OC Library: Library Instruction for Acts

Researching Topics for Life of the Early Church: Acts

Finding Books	Other Sources of Information
Finding Articles	Finding Internet Sources

Finding Books

OC Library Catalog (books in the OC Library)

Go to library's Web site (www.oc.edu/library/)
Select: OC Catalog

NetLibrary (electronic books available online)

Go to the library's Web site (www.oc.edu/library)
Select: NetLibrary

Other Library Catalogs (through the OK-Share program, OC students and faculty can check out books from over 40 libraries in Oklahoma)

Go to the library's Web site (www.oc.edu/library)
Select: Other Library Catalogs
Select the desired library

Finding Articles

Databases

To access all databases containing articles:

Go to the library's Web site (www.oc.edu/library)

Select: Find Articles

Select: Subject area OR database title (e.g., Religion or Academic Search)

Databases that contain religious materials:

ATLA Religion Database (under Religion)

Indexes articles from scholarly journals in the religious field worldwide, essays in books, and book reviews. Some of the entries are full text, most are just citations. Allows you to limit your search to articles in journals that are in the Beam Library. Also allows you to place an ILL request without leaving ATLA.

Academic Search

Online database that covers all disciplines including religion. Entries are full text. Allows you to place an ILL request without leaving Academic Search.

ArticleFirst

Online database that covers all disciplines including religion. Entries are citations. Allows you to limit your search to articles in journals that are in the Beam Library. Also allows you to place an ILL request without leaving ArticleFirst.

Finding the Article in the Library

To see if journal or magazine is available online, check the E-Journals List, which is linked from the library's home page (www.oc.edu/library).
After finding a citation to an article, use the OC Catalog to determine:
1. Is the journal in the OC Library? (If not, consider requesting it through interlibrary loan; articles requested through interlibrary loan usually arrive within two weeks.)
2. Is the journal on paper, fiche, or film?
3. Does the library have the year that you need?

Sources of Information in the Library

All the books listed in this section are in the Reference area of the library. The purpose of these works is to provide an introduction or overview of a topic.

Bible/Religious Dictionaries (Contain an alphabetical listing of terms; sometimes the entries are fairly extensive. Provide an introduction to a subject.)

Anchor Bible Dictionary (BS 440 A54 1992 - 6 vols.)
Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (BR 95 E87)

Bible/Religious Encyclopedias (Contain alphabetically arranged articles on specific subjects.)

Encyclopedia of Religion (BL 31 E46 1995 - 16 vols.)
Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (BL 31 E55x - 13 vols.)
Encyclopedia of Women and World Religion (BL 458 E53 1999 - 2 vols.)
History of the Christian Church (BR 145 S3 - 8 vols.)
New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (BR 95 S435 - 13 vols.)

Concordances (List all the places a word was used in the Bible)

Complete Concordance to the Bible: New King James Version (BS 425 C65 1983)
The NIV Exhaustive Concordance (BS 425 G62 1990)

Commentaries (Contain analysis of specific books of the Bible.) -- look up by book of the Bible

The Anchor Bible (BS192.2 A1)
The International Critical Commentary (BS491 I6)
Word Biblical Commentary (BS491.2 W67)

Finding Web Sites

Look at the links about Religion listed on the library's Web site.
1. Go to the library's Web site (www.oc.edu/library)
2. Select: Find Web Sites
3. Select: Religion
Do a search in WorldCat that is limited to "Internet Resources."
Search the Web for sites that provide information on your topic, but remember that many Web sites are not reliable and may provide false or misleading information. Some good search engines are:
1. Google (a search engine that emphasizes academic sites)
2. Alltheweb
3. Altavista
4. Yahoo!
More search engines are listed on the Library's Web site -- click on Find Internet Resources, then on Internet Search Services and Tools.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

Interlibrary loan is a service provided to current OC students, faculty and staff to obtain materials NOT held in the OC Library within copyright limitations.
Interlibrary loan requests can be made in three ways:
1. By filling out the online form on the library's Web page
2. By filling out the paper forms available at the front desk
3. By clicking on the ILL button available in many of the research databases
To fill out the online form:
1. Go to library's Web site (www.oc.edu/library)
2. Select: Interlibrary loan (under Request It Online)
3. Type in the information about the book or article you'd like to request
4. Press the Send button.
When the material arrives, you will be notified by email that the item is available at the front desk.

Please send comments or suggestions to library@oc.edu