Databases

• Academic Search Complete (approximately 1880s to date). Provides abstracts of articles (summaries), and full-text articles from more than 10,000 books, scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, and reference works on a wide variety of topics.
• Arts & Humanities Search (1980 to date). Indexes more than 1,300 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals.
• ATLA Religion Index (approximately 1818 to date). Furnishes citations to and abstracts (summaries) of journal articles and books on church history, biblical studies, religion in social issues, and other topics relating to religion of the world.
• FirstSearch. Provides access to dozens of indexes and databases in a variety of disciplines.
• Humanities Abstracts (1983 to date). Indexes a broad range of some 500 magazine and journal publications.
• Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective: 1907-1984. Indexes nearly 1,200 periodicals.
• Patrologia Latina. The electronic version of publisher Jacques-Paul Migne's 217-volume Patrologia Latina (printed from 1844 to 1855), and the corresponding four index volumes (1862 to 1865). The set covers the works of the Church Fathers from Tertullian in 200 A.D. to the death of Pope Innocent III in 1216.
• Religion and Philosophy Collection (coverage varies; mostly 1970s to date). Furnishes the full text of some 300 journals, including more than 250 peer-reviewed publications.

Databases in Related Disciplines

• L'Annee Philologique (1959 to date; use restricted to Simpson Library). Indexes articles and books in philosophy, classical studies, and related disciplines. Electronic coverage begins in 1959. Print issues are shelved under the call number PA 31 .A56.
• MasterFile Premier (coverage varies by publication). Furnishes full-text coverage of thousands of reference books, biographies, and primary source documents. Also contains an image collection.
• OmniFile Full Text, Mega Edition (1982 to date). A multidisciplinary database that provides the full text from a variety of the company's full-text databases, including Education, General Science, Humanities, Readers' Guide, Social Sciences, and Business. When available, the full text is included from these databases: Applied Science & Technology, Art, Biological & Agricultural Index, Index to Legal Periodicals & Books, and Library Literature & Information Science. Coverage dates: Indexing, 1982+; Abstracting, 1984+; select full text, 1994+ (start dates for full-text coverage vary from journal to journal within a database).
• Periodicals Index Online (formerly PCI) (1665 to 1995). Provides author, title, and keyword access to the table-of-contents pages of more than 4,000 worldwide periodicals.
• Philosopher's Index (1940 to date). Furnishes citations and abstracts to journal articles, books, and book reviews.

For a complete listing of databases provided by UMW Libraries, please see Databases A-Z.

selected reference books in simpson library

• General Works
• Specialized Works
• The Bible
• Mythology

General Works

• The Brill Dictionary of Religion REFB BL 31 .M4813 2006
• Companion Encyclopedia of Theology REFB BR 118 .C66 1995
• Encyclopedia of Religion BL31 .E46 2005
• Encyclopedia of World Scriptures REFB BL 70 .S56 2001
• Holy People of the World: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia REFB BL 72 .H65 2004
• The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions REFB BL 31 .O9 1997
• Religion Index One: Periodicals REFB BL 1 .A46x
• Religions of the World REFB BL 80.3 .R45 2002
• The Wilson Chronology of the World's Religions REFB BL 80.2 .L464
• World Christian Encyclopedia REFB BR 157 .W67 2001

Specialized Works

• Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics. REFB BL2525 .D58 2003
• Encyclopedia of American Religious History REFB BL 2525 .Q44 2001
• Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements REFB BL 98 .E53
• Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature REFB BL 31 .E465 2005
• Encyclopedia of Religion and War REFB BL 80.3 .E53 2004
• Encyclopedia of Religious Revivals in America REFB BV 3773 .E53 2007
• The Encyclopedia of Saints REFB BX 4655.8 .G85 2001
• Encyclopedia of Science and Religion REFB BL 240.3 .E53 2003
• Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America REFB BL 458 .E52 2006
• Jesus in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia REFB BR 145.3 .H68 2003
• Religion and American Cultures REFB BL 2525 .R448 2003

The Bible

• All Things in the Bible REFB BS 440 .T57 2006
• The Anchor Bible Dictionary REFB BS 440 .A54 1992
• Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible REFB BS 440 .E44 2000
• The New Strong's Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible REFB BS 425 .S8 2001
• The Oxford Bible Commentary REFB BS 491.3 .O94 2001

Mythology

• The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend REFB BL 303 .M45 2004
• Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology REFB BL 312 .G64 2005
• Myths and Legends of the World REFB BL 311 .M97 2000
• Oxford Companion to World Mythology REFB BL 312 .L44 2005
• Thematic Guide to World Mythology REFB BL 312 .S76 2004

Websites

• Virtual Libraries
• Directories and Guides
• Religious Denominations

Virtual Libraries

Virtual libraries contain annotated collections of high-quality Internet resources that librarians or other information specialists have carefully selected. Users can usually browse by subject or search.

• Librarians' Internet Index. See especially the Religion category under Arts and Humanities.
• The Internet Public Library. See especially the Religion & Theology category under Arts & Humanities. "Religion" is comprised of:
  • Faiths & Denominations
  • Leading Figures
  • Sacred & Other Religious Texts

Directories and Guides

• Internet Public Library: Pathfinders: Greek Mythology. A guide prepared by the librarians at the Internet Public Library.
• Virtual Religion Index. A directory that "analyzes and highlights important content of religion-related websites."
• Wabash Center: Internet Guide to Religion. "A selective, annotated guide to a wide variety of electronic resources of interest to those who are involved in the study and practice of religion."

Religious Denominations

• Adherents.com. A collection of some 44,000 adherent statistics and religious geography citations: references to published membership/adherent statistics and congregation statistics for over 4,200 religions, churches, denominations, religious bodies, faith groups, tribes, cultures, movements, ultimate concerns, etc."
• Religious Movements Homepage Project. Contains "detailed profiles of more than two hundred different religious groups and movements."