Marc Pugliese - Theology and Religion LibGuide: Background Sources

Why do you need reference sources, when so much is available on the Internet? Almost everyone will start with an Internet search, usually using Yahoo, Google, or Ask Jeeves. The problem with that strategy is that there is a lot of wrong information on the Internet, and it is not a good starting point. It is a good resource, but only after you have some background. Rather, the researched should always begin with good, scholarly, reputable reference resources: "You can't go wrong with a good dictionary, even if you think you know the meaning of a word; and a serious encyclopedia will give you important background infor mation. There are also specialized reference books, like chronologies (which list events year by year), biographical dictionaries (which provide short lives of important people), and bibliographies (which point you to other books)." (source: Jack Lynch, Getting an A on a Paper, Rutgers University, p. 4, available at: http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/EngPaper/research.html).
 

Overview or concise summary of a topic usually found in an encyclopedia or subject dictionary.

Below are the Dewey Decimal Call numbers for Religion and Theology:

Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Concordances, Handbooks and Commentaries in Print are located in the Reference Room, main floor of the library.

Oxford Digial Reference Collection All Oxford Reference Online resources, encylopedias and dictionaries available through the Cannon Memorial Library.

Oxford Biblical Studies Online Oxford Biblical Studies Online provides unrivalled access to six essential Oxford editions of the Bible alongside commentary and annotations from study Bibles seamlessly combined with reference material and primary texts.

The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church Uniquely authoritative and wide-ranging in its scope, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church is the indispensable reference work on all aspects of the Christian Church. It contains over 6,000 A-Z entries, and offers unrivalled coverage of all aspects of this vast and often complex subject, from theology; churches and denominations; patristic scholarship; and the bible; to the church calendar and its organization; popes; archbishops; saints; and mystics.\

Oxford Encylcopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome The Encyclopedia brings the work of the best classical scholars, archaeologists, and historians together in an easy-to-use format.

Encylclopedia of the Middle Ages Includes comprehensive coverage of the art, literature, science, culture, philosophy, religion, economics, history, and conflict of the period. The text explores the influence that this intense intellectual and cultural revival continues to have on modern thought and society.

Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance This dictionary provides rich detail on all aspects of the Renaissance in 14th to 17th century Europe. It includes comprehensive coverage of the art, literature, science, culture, philosophy, religion, economics, history, and conflict of the period.

Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation The definitive source for information about the entire range of religious and social changes that altered the face of Europe in the sixteenth century,

Enclyclopedia of the Enlightenment Covering the “long” Enlightenment, from the rise of Descartes' disciples in 1670 to the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in 1815, these 700 articles by leading scholars range from discussions of mercantilism and democracy to the battlefield to the dissemination of ideas in salons and coffeehouses. Breaking conventional geographical boundaries, coverage includes not only Western Europe but also North America, Brazil, and Iberian, Russian, Jewish, and Eastern European cultures. 

Oxford Encylcopedia of the Islamic World The articles in this reference source take a broad, comparative, and multidisciplinary approach in dealing with issues that span across a multitude of countries and centuries.