers

Notes

For example:
200-209 = Works on religion in
general

210-289 = Forms of Christianity

290-299 = Works on non-Christian traditions

 Works on comparative religion can be found from 200-209 and 290-291.

Remember, once you find a book in the reference area, that same number will work on the 3rd (1-599) and 4th (600-999) floors.

 R. 200.9 F247h
Historical Atlas of the Religions of the World

R. 200.3 O98b
Oxford Dictionary of World Religions

R. 200.321 E56E
Encyclopedia of Religion

296.03 = Judaism
297.03 = Islam
Using the numbers to the right:

9#0 = History of area #

911.# = Historical atlas of area #

912.# = Current atlas of area #

 3 = Ancient world to 499 AD

4 = Europe

5 = Asia

6 = Africa

7 = North America

8 = South America

9 = Other areas (including Oceania)

 940 = History of Europe

911.5 = Historical atlas of Asia

912.8 = Current atlas of South America

 

II. Finding Articles

Step 1 – Search a database

These databases can all be found from the library homepage, under "Databases"

  1. ATLA Religion Indexes (advanced search) – An index to articles and books in religious studies
  2. Humanities Abstracts (put "and" between terms) –A general index to journal articles in the humanities
  3. Periodical Abstracts (keyword search in Basic, also use limits or advanced search)
  4. Sociological Abstracts (put "and" between terms) – An index to journal articles in sociology
  5. Groves Encyclopedia of Art- Articles on art associated with some religions- select Bridgeman Images (icon on left side of the page to search a collection of art images)

 

Keyword. Use one from column A, and one from column B:

A (religious tradition)

B (subject)

Judaism, Hinduism, Islamic, Buddhism, Taoism, etc.

customs, prayers, history, description

 

Step 2 – Find out if DePaul owns the journal

  1. Journals The Library subscribes to are listed In the Periodicals List and also in Illinet Online, the Library catalog, links located on the top bar of the Library home page. Search by the title of the journal not the title of the article.
  2. Some indexing databases provide a link to search the IO catalog from within the database.
  3. Many journal articles are available electronically- you may find them as "full text" in the database or try looking them up in our Electronic Journals link from the top bar of the home page.

III. Finding Internet Resources

To begin your search of the Internet, try the DePaul Libraries’ "Subject Guides." From the library homepage (http://www.lib.depaul.edu), choose "Subject Guides," then choose "Religious Studies" or "History."

Other sites:

Academic Info Religion: An Annotated Directory of Internet Resources for the Academic Study of Religion http://www.academicinfo.net/religindex.html

Virtual Religion Index: Links for Research on Religion . A site that analyzes & highlights important content of religion-related websites to speed research. Hyperlinks are provided not only to homepages but to major subsites, directories & documents within.http://religion.rutgers.edu/vri/index.html

 

IV. Getting more help

Drop by the reference desk at Lincoln Park anytime for help with your research. You can also make an appointment for a Research Consultation to get in-depth, one on one assistance.

 

DePaul University Libraries

2/4/2000