LibGuides: REL 130 Introduction to Religions: Home

Starting Your Search

It helps to start by writing a list of words that you will use in your search.
- name of religion(s)
- religious studies
- critique
- important events, dates, or time periods
Keep notes as you research, the terms you used, where you searched, what you found.
Once you have some words do some background research to add more terms to your list.
- details about your religion(s)
- define any terms you don't know
- find a map or timeline to place your religion in time and place
Now you have a bit more information on your topic start looking for more in depth information.
Search for books, use the bibliography and footnotes to find even more books or articles.
Use library databases to search for articles.
As you encounter words, theories, etc. that you don't know circle back to do more background reading.

The librarians and your professor are here every step of the way.

Finding Sources

Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window
- Why search here? You need preliminary background information for an assignment.
- What's included? A collection of electronic encyclopedias and dictionaries published by Oxford University Press.

General religion sources:

Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions by Wendy Doniger
Publication Date: 2008
Encyclopedia of Religion
Publication Date: 2005

More specific religion sources:

The Religious Traditions of Asia by Joseph Kitagawa
Publication Date: 2013
The Encyclopedia of Caribbean Religions by Patrick Taylor (Editor); Frederick I. Case (Editor)
Publication Date: 2012
Encyclopedia of Catholicism by Frank K. Flinn; J. Gordon Melton
Publication Date: 2007
Encyclopedia of Hinduism by Constance Jones; James Daniel Ryan; J. Gordon Melton (Editor)
Publication Date: 2007

To find books (and more!) use DePauw's Discovery search. It will also search materials owned by libraries all over the world.

Other ebook packages, that may not appear in the search above:

Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
- Why search here? You CAN search here for ebooks, but any books in this database will also turn up in WorldCat Discovery.
- What's included? Thousands of ebooks (academic and popular non-fiction) that cover almost any discipline.
EBSCO eBook Collection This link opens in a new window
- Why search here? You’ve tried other sources looking for ebooks, but are still hoping to find more.
- What's included? Ebooks that cover many disciplines.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
- Why search here? It’s an excellent tool for scholarly articles and books/chapters from university presses, covering most disciplines.
- What's included? The collection's strength lies in its complete back issues of journal titles covering 75 disciplines, while a weakness is a "moving wall" limiting access to the most recent journal issues - the coverage skews older, so it’s not always a great starting point for researching topics that need to have the most current sources.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
- Why search here? You need scholarly articles on the humanities and social sciences.
- What's included? Project Muse is a collection of established and longstanding scholarly journals in full-text for humanities and social sciences journals. Strengths of this collection include its caliber of content with historical and the current holdings.

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
- Why search here? Great starting point, with something for every subject!
- What's included? Lots of full-text, mostly peer-reviewed and recent, with some older and popular sources.
ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials This link opens in a new window
- Why search here? You’re looking for journal articles for a topic related to religions.
- What's included? Full-text journals and essays from over 360 religion and theology journals. The option to find articles about specific Christian/Judaic scripture passages.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
- Why search here? It’s an excellent tool for scholarly articles and books/chapters from university presses, covering most disciplines.
- What's included? The collection's strength lies in its complete back issues of journal titles covering 75 disciplines, while a weakness is a "moving wall" limiting access to the most recent journal issues - the coverage skews older, so it’s not always a great starting point for researching topics that need to have the most current sources.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
- Why search here? You need scholarly articles on the humanities and social sciences.
- What's included? Project Muse is a collection of established and longstanding scholarly journals in full-text for humanities and social sciences journals. Strengths of this collection include its caliber of content with historical and the current holdings.
Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new window
- Why search here? You want scholarly journal articles in the humanities
- What's included? About 600 journals, mostly peer-reviewed, covering art, history, theatre, music, religion, film, philosophy, literature, and language.

Throughout your searches you will see this icon/button:

Click on it to see:

if the article is online in another database
if we have a physical copy in the libraries
if not, and it looks useful for your research, you can request an Interlibrary Loan

To find full text for articles or ebooks when using our Discovery Search, click the Access Online button:

Citation Guide

Scholarly Communication and Resource Services Librarian

Victoria Peters

she/hers

Email Me

Contact:

Standard Office Hours: M-F: 9AM - 5PM

Subjects: Scholarly Communication and Copyright

Assessment

Instruction Session Assessment
Please follow this link to a survey page and let me know how the session went!

How to Get Help

Just go to the library's Research Help page, and chat/text with the peer research consultants (you can also drop-in to the Library Research Spot in Prevo Science Library), email the libraries, check the FAQs, or make an appointment with a librarian!