This guide is intended as a starting point in your research; the databases and reference tools listed here are a selective list. Always remember that you can ask for assistance at the Barnard Reference Desk at any point in your research, and you can always request a consultation. 

CLIO | Reference | Online Databases | Other Libraries | Web Resources | BC/CUL Resources
 

• For keyword searches, AND is automatically inserted between term. You may also use OR or NOT between the terms, or quotes for a phrase.
• For an author search, put last name, then first name
• You can retrieve materials in English only using the Pre-set Limits or Post Limits options

To find PRIMARY SOURCES, use these terms in your search: ARCHIVES, BIOGRAPHY (this includes autobiographies, CORRESPONDENCE, DIARIES, INTERVIEWS, SOURCES. Enter them as "any of these" in a Guided Keyword search, selecting Subject from the In: menu.

Reference Materials:
Use for getting an overview of a topic, background information, and finding bibliographies.

Encyclopedia of politics and religion	BL65.P7 E53 2007
Religions of the world : a comprehensive encyclopedia of beliefs and practices	BL80.3 .R45 2002
The Blackwell companion to Hinduism	BL1202 .B72 2003
The encyclopaedia of Judaism	BM50 .E63 2005
Encyclopaedia of the Qur'ān	BP133 .E53 2001g
World Christian encyclopedia : a comparative survey of churches and religions AD 30-AD 2200	BR157 .W67 2000
Encyclopedia of Christianity	BR95 .E8913 1999
The Anchor Bible dictionary	BS440 .A54 1992
The papacy : an encyclopedia	BX955.2 .D53 2002
Encyclopaedia Judaica	DS102.8 .E496 2007
Encyclopedia of Islam
Indiastat.com
Library research class slides
Routledge reference resources online : redefining the online library. Religion resource

Databases/Indexes 
For a more complete list of electronic databases for religion select Philosophy and Religion in the Browse Subjects box.

• Academic Search Premier

• America: History & Life -- includes Canada

• American religion data archive : ARDA

• ATLA Religion Database + ATLAS

• Bibliography of Asian studies

• China Academic Journals

• eHRAF collection of ethnography

• Google scholar -- be sure to use the Columbia link, rather than just typing scholar.google.com

• Historical abstracts --  excludes the US and Canada

• Humanities full text

• Index Islamicus

• The index of articles on Jewish studies : Reshimat ma'amarim be-mada'e ha-Yahadut

• Index to Jewish periodicals

• Index to legal periodicals & books

• International Bibliography of the Social Sciences

• International political science abstracts

• JSTOR

• LexisNexis Academic -- legal and news sources, including transcripts

• Literature online

• Old Testament abstracts

• PAIS International -- public administration

• Philosopher's Index

• Project Muse -- scholarly articles

• ProQuest -- multidisciplinary, includes Alt-PressWatch, Digital Dissertations, Ethnic NewsWatch, and GenderWatch, which can also be searched separately. 

• Religious and theological abstracts

• Social Sciences Full Text

• Sociological Abstracts

• United Nations common database (UNCDB) -- statistics

• Web of Science -- not just science, covers arts, humanities, and social sciences, as well

• Worldwide political science abstracts

Other Library Catalogs
These library catalogs may be of interest or relevance to your research. Their holdings are not in CLIO:

• ALEPH - Jewish Theological Seminary
• BobCatPlus (NYU Libraries)
• CATNYP New York Public Library research collections
• LEO New York Public Library circulating collections
• WorldCat contains records for the holdings of 24,000 libraries

Web Resources:

Barnard/Columbia

• Foreign press translations
• Religion (Barnard)
• Religious studies (Columbia)
• Researching foreign countries  

Outside Barnard/Columbia

• NYPL Jewish Collection
• SARAI : South Asia resource access on the Internet

Interlibrary Loan/BorrowDirect Books, articles and dissertations unavailable from the Columbia University Libraries may be obtained from other libraries usually without cost to the reader. Request It services. 

Consultation Requests Complete an online form  requesting a consultation on your research, or come to the Reference Desk on the second floor of the library to fill out a paper request. To contact a reference librarian, e-mail refdesk@barnard.edu or call 212-854-3953. 
 

Last modified 09/22/08 by Jenna Freedman, Coordinator of Reference Services and Zine Librarian