Introduction to Religion

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Getting started / Reference

You could use Discover to get started searching for books and articles, but that can feel overwhelming. Try spending a few minutes first searching a keyword or group's name in Reference Universe, or in the index of one of the below books—it can save you lots of time getting up to speed.

  • Reference Universe
    Searchable index of the library's entire reference collection, both print and electronic.

The encyclopedia of apocalypticism (New York : Continuum, 1998), Frost Reference / BL501 .E53 1998

Encyclopedia of religion, online or Frost Reference / BL31 .E46 2005

Continuum history of apocalypticism, ed. Bernard J. McGinn, John J. Collins, Stephen J. Stein (New York : Continuum, 2003), Frost Stacks / BL501 .C66 2003

Controversial new religions, ed. James R. Lewis, Jesper Aa. Petersen (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), Frost Stacks / BP603 .C66 2014

Bloomsbury companion to new religious movements, ed. George D. Chryssides and Benjamin E. Zeller (New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014), Frost Stacks / BP603 .B57 2014

In searching the Five Colleges Catalog, try a keyword search [Jonestown or "Jim Jones"], then look for subject headings [Apocalyptic literature, End of the world -- Comparative studies] in the record to click through to other books. If you're still deciding on a topic, you can try a search strategy like this to browse:

apocalyp* OR millenial*
AND religio* OR cult OR sect
AND leader OR group

 

News

  • Global Newsstream (ProQuest)
    Search the most recent global news, including major US dailies, with archives that stretch back into the 1980s from over 2,700 news sources that include newspapers, newswires, television and radio transcripts, blogs, and more in full-text format.
  • Historical Newspapers (ProQuest)
    Combined search of the historic Boston Globe, Chicago Defender, Chinese Newspapers Collection, Hartford Courant, Los Angeles Times, New York Amsterdam News, New York Times, South China Morning Post, Times of India, and Washington Post.
  • Access World News (Newsbank) (date coverage varies)
    Electronic editions of over 2,600 local, regional, and national U.S. newspapers as well as 1,500 international sources. Fully searchable and browsable by map.

Databases

  • ATLA Religion Database (1949 to present)
    The premier index to journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in all fields of religion.
  • America, History & Life (1964 to present)
    Covers the world's scholarly literature on the history and culture of the United States and Canada.
  • Historical Abstracts with Full Text (1955 to present)
    Scholarly literature about world history since 1450 (excluding the United States and Canada).
  • Social Science Database (ProQuest)
    Covers academic literature for disciplines ranging from anthropology, sociology, and political science to communication, education, criminology, demography, economics and more.

Concept maps

A concept map can be really helpful as you move into the research process. It
... serves as a visual tool for organizing ideas
... uses free association
... aids in developing questions
... reveals themes and patterns
... helps you generate search terms.

Download a blank one here:

concept map example