LibGuides: Religious Studies: Getting Started

About This Guide

This guide provides a list of major library resources for the study of religion at Duke University.

Naive drawing in the style of of an ancient map of Jerusalem [Image Credit].

Note About Spelling

When performing research in religious studies, there are often many variant spellings for the same term (especially in Asian religions, such as Tao versus Dao). Thus, it can be helpful to try out multiple spellings if you are having trouble finding information.

Related Resources

Christianity
Databases & e-resources; Books; Primary sources; Encyclopedias & Dictionaries; Internet Resources pertaining to the study of Christianity.
Judaism
Databases & e-resources; Books; Primary sources; Encyclopedias & Dictionaries; Internet Resources pertaining to the study of Judaism.
Islam
Databases & e-resources; Books; Primary sources; Encyclopedias & Dictionaries; Internet Resources pertaining to the study of Islam. Additional resources listed in this Islamic Studies guide.
Hinduism
Databases & e-resources; Books; Primary sources; Encyclopedias & Dictionaries; Internet Resources pertaining to the study of Hinduism.
Buddhism
Databases & e-resources; Books; Primary sources; Encyclopedias & Dictionaries; Internet Resources pertaining to the study of Buddhism.
Chinese Religions
Databases & e-resources; Books; Primary sources; Encyclopedias & Dictionaries on the often intertwining religions of China. The main focus of these resources is Confucianism and Taoism, but some resources are provided for Chinese Buddhism and popular religion.
World Religions
Databases & e-resources; Books; Primary sources; Encyclopedias & Dictionaries, on world religions, with a special emphasis on Shinto, Sikhism, Sufism, and Jainism.

General Resources

ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials This link opens in a new window
Search for academic journal articles, essays, and book reviews on major world religions. Includes Catholic Periodical and Literature Index
Religion Database This link opens in a new window
Search for journal articles on religious studies

Divinity School Databases
This page contains annotated links to several databases available to Duke students that are particularly useful for religious studies. Browse the list and see if there is a database that might be relevant to your specific information needs.
Encyclopedia of Religion
The Encyclopedia of Religion is a standard reference work in the field, providing a wide variety of information in its 15 volumes. Although it is not as detailed as subject-specific encyclopedias, it provides a wealth of information and bibliographies for further study.

EXPERT TIP: For more help with Middle East Studies resources, see the Middle East Studies and Islamic Studies guides.

ATLA Religion Database
Indexes international periodicals (1949-) in the fields of religion and theological studies covering world religions.
Bibliography of Asian Studies
Indexes the scholarly literature on all subjects (especially humanities and social sciences) pertaining to East, Southeast, and South Asia published worldwide from 1971 to the present. Includes coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as abundant material on Islam, Muslims and Islamic movements throughout the regions.
Brockelmann Online
Brockelmann Online consists of Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur (GAL) and the three supplement volumes, including the indexes. The work offers bio-bibliographic information about works written in Arabic and their authors, with an emphasis on the classical period. It is divided into chronologically organized sections, subdivided by literary genre. Individual entries consist of a biographical section and a list of the author's works in manuscript and print, with references to secondary literature.
Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History
General online history of relations between Islam and Christianity, mainly between 600 to 1500, when encounters took place through the extended Mediterranean basin and were recorded in Syriac, Arabic, Greek, Latin, and other languages; included are introductory essays on the treatment of Christians in the Qur’an, Qur’an commentaries (tafsir), biographies of the Prophet, hadith and Sunni law, and of Muslims in canon law (fiqh), and the main body of more than two hundred detailed entries on all the works recorded.
Historical Abstracts
Indexes more than 1,700 academic historical journals (1955-) in over 40 languages, covering the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present.
Index Islamicus
Indexes literature on Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world, mainly in European languages, covering the Middle East, Africa, and Asia as well as Muslim minorities throughout the world.
JSTOR
Archive of back issues of the core scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and basic sciences from the earliest issues to within a few years of current publication.
Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies (MECAS)
Bibliographic index of research, policy and scholarly discourse on the countries and peoples of the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa covering 1900 to present.
Oxford Bibliographies Online: Islamic Studies
Annotated bibliographies on the range of lived experiences and textual traditions of Muslims as they are articulated in various countries and regions throughout the world.
ProQuest Religion
Indexes over 150 mostly full-text journals, covering doctrines, philosophies, reports on religious history, and related archeology as well as theological studies and commentary from the perspectives of specific religions.