Regardless of which topic you choose ...
First Get Background Information: Search broad range tools like encyclopedias, dictionaries, and handbooks to provide background information, a readymade outline, expert authors, contextual parameters on a topic, and a greater understanding when reading other resources. While these types of resources are not cited in a scholarly research paper, they are extremely valuable in the early stages of a research project.
Before you begin your research see these Wikipedia articles which include extensively documented references and bibliographies:
Find Encyclopedias and Dictionaries: The easiest method of finding encyclopedias & dictionaries on any topic is to search the library catalog with "encyclopedias OR dictionaries" in the subject field (su:) then add whatever broad field your topic fits into. Like this:
su:encyclopedias OR dictionaries AND judaism
su:encyclopedias OR dictionaries AND kw:judaism
su:encyclopedias OR dictionaries AND biblical
See also Encyclopaedia Britannica and Encyclopaedia of Judaica online.
NOTE: "OR" & "AND" must be in all caps to function as Boolean operators. It is also very helpful to limit the Resource Format: to Book. Also consider limiting the Content Type: to NonFiction and the Language: to English.
NOTE: "su:" commands the Discovery search engine to look only in the Subject field of the bibliographic record. Likewise, "SU" is used in periodical indexing tools like ATLAS Plus, Christian Periodical Index (CPI), Old Testament Abstracts (OTA), etc.
NOTE: "kw:" searches these metadata fields: author, title, publisher, summary/abstract, table of contents, series, subjects, genre, and notes.
NOTE: When the asterisk (*) is used at the end of a term, it denotes a command in most search engines to search for the root word and every variation thereafter. Like this: bibl* will search for bible, bibles, biblical, and biblically.
TIP: Hardcopy encyclopedias and dictionaries on Judaism are located in 296 through 296.0901; hardcopy encyclopedias and dictionaries on the Bible are in 220.3.
InterLibrary Loan (ILL): Get books and articles when the library does not have what you want.
TREN = Theological Research Exchange Network indexes theological theses/dissertations. Current TMUS students and faculty may download eDocs for free. You must access TREN via Find Databases on the library web site and use your TMUS credentials for authentication to freely download eDocs.
EThOS = Electronic Theses Online Service <ethos.bl.uk> provides access to the full text of all UK doctoral theses, either via free download or digitization-on-demand. No authentication required.
Last updated May 2023.
Length of the Sojourn in Egypt
Before you begin your research see this Wikipedia article which includes extensively documented references and bibliography:
Location of Books (Powell Library hardcopy):
Use these search queries in the Discovery catalog for hardcopy and eBooks:
To find articles, go to Find Databases on the library web site to access these databases. Use these search queries in ATLA Religion, Christian Periodical Index, ProQuest Religion and Old Testament abstracts databases:
Search other related databases, like BAS Online (select "Explore the Library" for each new search), Cambridge Histories Online, Encyclopaedia Judaica (select "Search Within" (on the right) for each new search), etc. with these search queries:
Date of the Exodus
Before you begin your research see this Wikipedia article which includes extensively documented references and bibliography:
Location of Books (Powell Library hardcopy):
Use these search queries in the Discovery catalog for hardcopy and eBooks:
To find articles, go to Find Databases on the library web site to access these databases. Use this search query in ATLA Religion, Christian Periodical Index, ProQuest Religion and Old Testament abstracts databases:
Search other related databases, like BAS Online (select "Explore the Library" for each new search), Cambridge Histories Online, Encyclopaedia Judaica (select "Search Within" (on the right) for each new search), etc. with these search queries:
Search the TREN database for theological theses and dissertations:
Conquest of Canaan -- when and how long; an actual conquest?
Before you begin your research see this Wikipedia article which includes extensively documented references and bibliography:
Location of Books (Powell Library hardcopy):
Use these search queries in the Discovery catalog for hardcopy and eBooks:
To find articles, go to Find Databases on the library web site to access these databases. Use these search queries in ATLA Religion, Christian Periodical Index, ProQuest Religion and Old Testament abstracts databases:
Search other related databases, like BAS Online (select "Explore the Library" for each new search), Cambridge Histories Online, Encyclopaedia Judaica (select "Search Within" (on the right) for each new search), etc. with these search queries:
Find Theses & Dissertations:
Joshua 10 and the sun standing still
Before you begin your research see this Wikipedia article which includes extensively documented references and bibliography:
Location of Books: (Powell Library hardcopy)
Use these search queries in the Discovery catalog for hardcopy and eBooks:
To find articles, go to Find Databases on the library web site to access these databases.Use these search queries in ATLA Religion, Christian Periodical Index, ProQuest Religion and Old Testament abstracts databases:
Search other related databases, like BAS Online (select "Explore the Library" for each new search), Cambridge Histories Online, Encyclopaedia Judaica (select "Search Within" (on the right) for each new search), etc. with these search queries:
Jephthah's vow -- what did he vow and how did he fulfill that vow?
Before you begin your research see these Wikipedia articles which include extensively documented references and bibliographies:
Location of Books (Powell Library hardcopy):
Use these search queries in the Discovery catalog for hardcopy and eBooks:
To find articles, go to Find Databases on the library web site to access these databases. Search ATLA Religion, Christian Periodical Index, ProQuest Religion and Old Testament Abstracts with these search queries:
Search other related databases, like BAS Online (select "Explore the Library" for each new search), Cambridge Histories Online, Encyclopaedia Judaica (select "Search Within" (on the right) for each new search), etc. with these search queries:
For theses & dissertations, search the TREN database with this search term: jephthah
The length of Pekah's reign
Before you begin your research see this Wikipedia article which includes extensively documented references and bibliography:
Location of Books (Powell Library hardcopy):
Use these search queries in the Discovery catalog for hardcopy and eBooks:
To find articles, go to Find Databases on the library web site to access these databases. Search ATLA Religion, Christian Periodical Index, ProQuest Religion and Old Testament Abstracts with this search query:
Search other related databases, like BAS Online, Cambridge Histories Online, Encyclopaedia Judaica, etc. with this search query:
What kind of man was Mordecai and what kind of woman was Esther?
Before you begin your research see these Wikipedia articles which include extensively documented references and bibliographies:
Location of Books (Powell Library hardcopy):
Use these search queries in the Discovery catalog for hardcopy and eBooks:
To find articles, go to Find Databases on the library web site to access these databases. Search ATLA Religion, Christian Periodical Index, ProQuest Religion and Old Testament Abstracts with this search query:
Search other related databases, like BAS Online (select "Explore the Library" for each new search), Cambridge Histories Online, Encyclopaedia Judaica (select "Search Within" (on the right) for each new search), etc. with these search queries:
For theses & dissertations, search the TREN database with these search terms:
Search EThOS with this search query:
Last updated April 2024.
Historical and Biblical threads
Division of the Monarchy -- what led to it?
Before you begin your research see these Wikipedia articles which include extensively documented references and bibliographies:
Location of Books (Powell Library hardcopy):
Use these search queries in the Discovery catalog for hardcopy and eBooks:
To find articles, go to Find Databases on the library web site to access these databases. Use these search queries in ATLA Religion, Christian Periodical Index, ProQuest Religion and Old Testament abstracts databases:
Search other related databases, like BAS Online (select "Explore the Library" for each new search), Cambridge Histories Online, Encyclopaedia Judaica (select "Search Within" (on the right) for each new search), etc. with these search queries:
Fall of Jerusalem -- what led to it? (Babylon's conquest in 586 B.C. covenantal backdrop to God's expectations of His chosen people.
Before you begin your research see these Wikipedia articles which include extensively documented references and bibliographies:
Search the Discovery Catalog
Use these search queries :
See also these resources:
Find Articles - go to Find Databases on the library web site to access these databases.
Use these search queries in ATLA Religion, Christian Periodical Index, ProQuest Religion and Old Testament abstracts databases:
Search other related databases, like BAS Online (select "Explore the Library" for each new search), Cambridge Histories Online, Encyclopaedia Judaica (select "Search Within" (on the right) for each new search), etc. with these search queries:
Find Theses & Dissertations:
Last updated April 2024.
Brief broad overview, history, key cultural and religious features, relevance to biblical studies, intersection of the people group with Israel in biblical records and the related period in a way that sheds light on Scripture.
New-Assyrians
Before you begin your research see these Wikipedia articles which include extensively documented references and bibliographies:
Location of books (Powell Library hardcopy):
Use these search queries in the Discovery catalog for hardcopy and eBooks:
To find articles, go to Find Databases on the library web site to access these databases. Use these search queries in ATLA Religion, Christian Periodical Index, ProQuest Religion and Old Testament abstracts databases:
Search other related databases, like BAS Online (select "Explore the Library" for each new search), Cambridge Histories Online, Encyclopaedia Judaica (select "Search Within" (on the right) for each new search), etc. with these search queries:
Find Theses & Dissertations:
New-Babylonians
Before you begin your research see these Wikipedia articles which include extensively documented references and bibliographies:
Location of books (Powell Library hardcopy):
Use these search queries in the Discovery catalog for hardcopy and eBooks:
To find articles, go to Find Databases on the library web site to access these databases. Use this search query in ATLA Religion, Christian Periodical Index, ProQuest Religion and Old Testament abstracts databases:
Search other related databases, like BAS Online, Cambridge Histories Online, Encyclopaedia Judaica, etc. with this search query:
Find Theses & Dissertations:
Persians
Before you begin your research see these Wikipedia articles which include extensively documented references and bibliographies:
Location of books (Powell Library hardcopy):
Use these search queries in the Discovery catalog for hardcopy and eBooks:
To find articles, go to Find Databases on the library web site to access these databases. Use these search queries in ATLA Religion, Christian Periodical Index, ProQuest Religion and Old Testament abstracts databases:
Search other related databases, like BAS Online (select "Explore the Library" for each new search), Cambridge Histories Online, Encyclopaedia Judaica (select "Search Within" (on the right) for each new search), etc. with these search queries:
Find Theses & Dissertations:
Phoenicians
Before you begin your research see this Wikipedia article which includes extensively documented references and bibliography:
Location of books (Powell Library hardcopy):
Use these search queries in the Discovery catalog for hardcopy and eBooks:
To find articles, go to Find Databases on the library web site to access these databases. Use these search queries in ATLA Religion, Christian Periodical Index, ProQuest Religion and Old Testament abstracts databases:
Search other related databases, like BAS Online (select "Explore the Library" for each new search), Cambridge Histories Online, Encyclopaedia Judaica (select "Search Within" (on the right) for each new search), etc. with these search queries:
Find Theses & Dissertations:
Philistines
Before you begin your research see this Wikipedia article which includes extensively documented references and bibliography:
Location of books (Powell Library hardcopy):
Use these search queries in the Discovery catalog for hardcopy and eBooks:
To find articles, go to Find Databases on the library web site to access these databases. Use these search queries in ATLA Religion, Christian Periodical Index, ProQuest Religion and Old Testament abstracts databases:
Search other related databases, like BAS Online, Cambridge Histories Online, Encyclopaedia Judaica, etc. with this search query:
Find Theses & Dissertations:
Last updated April 2024.
From Topic to Thesis by
While courses in Bible and theology typically require research papers, particularly at the graduate level, very few include training in research. Professors have two options: use valuable class time to teach students as much as they can, or lower their standards with the understanding that students cannot be expected to complete tasks for which they have never been prepared.From Topic to Thesis: A Guide to Theological Research offers a third option. This affordable and accessible tool walks students through the process, focusing on five steps: finding direction, gathering sources, understanding issues, entering discussion and establishing a position. Its goal is to take students directly from a research assignment to a research argument--in other words, from topic to thesis.
Quality Research Papers by
This updated third edition of Quality Research Papers--fast becoming a standard reference textbook for writing research papers in the fields of religion and theology--gives improvements and added material for such things as the expanding field of online research and doing church-related research in a professional manner. Because so many new developments have taken place in the field of research, especially in terms of electronic research, this handy reference explores the ways to do research on the internet, including how to document such research. Quality Research Papers offers great opportunities to students today, especially in distant learning situations, to determine which resources can be used and which should be rejected. For this reason Nancy Vyhmeister brought in Terry Robertson, Seminary Librarian at Andrews University and professor of the seminary master's level research courses. His expertise in library, computers, and the Internet are invaluable to the book. In addition to substantial, current information on electronic resources and online research, this third edition preserves all of the features of the original editions, now presented in a newly revised, more logical order.
Research Strategies: Finding Your Way Through the Information Fog by
Everyone does research. Some just do it better than others. In this chaotic world of information and misinformation, referred to as "information fog," university students, in particular, need to learn how to conduct research effectively. Good research is about a quest to discover more, about a burning desire to solve society's problems and make a better world. Ultimately, research is a way forward to a resolution of life's greatest difficulties. In this seventh edition of Research Strategies: Finding Your Way through the Information Fog, author William Badke walks you step by step through the entire research process--from choosing a topic, to writing the final project, and everything in between.A seasoned researcher and educator, Badke offers tried-and-true tips, tricks, and strategies to help you identify a problem, acquire pertinent information, and use that information to address the problem. Employing a host of examples and humor, Research Strategies: Finding Your Way through the Information Fog shows how research can be exciting and fun.
