Periodical indexes provide the most efficient subject access to journals, magazines, and newspapers.  Following are some indexes you might want to use for this project:

America, history and life  1964-1996 (ref.Z1235.A48)  Indexes books, chapters in books, book reviews, dissertations, and journal articles in history.

American Humanities Index  (via EBSCO) A collection of bibliographic references to literary, scholarly and creative journals published in the United States and Canada. This database contains over 1,000 journals published from 1975 to the present.

Arts & Humanities Search (via FirstSearch) A citation index referencing 8,795 of the world's leading arts & humanities journals.   Requires PLU ePass username and password.

ATLA, (via PLU Library Home page) Indexes international periodicals, multi-author books,and reviews in religion, from 1949 to present.  It includes some full text articles.

Catholic Periodical and Literature Index,  (1967/68+ refAI3.C33 & via EBSCO) Indexes journals and newspapers from the Catholic press.

EBSCOhost (via PLU Library home page) This comprehensive index covers over 3,100 scholarly journals and general periodicals in all subject and interdisciplinary areas, including  religion.  Coverage  prior to 1990 is sparse. Some full text for 1,000+ publications.

LOCATING PERIODICALS/JOURNALS:  Periodicals are arranged according to the Library of Congress classification system.  Use Journals at PLU to identify the call number of the journal you need.  Current issues of journals are shelved on the first floor.  Older issues (bound volumes and microfilm) are interfiled with the books in the main collection on the second and third floors.  Journals at PLU also identifies any full text online journals we subscribe to.

 

REFERENCE MATERIALS
 

Atlas Of American Religion : The Denominational Era, 1776-1990 (ref. BR515.N49 2000)

Contemporary American religion (ref. BL2525.C65 2000)

Dictionary of Christianity in America (ref.BR515.D53 1990)

Dictionary of Heresy Trials in American Christianity (ref.BR517.D5 1997)

Dictionary of Pentecostal and charismatic movements (ref. BR1644.D53 1988)

Directory Of Religious Organizations In The United States Of America (ref.BL2530.U6D57x)

Eerdmans' handbook to Christianity in America (ref.BR515.E37 1983)

Encyclopedia of African and African-American religions (ref. BL2462.5.E53 2001)

Encyclopedia of American Catholic History (ref.BX1406.2.E53 1997)

Encyclopedia Of American Religions (ref.BL2525.M449 1993)

Encyclopedia Of American Religions, Religious Creeds : A Compilation Of More Than 450 Creeds, Confessions, Statements Of Faith, And Summaries Of Doctrine Of Religious And  Spiritual Groups In The United States And Canada (ref.BT990.E58 1988)

Encyclopedia Of American Religious History (ref.BL2525.Q44 2001)

Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion (ref.BL2525.B45 1998)

Encyclopedia of fundamentalism (ref. BL238.E63 2001)

Encyclopedia of Mormonism (ref. BX8605.5.E62 1992)

Encyclopedia of Religion in American Politics (ref.BL2525.E52 1999)

Encyclopedia Of Religious Controversies In The United States (ref.BR515.E53 1997)

Encyclopedia Of The American Religious Experience (ref.BL2525.E53 1988)

Encyclopedic Handbook Of Cults In America (ref.BL2525.M45 1986)

HarperCollins dictionary of religion (ref. BL31.H37 1995)

Historical dictionary of Catholicism (ref. BX945.2.C65 1997)

Historical dictionary of Methodism (ref. BX8211.H57 1996)

Historical dictionary of new religious movements (ref. BP601.C47 2001)

Historical dictionary of Reformed Churches (ref. BX9415.B46 1999)

How To Be A Perfect Stranger : a guide to etiquette in other people's religious ceremonies (ref. BJ2010.M34 2003)

New Historical Atlas Of Religion In America (ref. G1201.E4N4 2001)

Religious congregations & membership in the United States 2000 (ref. BL2525.R45x 2002)

Routledge Historical Atlas Of Religion In America (ref. G1201.E4C3 2000)

OTHER INTERESTING RESOURCES

John Wycliffe, the morning star (VIDEO BX4905.J6)
Religious Fundamentalism (VIDEO BL238.R45 1995)
Thunder On The Right, Understanding Conservative Christianity In America (VIDEO BT82.2.T48)
With God On Our Side The Rise Of The Religious Right In America (VIDEO BR1642.U5W58 1996)
 
 

 Or, do a search on Google.  Type in the name of your church and "history".  Example:  +methodist +history.  Many churches have their own web sites with good information.
 
 
 
 
 

If you have questions while doing library research, ask for help at the reference desk or make an appointment with me for personal research assistance.  My office hours for fall are 3:00-5:00 Thursdays.

 

<http://www.plu.edu/~egbersgl/reli223.html>
 

09/2004-gle