College of DuPage Library - Old Testament Research Guide

The Old Testament

Research Guide

Reference Works | Library Catalogs | Indexes | Internet Sites| Writing Aids

Reference Works

Specialized reference works like the ones listed below are very useful for research. Specialized encyclopedias can provide useful overviews or convenient explanations. Specialized dictionaries give a more precise defination of terms as they are used by a particular field of study. Concordances can help you locate exactly where particular words appear in sacred texts. All of the titles here are located on the first floor of the Library. Browse around the same areas to find other useful titles.

Encyclopedias

Civilizations of the Ancient Near East
Reference DS 57 .C55 1995
Encyclopaedia Judaica
Reference DS 102.8 .E496 1996
Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics
Reference BL 31 .E62 1955
Encyclopedia of Religion
Reference BL 31 .E46 1987
New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land
Reference DS 111 .A2 E5813 1993
Oxford Companion to the Bible
Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East
Reference DS 56 .O9 1997
The Oxford Guide to People and Places of the Bible
Religions of the Ancient World
Reference BL 687 .R47 2004
World Eras: Amcient Mesopotamia, 3300-331 B.C.E
Reference DS 69.5 .W35 2005

Concordances

Eerdman's Analytical Concordance to the Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Reference BS 425 .W48 1988
The NRSV Concordance Unabridged
Reference BS 425 .K645 1991
Strongs Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
Reference BS 425 .S8 1984

Dictionaries

Anchor Bible Dictionary
Reference BS 440 .A54 1992
Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology
Reference BL 1060 .L44 1991
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery
Reference BS 537 .D48 1998
Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation
Reference BS 500 .D5 1999
Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible
Reference BS 680 .G57 D53 1999
Dictionary of the Bible
Encyclopaedia of Middle Eastern Mythology and Religion
Reference BL 1060 .K58 1993

Library Catalogs

Use the catalogs below to locate books.

COD Library Catalog
Items in the COD Library only
Illinet Online
Materials at 56 Illinois libraries
WorldCat
A large number of US and some world libraries

Some things to remember when doing a subject search on the Bible:

The Bible can be searched as Bible; that will be general works on the Bible as a whole. If you are looking for information on a particular book in the Bible you need to search it as Bible O. T. and then the name of the book. For example: Bible O. T. Genesis.
There are several useful subheadings for the study of religious sources. They are

For example: Bible O T Criticism Interpretation Etc.

Some other subheadings that are useful are:

For example:

Israel Antiquities

Jews History

Palestine Social Life and Customs

There is also a heading Excavations (Archaeology).

Some good series of commentaries are The New Interpreter's Bible, The Anchor Bible Series, JPS Bible Commentary, JPS Torah Commentary.

Indexes

Although the College of DuPage Library has no print or online indexes specifically for religion, many of these general sources cover the topic well. In many cases, the databases will have the full text article available online. If you are using these databases from off-campus, please be sure to have your library card available.

Online Indexes
- Academic Search Premier (1984-present)
  Indexes over 4,500 journals and magazines.
- Essay and General Literature Index (1985-present)
  Indexes chapters or essays in books.
- Expanded Academic ASAP (1980-present)
  Indexes over 3000 journals and magazines.
- JSTOR
  JSTOR is an archive of digitized journal articles ranging in date from the 1700's to the early 2000's. These collections span a variety of subjects in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Physical Sciences.

Internet Sites

Writing Aids

Abstracts

You may be asked to write abstracts for the sources you use in your research. The Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) has an information sheet available on Writing Report Abstracts

Citing Sources

The MLA format (Modern Language Association) is commonly used to create bibliographies or works cited pages. The sources below may help you.

MLA List of Works Cited

NoodleBib

Using Modern Language Association Format

General Guides
- Dartmouth Writng Program, Materials for Students: Writing the Academic Paper
- Research Strategies: Finding your way through the Information Fog
- Writing about the Humanities PE 1408 .D593 2000

Marianne Berger, Reference Librarian
630.942.2338
berger@cdnet.cod.edu

2 November 2005

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