A Good Strategy

• promotes scholarly work which is not vulnerable to serious criticisms or devastating critique
• helps ensure a valuable contribution is made to a field of scholarship
• expedites the whole process of research and writing
• results of a good strategy evident in relevant questions becoming less and less, insights more and more
• quickly reveals the manageability of the topic
• considers the amount of time available for research and the appropriate level of research

A good research strategy should begin with the most accessible and available resources and move out from there (even though the most valuable resources might be the most remote or obscure). For a research library, books and periodicals are the most readily available resources.

Books

• represent the most permanent contribution to a field of scholarship
• tend to treat topics in-depth
• more readily available than periodicals, reports, theses, etc.
• tend to be more authoritative (normally, more scholarly energy goes into book production than other modes of publication)
• important to know if your thesis has been published already!

Book Searches through...

• Library catalogues: Regent & VST (combined catalogue); St. Mark's; UBC; links to many libraries are here: http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/Internet/library.htm
• Bibliographies: author; subject; bibliographies of bibliographies
• Specialized Book Lists
• Books-in-Print: access through UBC Library website
• Booksellers online:  http://www.addall.com  is a good source of information; see also the Wabash Center  Internet Guide to Theology and Religion
• Reviews: book review sections of relevant journals
• Citation Indexes

Periodical Literature

• usually contains the most current information
• tends to offer more "cutting-edge" or speculative types of scholarship
• generally more specialized and detailed research, and of narrower scope than monographs

Periodicals/Journals Searched by...

• Paper Indexes: Elenchus Biblicus; New Testament Abstracts; Old Testament Abstracts, etc.
• Online: ATLA Religion Database, as well as many other indexes can be accessed through the UBC Library website
  (Check the list of Selected Databases by Subject on the RCL website under Research Guides to help you find databases in your subject area.)
• CD-ROM: ATLA Religion Database; Religious and Theological Abstracts
• Bibliographies: author; subject; bibliographies of bibliographies
• Special topical files: usually manual files, such as pamphlet vertical file
  

Theses/Dissertations

• Most extensive research in a specialized area
• Often a precursor to monograph publication
• Good review of previous research and bibliographical information
• Must show scholarly credentials
• Written for other specialists in the field (i.e., may be dense or obtuse)

Theses/Dissertations searched by...

• Thesis Clearinghouses: Proquest Dissertations and Theses, accessed through the UBC Library Indexes and Databases under "P"
• Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN) - Regent Carey Library has this material in microfiche
• Periodical book lists/reviews
• Library catalogues

Other: unpublished work/ephemera (pamphlets, clippings, etc.)/networking/ audio or videotapes...

• Can provide a forum for discussion and opportunity to refine ideas
• May uncover rare or unusual material
• May represent a scholar's work-in-progress

Found through...

• Listservs
• Websites
• Library special collections or multimedia libraries (Pamphlet Vertical Files)
• "Other files" on library catalogues
• Contact with specialized research center
• Professors
• Librarians
  

A. General Sources (Indexes, Abstracts, Lists...)

Australasian Religion Index v. 1. 1989- ZBL 1 A88 RPER

• Indexes 75 periodicals
• Several religious traditions represented
• Limited to journals published in New Zealand or Australia
• Limited to primarily English language publications

Catholic Periodical Index v. 14. 1967- AI3 C32 RPER

• Indexes approximately 175 periodicals
• Covers Catholic theology, liturgy, parish life, devotional literature, spirituality, papal documents, and some interdisciplinary interests
• Provides subject access, author/editor, title and book review indexes
• Limited to Catholic faith, and weak in Catholic theology

Christian Periodical Index v. 1. 1956- ZBR 1 C475 RPER

• Indexes more than 135 periodicals
• "An index to subjects and authors and to books and media reviews."
• Complement to Catholic Periodical Index
• Limited to primarily Evangelical and conservative orthodox writing; not particularly scholarly

ATLA Religion Database v.1, 1949- on CD-ROM in RCL and online through the UBC Library's Indexes and Databases

• Largest, most comprehensive database in religion
• Contains almost 2 millionrecords
• Indexes more than 700 journals
• Covers articles, essays in books, book reviews, dissertations, ministry research
• Indexes material published in several languages, but mainly in English
• Abstracts given for only dissertations and research reports

Religious and Theological Abstracts v. 1. 1958- on CD-ROM in RCL (also in print BR 1 R286 RPER)

• over 440 journals abstracted
• Provides full citation and abstracts
• Key word searching of abstract allowed
• Abstracts in English only, regardless of language of article
• Paper copy: very good subject classification and indexing

Southern Baptist Periodical Index v. 1. 1967- BX 6201 S25 RPER

• 57 journals indexed
• Limited to material of interest to Southern Baptists
• Indexes by subject, author and indexes book reviews

Theology in Context v.1. 1984- ZBR 9 A552 RPER

• "Information on theological contributions from Africa, Asia Oceania and Latin America
• subdivided by geographical region
• provides annotations and summaries of articles, book reviews, conference reports and an author and key word index

Zeitschrifteneninhalsdienst Theologie Indices Theologici n. 1. 1985-2000 ZBR 4 Z444 RPER

• reproduces the table of contents of 90-100 periodicals
• covers Bible, religion, church, systematic theology, ethics, practical theology, missions
• Indexes scripture references, subjects and authors
• Can be an easy way to review recent literature

Science of Religion: Abstracts and Index. v. 1. 1976- ZBL 25 S35 RPER

• Covers about 200 journals
• "Published by the International Association for the History of Religions and the International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies."
• Classed by subject area in the field of the History of Religion
• Abstracts all in English regardless of language of article

TREN Database http://www.tren.com/ 

• Lists all the papers delivered to and published by the Evangelical Theological Society
• Regent Carey Library has most (if not all) of these publications

B. Biblical

Elenchus of Biblica v. 45. 1964- ZBS 410 E442 RPER

• Published by Pontificio Instituto Biblico, Rome (i.e. it's good)
• Indexes hundreds of periodicals in many languages
• Most comprehensive index in biblical studies
• Classed by genres of biblical literature and topics
• Complicated abbreviation system; at least a 3 yr. delay, no title entry

Internationals Zeitschriftenshau Fur Bibelwissenschaft und Grenzgebiete v. 31. 1984-- ZBS 445 I589 RPER

• "International Review of Biblical Studies"
• Provides brief abstracts of articles
• Indexes more than 450 periodicals

New Testament Abstracts v. 1. 1956- BS 410 N35 RPER and CD-ROM for 1988-1998

• published by Weston School of Theology (S.J.) & Catholic Biblical Assoc.
• Abstracts articles and books from more than 380 journals
• 5 subject categories: NT General, Gospel-Acts, Epistles-Rev., Bib. Theology, NT World
• Issued 3 x/yr
• Provides English language access to non-English material

Old Testament Abstracts v. 1. 1978- BS 410 .O42 RPER; CD-ROM: VST

• Published by Catholic U of America & Catholic Biblical Assoc.
• Abstracts articles from more than 335 periodicals
• Includes book notices--about 300/year
• Indexed by author, scripture reference, Hebrew word
• English abstracts of non-English articles

Society for Old Testament Study Book List 1946- ZBS 193 B654 RREF

• published annually
• Includes book notes
• Classed by ten subject areas
• republished reviews from 150 journals
• Author and editor index
• Also found in the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

An Index to English Periodical Literature on the Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies 
ZBS 1171.2 B86 1987+ RPER

• more than 600 periodicals indexed
• emphasizes literary, philological and textual criticism
• Last sections of the index more relevant
• Table of Contents change from volume to volume
• Excellent for studies in ancient languages

C. Theological

C.1 Applied/ Practical

Abstracts of Research in Pastoral Care & Counseling v. 2. 1973- BV 4012.2 A26 RPER

• Indexes 54 periodicals
• Covers counseling, psychology, therapy, pastoral care
• Emphasizes research in the social and human sciences (quantitative)
• Republishes abstracts from various sources: Psychological Abstracts, PsychInfo, RTA and ATLA, etc.

Research in Ministry (atla.com under "Product Login")

• "An index to Doctor of Ministry project reports and theses submitted by reporting ATS Schools"
• Indexes and abstracts over 500 DMin reports per year
• Subject and author index only (although abstracts are keyword searchable)

C.2 Philosophical theology

Philosopher's Index 1967-

• Similar to RTA's database software
• Very good coverage of philosophical issues related to theology: metaphysics, concepts of God, problem of evil, ethics, hermeneutics, types of philosophical theology (process, existential, liberation, linguistic...), language, postmodernism, etc.

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy B 51 .R68 1998 (Also online through UBCs databases.)

• Clearly the most comprehensive and authoritative work of its type
• 10 volumes
• Excellent coverage of theological, religious, moral and ethical themes

C.3 Historical theology

Bibliographia Patristica v. 26. 1981-v. 29.1984 ZBR 1705 B52 RPER See VST for complete run

• German-based index but includes some English language material
• Covers patristics and historical theology (i.e. what Church Fathers have published as well as about Church Fathers)

Methodist Reviews Index (1818-1985) (included in the ATLA Religion Database)

• indexes articles and books reviews
• Covers 10 journals related to Methodism
• Because of its age, very good for any historical research into Methodism

CETEDOC VST CD-ROM (RCL has paper copy)

• Database of the text in LATIN of Classic literature and theology
• Indispensable tool in the study of Latin theology, includes:
• Corpus Christianorum
• Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum
• Patrologia Latina

Historical Abstracts (online through UBCs indexes and databases)

• Covers non-North American history from 1450- present
• Available partially in electronic format via UBC A-Z list
• Abstracts 2000 journals of history
• Cites books, articles, dissertations
• Some online, full-text articles available

Thesaurus Linguae Graecae UBC (Regent has on CD-ROM)

• Text on CD-ROM of Greek literature and theology
• Particularly good for words studies and exegesis

Packard Humanities Index UBC CD-ROM

• Greek and Latin texts

International Medieval Bibliography UBC online

• Covers 1984-93
• Attempts to be comprehensive of materials published during this time period.
• e.g. Augustine—305 hits / Clairvaux—356 hits / Siena, Italy—464 hits

D. Missions
Bibliographia Missionaria v. 45, 1981- ZBR 2060 B524 RPER

• Produced by the Pontifical Missionary Library (Vatican)
• Mainly foreign language works indexed
• Emphasizes missions and inter-religious dialogue

E. Interdisciplinary

Guide to Social Sciences and Religion in Periodical Literature v. 1. 1965- ZH 1 G848 RPER

• Indexes more than 110 periodicals and magazines
• Covers more popular literature having a religious angle
• Subject classifications with subdivisions
• Very broad scope (e.g. under "C": charismatic movement; chastity; chemical weapons; chemistry; children...)

Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature v.1. 1901—Koerner Reference and online from 1983

• Covers general and popular literature in the field of religion and theology
• Useful for research in contemporary culture and religion: pop theology/psychology, cults, ethics, the practice of religion, etc.
• Now allows web access, but only for 1983-98 period.
• 240 periodicals "abstracted"
• monthly updates

Social Science Index v. 1. 1916—Koerner Reference A1 3 S63 C24

• Covers over 415 English language periodicals
• Both general and technical material covered
• Good for basic or preliminary research in technology, health and medicine, family studies, psychology, and religious aspects to the human science

Humanities and Social Sciences Index UBC online

• Covers over 400 English language periodicals
• A very good index to the literature in the arts and letters, architecture, anthropology, languages, religion and theology, ethics and moral issues, education, history, performing arts...

Humanities Index only from 1983 to present;

400 English language periodicals indexed

387,000 records

• Social Sciences Index only from 1984; 415 English language periodicals indexed; 530,000 records

Citation Indexes (for the real hard-nosed researcher!)

Social Sciences Citation Index- UBC online

• 6 vols/yr in several different index volumes
• lists publication cited in other literature (mainly periodicals)
• cited in text, footnote or bibliography
• not indication as to how a work has been assessed

Arts and Humanities Citation Index Koerner Reference

• same as SSCI, but covers arts and humanities
  

BOOK REVIEWS
In addition to often excellent and extensive reviews of books in religious and theological journals, there are special tools to provide access to this type of material...

Critical Review of Books in Religion v. 1. 1988- ZBL 48 C757 RPER

• "A Cooperative Venture of the J. of American Academy of Religion and J. of Biblical Literature."
• Reviews classed by subject
• Indexed by authors, reviewers and publishers
• Offers critical and substantial reviews sponsored by AAR or JBL but may not have been published in those journals
• Drawback: considerable delay -- e.g. 1988 book reviewed in 1992 CRBI.

Index to Book Reviews in Religion (included in the ATLA Religion Database) 1949-

• Includes annually more than 15,000 book reviews in over 500 periodicals
• The best single source of book review citations

Religious Studies Review

• "A Quarterly Review of Publications in the Field of Religion and Related Disciplines," published by the Council of Societies for the Study of Religion
• Includes longer review essays and brief book synopses
• Regent Carey Library has 1975-present in bound periodicals
• Searchable index to vols. 16-23 (1990-1997) is here: http://www.cssr.org/Article_Index.asp 

Society for Old Testament Study (noted above)

Theological Book Review v. 1. 1988- ZBL 48 T443 RPER

• Attempts a fairly comprehensive review of UK books (with a sampling of North American Titles)
• "Aims to maintain a currency of 6 months behind publication"
• Classed by Dewey subject classification

Book Review Digest Koerner Reference

• since 1905
• more than an index; actually excerpts or reprints reviews
• covers more than 100 American and English periodicals
• Arranged by author of work cited, with subject and title index
• monthly, with semi-annual cumulations

Book Review Index Koerner Reference

• since 1965
• issued monthly with quarterly cumulations
• indexes more than 500 periodicals; gives citations only
• Some religious and theological books cited, but has only cursory coverage

Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities Koerner Reference

• Since 1960
• more specific than Book Review Index
• Covers more than 700 periodicals
• published annually
• provides only one access point: by author of the book reviewed

Review of Biblical Literature http://www.bookreviews.org/ 

• published by the Society of Biblical Literature
• reviews of: multi-author volumes; reference works; commentaries; dictionaries; Bible translations; books for the biblical studies classroom
• multiple, contrasting reviews of the same book
• International: with non-English language reviews; with reviews of non-English language books; French; German; Spanish; Italian
  

THESES AND DISSERTATIONS

Theses and dissertation often will be mentioned in scholarly journals that review current research. As well, there are commercial agencies which distribute this unpublished material and provide access.

ProQuest Dissertations and Theses: access through UBC Library under Indexes and Databases: http://www.library.ubc.ca/ 

• by far the most comprehensive listing of (mainly) dissertations produced since 1861.
• over 1,000,000 titles listed
• Most are available through UMI

TREN (Theological Research Exchange Network) http://www.tren.com/

• Listing of over 6,000 masters theses and doctoral dissertations done at over 50 graduate schools in religion and Christian Theology
• Can be searched through their web site, and ordered at $5 US per fiche
• Covers mainly Evangelical, Conservative, Orthodox schools
• Virtually the entire collection is available at the Regent Carey Library

ATLA Religion Database: online through UBC and CD-ROM in Regent Carey Library  

• Cites and abstracts more that 6,000 doctoral dissertations
• Covers more "mainline" schools
• Does not provide vendi

Regent Carey Library owns a large number of DMin projects on microfiche, which are distributed by the Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN). You can search these titles on the TREN website (http://www.tren.com), or you can search them on our system. Unfortunately, we have not been able to catalogue many of the more recent theses, though we do own them. This means that if you want to search more recent items, you have to use the website.

Searching the TREN website

On the TREN site, click on "search and order." Your best bet is to search by title. If you are looking for youth ministry, for instance, type [youth ministry] (without the brackets) in the title box. If you want to limit your search to DMin degrees, choose DMin from the degree box. After you have set your serach parameters, click on the Search button.

The searching process on this site is not well designed, but you should be able to find some things you are interested in. Think of as many different words which describe your subject area (e.g. youth ministry, children, young adults, etc.) Once you find an appropriate thesis, write down its Order #, which will be something like 009-0534. All of the TREN fiche we have are either in the filing cabinets marked "Microform Books" or in the fiche drawers on top of the Microfilm filing cabinet. You also have the option of buying the theses directly from TREN.

Searching the Regent catalogue

Although we are not able to catalogue all theses we receive from TREN, there are close to 5000 currently in our catalogue. The TREN theses in our catalogue will be easier to search than those on the website. For example, if you wish to search for theses on evangelism, choose a keyword search from the main search screen. Type "Tren" (without the quotes) and limit your search to the Regent Carey Library. This will produce a screen listing all the TREN theses that have been catalogued in the Regent Carey Library. From this page you can narrow your search by clicking on the "Modify Search" button on the top menu, which takes you to the Advanced Search screen. From here, choose Keyword from the drop down menu in the first box and type "Tren". In the second box, choose Subject from the drop down box and type "evangelism" (without the quotes). This now lists all the Tren theses on evangelism that have been catalogued.

Write down the entire call number (e.g. "BR 45 T174 no.028 -0031"), then look for it in the microfiche cabinets.