Resources for Specific Classes

79-420: Advanced Studies in Social & Cultural History: History of Religion: A Resource Guide

Background Books Internet Guides Journal and Magazine Articles

Maps Newspaper Articles Ask the History Librarian

Working from home? Use Off Campus/Wireless Access options for databases and resources marked Carnegie Mellon users only.

Background

Below are just some of the encyclopedias and dictionaries in the Hunt reference room on religion. To find others on a particular religion, search Cameo, the library catalog, using this strategy: (dictionaries or encyclopedias) and XXXX where XXXX is your religion of choice, e. g. christianity or buddhism. Reference librarians can help you find encyclopedias and dictionaries on any topic.

• Catholic University of America. New Catholic Encyclopedia. 15 vols. Detroit, MI: Thomson/Gale Group; Washington, D.C.: in association with the Catholic University of America, c2003.
  HUNT REF-1 BX841 .N44 2003

• Credo Reference: Find a Book: Subjects (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  Search or browse full text encyclopedias in all subjects, including Religion.

• Daily Life Online: a Suite of Social History Products(Carnegie Mellon users only)
  Includes the Greenwood Encyclopedia of Daily Lif, Daily Life through History series, additional history reference works from Greenwood Press, related general nonfiction and monographs from Praeger, primary documents, vetted weblinks, illustrations, and maps. It also includes materials from the other Greenwood databases, such as World Folklore and Folklife and World Cultures Today.

• Djupe, Paul A. and Olson, Laura R. Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics. New York: Facts On File, 2003.
  HUNT REF-1 BL2525 .D58 2003

• Glazier, Stephen D., ed. The Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religions. New York: Routledge, 2001.
  HUNT REF-1 BL2462.5 .E53 2001

• Glazier, Michael and Shelley, Thomas J., eds. The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, c1997.
  HUNT REF-1 BX1406.2 .E53 1997

• Hillerbrand, Hans Joachim, ed. Encyclopedia of Protestantism. 4 vols. New York: Routledge, 2004.
  HUNT REF-1 BX4811.3 .E53 2004

• Hirschfelder, Arlene B. and Molin, Paulette Fairbanks. Encyclopedia of Native American Religions: an Introduction. New York: Facts on File, c2000.
  HUNT REF-1 E98 .R3 H73 2000

• Islamic Studies Collection (Carnegie Mellon users only)

• JewishEncyclopedia.com (Kopelman Foundation)
  "This website contains the complete contents of the 12-volume Jewish Encyclopedia, which was originally published between 1901-1906. The Jewish Encyclopedia, which recently became part of the public domain, contains over 15,000 articles and illustrations."

• Lewis, James R. The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1998.
  HUNT REF-1 BL2525 .L49 1998

• Murphy, Larry G., Melton, J. Gordon., and Ward, Gary L., eds. Encyclopedia of African American Religions. New York: Garland Pub., 1993.
  HUNT REF-1 BR563 .N4 E53 1993

• Neusner, Jacob, Avery-Peck, Alan J. and William Scott Green, eds. The Encyclopaedia of Judaism. 3 vols. Boston: Brill, c2000.
  HUNT REF-1 BM50 .E53 2000

• Oxford Reference Online: Religion & Philosophy (Carnegie Mellon users only)

• Palmer-Fernandez, Gabriel, ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion and War. New York, NY: Routledge, 2004.
  HUNT REF-1 BL80.3 .E53 2004
  Example

• Queen, Edward L., Prothero, Stephen R. and Shattuck, Gardiner H. The Encyclopedia of American Religious History. 2 vols. New York: Facts On File, c1996.
  HUNT REF-1 BL2525 .Q44 1996 1996

• Shriver, George H. and Leonard, Bill J., eds. Encyclopedia of Religious Controversies in the United States. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997.
  HUNT REF-1 BR515 .E53 1997

• Skolnik, Fred, ed. Encyclopaedia Judaica. 22 vols. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA in association with the Keter Pub. House, c2007.
  HUNT REF-1 DS102.8 .E496 2007

• Swatos, William H. Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, Calif.: AltaMira Press, c1998.
  HUNT REF-1 BL60 .E53 1998

• Taylor, Bron Raymond, ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature. 2 vols. New York: Thoemmes Continuum, 2005.
  HUNT REF-1 BL31 .E465 2005 65 2005

• Van Huyssteen, Wentzel, eds. Encyclopedia of Science and Religion. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan Reference, 2003.
  HUNR REF-1 BL240.3 .E53 2003

• Wuthnow, Robert, ed. The Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion. 2 vols. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, c1998.
  HUNT REF-1 BL65 .P7 E53 1998

• Young, Serinity, ed. Encyclopedia of Women and World Religion. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, c1999.
  HUNT REF-1 BL458 .E53 1999 1999

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Books

If you need help finding books on your topic, ask at the Hunt Library reference desk. The reference staff can help you identify appropriate terms and search strategies to use for your topic.

• Cameo
  Catalog of the materials in the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries, including books, dissertations, journals, magazines, newspapers, and videos.

• Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
  Catalog of Pittsburgh's public libraries. Carnegie Mellon faculty, staff, and students can borrow materials by getting a Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh library card at the Main Library lending desk. Library Cards are free to residents of Allegheny County (bring proof of address), as well as out-of-town college students residing in the county (bring your Carnegie Mellon ID card and proof of local address). You can also have materials brought to one of the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries by the Courier Service via ILLiad by noting the library and call number in the notes field.

• Dissertation Abstracts Online (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  1861-present.
  Abstracts since 1980, thesis abstracts since 1988. Search and find dissertations on your topic. To get a dissertation, search in Cameo as you would for any book. If you don't find it there, use ILLiad, the interlibrary loan service, to obtain a copy.

• Early English Books Online (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  Full text: 1473-1700.
  Search and display over 95,000 titles published between 1473 and 1700. Eventually about 125,000 titles will be in the database, with new titles being added each year.

• 18th Century Collections Online (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  Full text: 1701-1800
  Search or browse the full text of every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom, along with thousands of important works from the Americas during this period. Materials include books and broadsides, Bibles, tract books and sermons, and printed ephemera, with works by many well-known and lesser-known authors. Subject areas include history geography, social scences, fine arts, medicine, science, technology, law, general reference, literature and language. A work in progress, the database will contain 138,000 titles and editions when completed in about 2010.

• Making of the Modern World (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  Full text: ca. 1460-1850
  Search or browse the full text of materials for the study of early economic, political, business, and social history, and for researching the literature of economics from this period.

• Pittcat (University of Pittsburgh Libraries)
  Catalog of the University of Pittsburgh Library System, including all branch campus libraries. Carnegie Mellon faculty, staff, and students can borrow materials by getting a Special Borrower's card at the Hillman Library circulation desk with their Carnegie Mellon ID cards and proof of current Carnegie Mellon affiliation. See University of Pittsburgh Library System Reciprocal Borrowing Agreement for details. You can also have materials brought to one of the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries by the Courier Service via ILLiad by noting the library and call number in the notes field

• Worldcat (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  1200-present (Updated daily)
  Citations to books, titles of journals, manuscripts, and other materials in libraries throughout the United States, as well as some international libraries. You can limit your search to books by by selecting Book in the Type option. Each record will let you know which libraries have that item. Use E-ZBorrow or the Interlibrary loan service ILLiad for materials not in the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries.

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Internet Guides

• Religious Studies Web Guide (Saundra Lipton, University of Calgary Library)

• Virtual Religion Index (Religion Department, Rutgers University)

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Journal and Magazine Articles

Exactly which database you'd use depends on your topic, but these may be the most likely to help. Reference librarians can help you with database selection and search strategy construction.

• Academic OneFile (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  ca. 1980-present.
  Citations, abstracts, and selected full-text articles from journals and general news magazines covering all academic disciplines.

• America: History and Life (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  1954-present.
  Citations and some abstracts of journal articles, books, and dissertations on world history from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada). It covers all historical topics and a variety of disciplines including religion, gender studies, anthropology, political science, etc. Search both America: History and Life and Historical Abstracts

• American Periodicals Series Online (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  Full text: 1740-1900.
  Search, browse, display the full text of American magazines and journals.

• Historical Abstracts (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  1954-present.
  Citations and some abstracts of journal articles, books, and dissertations on world history from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada). It covers all historical topics and a variety of disciplines including religion, gender studies, anthropology, political science, etc. Search both America: History and Life and Historical Abstracts

• JSTOR (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  Exact dates vary by journal title. No current material.
  Search full text articles from selected journals.

• Project Muse (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  Exact dates vary by journal title. Journals will only go back about 10 years, with most going back about 5 years or less.
  Search full text articles from selected journals.

• Proquest (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  ca. 1980s-present; dates vary by publication
  Citations, abstracts, and selected full-text articles from journals and general news magazines covering all academic disciplines. You can select a particular portion of databases to search by selecting Databases Selected and choosing which ones to search. The Humanities Module includes resources covering religion.

• Readers' Guide Retrospective (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  1890-1982
  Find citations to popular magazine and journal articles in all subject areas, including current events, fine arts, fashion, education, business, sports, health, nutrition, consumer affairs and religion.

If full text links for journal articles are not provided, click on to see retrieval options. This is only for journal article citations, and may not be available in all databases. Otherwise, use Cameo and Find e-journal to see if materials are available to you. If they aren't, you can use the Interlibrary Loan options to either borrow or obtain a photocopy of the material.

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