Finding Information
on Religion

Sources of information about religious figures, their lives, and their works may be found in:
  • Reference books, like encyclopedias and dictionaries
  • Books on the individual or religion
  • Magazine and journal articles
  • Websites

Books, Videos, and More

Use the Hawaii Voyager Catalog to find materials in the UH Libraries.

  • Try a SUBJECT search to find items ABOUT a certain person, religion, place, or concept.
  • Try an AUTHOR search to find materials BY a certain person.
  • Try a KEYWORD search to get a list of items that mention your keyword in either the title, description, subject, or author.

The ebrary collection has more than 34,000 electronic books. While the Hawaii Voyager Catalog will find ebrary books, it cannot do full text searching. Search within the ebook from within ebrary.

To search within the full text of the ebrary books, login directly to ebrary. To login from off campus, enter your 8-digit UH ID Number (login to MyUHPortal.hawaii.edu to find out your number).

You might need to install the small "ebrary reader" plug-in to view the books.

You may find other ebooks through NetLibrary (create an account while on campus to access this from off campus later). NetLibrary books have not been included in the Hawaii Voyager Catalog.

Google Books may have useful books, though typically, it will only allow you to view a limited number of pages. You may need to set up a free Google account to view some pages.

Some Reference Books on Religion at the WCC Library

An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols
REF BL603 C66

Harper's Dictionary of Hinduism
REF BL 1105 S79 1977

Encyclopedia of Buddhism
REF BQ128 E62 2004

Encyclopedia of Creation Myths
REF BL 325 C7 L44 1994

Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World
BP40 E525 2004

The Encyclopedia of Judaism
REF BM50 .E634 1999

The Muslim Almanac
REF BP40 M83 1996

The New Encyclopedia of Judaism
REF BM50 E63 2002

The Encyclopedia of Religion
REF BL31 .E46 1995

The Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics
REF BL31 .E43

Journal and Magazine Articles

Use Academic Search Premier from EBSCO to find magazine and journal articles.

Internet Sources

Search the Librarian's Index to the Internet for selected sites about religions.

Citing Sources

You will need to cite all your sources, including your Internet sources, in your paper. For guidelines on citing, see the Citing Sources Page on the WCC Library website.

Updated November 15, 2007 by Tara Severns