Course Guides: Religious Studies

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PRINTABLE GUIDES & HANDOUTS:

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SUGGESTED DATABASES:

  • Academic Search Complete - Provides full-text articles from more than 5,500 multi-disciplinary, scholarly journals and publications.
  • Biography Resource Center - Provides biographies, magazine articles, images, and website links for more than 900,000 people; searchable by name, occupation, etc.
  • Encyclopædia Britannica Online - A full-text encyclopedia with video downloads, maps, statistics, classic literature, and more. Uses a unique login; see RPCC Library Services under RPCC Support in Moodle, or stop by the Library for more information.
  • JSTOR - The Scholarly Journal Archive - Provides a multi-disciplinary archive of scholarly journals and other resources across the humanities, social sciences and sciences.
  • Oxford Reference Online - Provides full-text access to many subject dictionaries and encyclopedias, maps, timelines, and more. Uses a unique login; see RPCC Library Services under RPCC Support in Moodle, or stop by the Library for more information.
  • Religion and Philosophy Collection - Provides full-text coverage of over 300 journals pertaining to religious history, theology, and philosophical studies.

Please note that when accessing the databases from off-campus, you will be prompted to login.

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SELECTED E-BOOKS:

eBook Collection from EBSCOhost is our largest provider of ebooks (electronic copies of printed books PDF format), available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. eBook Collection has an easy-to-use search interface. You will be prompted to login with your 12-digit Library User ID to access these e-books from off-campus. Please see our Tutorials on eBook Collection from EBSCOhost for more information.

General Reference
Special Topics in Religion

Visit our eBook Collections for links to eBook Collection from EBSCOhost and other e-book collections. Please note that books that are still protected by copyright may not be available online in full-text from the free sources.

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LOCATIONS OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES RESOURCES IN THE LIBRARY:

Religious Studies-related topics can be found in resources located in these Library of Congress call number ranges:

  • BL1 to BL2790 - Religion. Mythology.
    • BL1 to BL50 - Religion (General).
    • BL61 to BL65 - Philosophy of religion.
    • BL74 to BL99 - Religions of the world.
    • BL660 to BL2680 - History and principles of religions.
  • BM1 to BM990 - Judaism.
    • BM150 to BM449 - History.
    • BM545 to BM582 - Principles of Judaism (General)
  • BP1 to BP610 - Islam.
    • BP50 to BP68 - History.
    • BP174 to BP190 - The practice of Islam.
  • BQ1 to BQ9800 - Buddhism.
  • BR1 to BR1725 - Christianity.
    • BR140 to BR1510 - History.
  • BS1 to BS2970 - The Bible.
    • BS410 to BS680 - Works about the Bible.
      • BS500 to BS534.8 - Criticism and interpretation.
    • BS701 to BS1830 - Old Testament.
    • BS1901 to BS2970 - New Testament.
  • BX1 to BX9999 - Christian Denominations.
    • BX800 to BX4795 - Catholic Church.
    • BX4800 to BX9999 - Protestantism.

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SELECTED BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY:

General Reference
  • Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions
    Call number: BL 31 .M47 1999 REF
  • The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
    Call number: BL 31 .O84 1997
  • The Religion Book: Places, Prophets, Saints, and Seers
    Call number: BL 31 .W55 2004
  • Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide
    Call number: BL 687 .R47 2004
Special Topics in Religion
  • Contemporary American Religion
    Call number: BK 2525 .C65 2000 REF, in 2 volumes.
  • Islam: A Short History
    Call number: BP 50 .A69 2000
  • The Oxford Companion to the Bible
    Call number: BS440 .M434 1993 REF
  • The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd Edition.
    Call number: BR 95 .O8 1997 REF
  • The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion
    Call number: BM 50 .O84 1997 REF
  • The Rivers of Paradise: Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus and Muhammad as Religious Founders
    Call number: BL 72 .R58 2001

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ONLINE RESOURCES:

  • BBC: Religions, this section of BBC: Religion, provides background information on numerous religious beliefs. On BBC: Religion, one can find a History of the World Timeline, a database of images searchable by location, theme, culture, etc., sponsored by the British Museum. The site also offers numerous images and other resources.
  • infoplease-Encyclopedia: Philosophy and Religion, offers background information from respected sources.
  • Answers.com: Judaism, provides dictionary and encyclopedia articles on Judaism from various sources. See also Answers.com: Religion & Spirituality for similar resources on other religious studies topics.
  • The Bible Collection, the American Bible Society’s King James Version from Bartleby.com, offers "full-text searchability, content-based tables of contents and a quick verse finder," in addition to other related resources.
  • Sacred: Discover What We Share, is an online exhibition from the British Library that includes interactives, videos and more.

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