Guide to Research and Writing for the Academic Study of Religion

Typically if you enter a term in  the default search box, the system searches for the term(s) anywhere often including full text if the database includes full text.   BUT this is not always the case, particularly in our EBSCOhost databases  like ATLA Religion Database where you need to change the search default to search fulltext.

Many databases will also allow you to limit your search to a particular field. Look for tabs or options that allow you to set search limits. Some common search limits are:

• Date of publication - This is particularly useful to narrow your sources to the most recent work
• Language - This will keep you from sorting through sources that are in languages you can't understand
• Type of Source - This is useful for when you are looking for one type of source only (e.g. journal or book)
• Subject -  If your search returns too many records you may want to narrow your search by selecting a subject that is relevant to your topic of interest. 
• Full-text - If you use this limiter, be aware that this may eliminate very useful articles that the library has in digital format from another source or in the print collection.  Typically if you enter a term in  the default search box, the system searches for the term(s) anywhere often including full text if the database includes full text.   BUT this is not always the case, particularly in our EBSCOhost databases  like ATLA Religion Database where you need to change the search default to search fulltext.

Note:  For most database, limits can be applied either at the time you are entering you search terms or once you have the search results.

From the Library search box you can  select "advanced search"  to display the limit options or from your search results you can filter results by a variety of options including:  Availability, Item type, Date, Subject, Location etc.   To search for books by Mircea Eliade (select Author as field) and select Book as  Item Type.  To locate books  about Mircea Eliade (select Subject as field) and select Book as Item Type. 

An effective way to search is by subject heading (sometimes called descriptors). Most databases assign subject headings to each work. These subject headings are standardized according to each database which means that there will be consistency for subject headings, at least within that database. This is also called a controlled vocabulary.

Searching by subject heading will retrieve records that are more consistently relevant to your topic. However, the first step for subject searching is to figure out what subject headings are being used for your subject. One way to do this is to enter a term in a keyword search. When you find a record that applies to your topic, check what subject heading it is listed under and link to all the other records under that subject heading. In the library catalogue this can be achieved easily by selecting the record and then clicking on the  hyperlinked subject heading in the "Details" section. . Another method is to Browse (see the section on Browsing).

Academic library catalogues use the Library of Congress Subject Headings which creates some consistency between them. However, many other databases set their own subject headings. Regardless, it is necessary to remember that subject headings have been created by and assigned by people and, therefore, some degree of bias and human error is inherent in the subject heading system. This can be seen, for example, with some texts of eastern religions being listed under literature.

When using databases it is also important to be aware of differing terminologies for the same concepts. These differences often reflect the biases of the database producers. A good example of this is the Catholic Periodical and Literature Index and ATLA - both of which have Catholic and Protestant biases respectively. See the following table for the differences in the number of hits using three different terms all meaning similar things: Communion, Eucharist, and Lord's Supper.

If the default search screen does not show a date limitation option, select the Advanced Search option. Remember in many databases you can also limit your search results by date.

Using the Library Search Box you have two options for limiting results.  You can  enter your search terms and  from the results pages  select from a variety of limit options including Publication Date.  The other option is to use the Advanced Search to apply the search limits at the beginning of your search.

If the default search screen does not show a language limitation option, select the Advanced Search option. 

Using the Library Search Box you have two options for limiting results.  You can  enter your search terms and on the left side of the complete  results  page you will see a variety of limit options including Language.  The other option is to use the Advanced Search to apply the search limits at the beginning of your search.

If the default search screen does not show a document type limitation option, select the Advanced Search option.  This is a particularly useful option if you want to limit to book review or exclude book reviews from your search.

Using the Library Search Box you have two options for limiting results.  You can  enter your search terms and and on the left side of the complete  results  page you will see a variety of limit options including Item Type which allows you to limit results to book reviews and other formats   The other option is to use the Advanced Search to apply the search limits at the beginning of your search.

 Many research databases that  are not 100% full-text will allow you the option of limiting your retrieval to full -text.   It is recommended that you do not do this as there may be very useful references that lack full text in the database you are using, BUT have full-text through another database or are available in print in the library collection.