RESEARCH SOURCES--
WORLD
CHRISTIANITY (RS221)-FALL 2007
Prof. Byrne
Librarian: Elizabeth Scott
Office: Library 126
Phone: 654-2540
Email: escott@smcvt.edu
Please call or email for appointments
Reference Sources
Online Catalog(Books, Journal Holdings, Maps, Videos, Software, other materials)
Interlibrary Loan(ILL)
Article Databases(Print & Electronic Journals and
Newspapers) - click for
off campus access
Internet Sources
Evaluating Sources
Citing Sources
REFERENCE
SOURCES
Use reference sources to locate basic information about your subject.
Reference sources include dictionaries, encyclopedias, statistics and sources
for fact. Reference is where you will go when you need to verify a birthdate,
get a brief history of an event, or find statistics.
Dictionary of Asian Christianity [REF] BR1065 .D52 2001
Encyclopedia of Christianity [REF] BR95 .E47 2005
The New International Dictionary of
Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements
[REF] BR1644 .D53 2002
Encyclopedia of World Biography [REF] CT103 .E56 1998 -- v. 1-17
Oxford Dictionary of Christian Thought [REF] BR95 .O8 1997
Oxford Dictionary of World Religions REF BL31.O84 1997
CIA World Fact Book Basic facts and statistics from around the world.
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FINDING
BOOKS
Most books on this subject are located on the
main floor of the library in the Bs--especially BL, BR, BX. General works about
an area or a country will be located in other parts of the library however, and
may have useful information. You can also use the library catalog to locate
videos/DVDs, maps, CDs, journals or magazines.
Saint Michael's College Online Catalog
Do Keyword or Subject Heading searches using terms such as:
Subject Term Geographic term Pentecostalism Global Church developing countries Christianity India Religion Latin America Roman Catholic Asia missions Africa
Combine terms using "and" "or"
Use ? as a wildcard to search alternative forms of
words. (i.e. Pentecost? will search Pentecostal, Pentecostalism,
Pentecostalist...)
INTERLIBRARY LOAN
(ILL)
Students may request materials (journal articles, books) not available
in the SMC library through ILL. It is important that ILL is done early in your
research project as it may take from 10 to 14 days for the materials to be
delivered to the SMC Library. You may start the ILL process by
clicking the ILL link in a database (once you have determined we don't own the
item) or filling out the
Online
Form. You can also get a form at the reference desk. You may also
check books out from the library at UVM.
UVM's Online Catalog
Journal Articles WWW pages Articles have a date Articles may or may not have an obvious date Articles have an author Author may not be indicated, or may be hidden You can determine the purpose of the journal May be just an opinion, could have a commercial purpose, or could be wrong Articles go through some sort of editorial process Anyone can publish on the web
Use article databases to locate articles in magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals. Often times your paper must include scholarly articles. Consult with each professor about his or her requirements for scholarly articles.
A few things to keep in mind about Scholarly
articles:
Articles are the result of
original research.
They include references and bibliographies of
sources consulted.
They are reviewed by scholars before
publication.
They are often called refereed or peer reviewed.
Journals
Academic Search Premier First choice index for full text journal articles and bibliographic citations. You can limit your searches in this database to the following subject databases:
ATLA Religion Database
ATLA Religion Database (American Theological Library Association) provides information on topics such as biblical studies, world religions, church history, and religion in social issues. Most coverage in this database spans from 1949 to the present.
Catholic Periodical and Literature Index
The Catholic Periodical and Literature Index Online database includes indexed citations to articles published in Roman Catholic periodicals, Papal documents, church promulgations, and books about the Catholic faith that are authored by Catholics and/or produced by Catholic publishers. Coverage in the database dates back to 1981. Bound volumes of the print version back to 1930 are available in the lower level of the library
Newspapers
LIS provides access to many databases that allow you to search many newspapers at once. We also maintain online subscriptions to some papers. All are available on the Newspapers page from the LIS Home page.
EVALUATING
SOURCES
You should evaluate all sources for:
Authority--Always try to determine who wrote an published articles and websites. On the Web, look for educational, professional and governmental organizations.(edu .org .gov) Be wary of sites without a known editor.
Accuracy-- Don't assume that everything you read is true.
Objectivity-- try to determine if an article has a particular point of view or is biased in any way. Some websites, magazines and newspapers have a clear bias and state it outright, but others requires some careful (or not so careful) reading.
Currency-- Make sure articles are up to date.
Coverage-- Make sure it iswhat you need.
See
Evaluating Resources for a thorough
review of evaluating sources.
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CITING SOURCES
Always follow instructor's guidelines on style.
Refworks provides a mechanism for
automatically generating a list of works cited from LIS databases. For thorough
instruction on using
Refworks, make an appointment with a
reference librarian, or read this guide--
Introducing RefWorks (.pdf)
Citation Guides List of and links to different citation guides.
Citing Internet and Electronic Sources An overview of
electronic citation. Includes examples citations of sources commonly used by
SMC undergraduates. Always ask your professor for guidance.
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Please contact Liz Scott with suggestions or comments.