World Religions

AUBG Library Resources Gergana Georgieva

Information Literacy Librarian

2010

Overview

• Basic Steps of Library Research • Resources and services available• A concrete example • How to get help?

The 7 Steps of Research• Identify and develop your topic• Find background information• Use the online catalog to find books• Find periodicals articles (print and electronic)• Find Internet resources• Evaluate what you have found• Cite what you find using a standard format

for your bibliography

Identify and develop your topic

• State your topic as a question.

• Find keywords that describe your topic

• Test the keywords

Background information

• Common background sources• Why background sources? • How to use background sources

effectively?• Bibliographies

Background information - print

• The dictionary of Albanian religion, mythology, and folklore / Robert Elsie. Ref GR251 .E44 2000

• Dictionary of Celtic religion and culture / Bernhard Maier ; translated by Cyril Edwards. Ref BL900 .M4513 1997

• Dictionary of philosophy and religion : Eastern and Western thought / William L. Reese. Ref B41 .R43 1996

• Eastern definitions : a short encyclopedia of religions of the Orient / Edward Rice. Ref BL31 .R52 1978

• A dictionary of comparative religion / General editor: S. G. F. Brandon. Ref BL31 .D54 1970

• The Encyclopedia of religion / [editor in chief, Mircea Eliade Ref BL31 .E46 1987

• Encyclopedia of religious freedom / Catharine Cookson, editor. Ref BV741 .E47 2003

• Man, myth & magic : the illustrated encyclopedia of mythology, religion, and the unknown / editor in chief, Richard Cavendish Ref BF1411 .M25 1983

Background Information - electronic

• Oxford Reference Online

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions

World Encyclopedia

A Dictionary of World History

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

Books• Why do we consult books?

– Authorship – Analysis – Multiple viewpoints– Additional resources

Books - print• Use the On-line catalog

• Subclass BL Religions. Mythology. Rationalism

• Subclass BM Judaism • Subclass BP Islam. Bahaism. Theosophy, etc.

• Subclass BQ Buddhism • Subclass BR Christianity • Subclass BS The Bible • Subclass BT Doctrinal Theology • Subclass BV Practical Theology • Subclass BX Christian Denominations

Books - electronic

• Ebrary• Philosophy of Religion in the 21st Century • Religion after Religion   • Future of Religion • Christianity • World's Religions : Islam

Find periodicals articles -print

• Paper format • ZYGON: Journal of Religion & Science • Journal of Ritual Studies• American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences *

Find periodicals articles - electronic

• Electronic Electronic Journals Portal- Religion - General (122) – African Religions (1) – Buddhism (3) – Christianity (199) – Eastern Religions (2) – Hinduism (3) – Islam (15) – Judaism (29)

Databases

• ProQuest Central• EBSCOHost• JSTOR• ScienceDirect• CEEOL• DOAJ

Searching: How to be Effective?

• Narrow your search – Be more specific– Use phrases – Add a discriminating or qualifying word or phrase

• Broaden your search – Use lower case – Use truncation

Find Internet resources

• Search engines • http://www.religionexplorer.com/• http://www.creedopedia.com/• Directories • http://www.dmoz.org/Society/Religion_and_S

pirituality/• http://www.google.com/Top/Society/Religion_

and_Spirituality/• Discipline Specific Resources

Evaluate

• S – Scope – are all aspects of the topic covered• T – Treatment – is the information free from bias• A – Authority – are the authors qualified to provide

this information• R – Relevance – does it address your topic• T – Timeliness – Is the information current for your

purpose

Cite

• Most common styles of citing

– Modern Language Association (MLA)– American Psychological Association (APA)

Step 1

• The Baha’i Faith and Globalization

http://picasaweb.google.com/gery1980/Chicago2004?feat=email#slideshow

Keywords• Baha’i• Bahai• Baha’is • Bahais• Baha’i faith• Babism • Bab • Babi faith

• Bahaism • Globalization • Universal House of

Justice

Step 2

• Reference Sources

Ref Z7835.B2 C64 1990

Author Collins, William P., 1950- Title:Bibliography of English-language works on the Babi and Bahai faiths

Step 2-continued

• Oxford Reference Online

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions

World Encyclopedia

A Dictionary of World History

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

Step 3

• On-line catalog • Subject headings

2 Bahai Faith.

1 Bahai Faith and world politics -- Periodicals.

1 Bahai Faith -- Bibliography.

1 Bahai Faith -- Periodicals.

1 Bahai Faith -- Prayer-books and devotions -- English.

1 Bahai faith -- Rituals.

Step 3 - continued

• Ebrary– Hutchinson’s series – Baha'i and Globalisation – Studies in Modern Religions and Religious Move

ments and the BabiBaha'i Faiths

Step 4• Print Periodicals

• ZYGON: Journal of Religion & Science • Journal of Ritual Studies• American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences *

• Electronic Periodicals – Electronic Journals Portal

• Journal of Baha’i Studies • History of Religion • Journal of Contemporary Religion

Step 4 - Databases

ProQuest Central

Baha'i and globalisation.

The Baha'i: The Religious Construction of a Global Identity

Race, immortality and money in the American Baha'i community: Impeaching the Los Angeles spiritual assembly

• CEEOL– Reluctant Romania Gives Jehovah's Witnesses

Official Status– Azerbaijan: Channeling Faith– Summary and Contents

Step 4 - Databases

Step 4 - Databases

• CEEOL– Treatment of Bahais: A Test of Human Rights in I

ran

– Recognition and Identity: the case of the Bahâ'î Faith

• EBSCO– Fashioning Belief: The Case of the Baha'i Faith i

n Northern New Ireland

– The Baha'i Faith in America as Panopticon, 1963-1997.

– The Baha'is of Iran. – GOD SPEAKS AGAIN: An Introduction to the Ba

há'í Faith (Book).

– Historical Dictionary of the Bahá'í Faith

Step 4 - Databases

Step 4 - Databases

• JSTOR• Bahaism: A Study of a Contemporary Movem

ent– Babi-Bahais, Christians, and Jews in Iran – A Note on Babi and Baha'i Numbers in Iran

Step 4 - Databases

• World Bank e-library– Finding Global Balance : Common Ground

between the Worlds of Development and Faith

Step 5

• Discipline Specific Resources – http://europeanbahai.wordpress.com/category/B

ulgaria/– http://www.bahai.bg/– http://www.bcca.org/bahaivision/

Ask a Librarian • At Reference/Circulation desk • Virtual Reference

Monday-Friday 9.00-17.00• By e-mail: libmail@aubg.bg• By phone: 888 341/354• And more …

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