UVM Libraries Research Guides: Religion Copy 2: Books

Locate Books in Howe Library

These call number ranges hold a variety of books on Religion. For a more detailed breakdown of the Library of Congress (LC) "B" classification, go to the LC Classification Outline for Philosophy and Religion.

BL : Religions. Mythology	BQ : Buddhism	BS : The Bible
BP : Islam. Bahaism	BR : Christianity	BX : Christian Denominations

Books on Religion and Mythology (Call #s BL-BX) that may be checked out of the Library are on the 2nd floor. Reference Books (main/1st floor) are in ROW 2 and are non-circulating. Browse the Stacks: Find a useful book in the stacks? Browse in that area to discover other books that might be useful.

Use the Library Catalog to Search for Books in the Library

The Library Catalog locates books, journals (not articles), microfilm, dvds, cds, and U.S. documents (1976->) owned by the UVM Libraries. There are two versions of the catalog:
CATQuest version and the Classic Library Catalog. Each version has its advantages and disadvantages.
Because the CATQuest search box is front and center on the Library homepage, find instructions for using the CATQuest version below. If something confuses you, use the Classic Library Catalog. To find this link on the Library homepage, click the "Research" link at the top of the page and find the link in the "FIND" column.

Find Books by Subject

*Subject Headings Standardized words or phrases assigned to a subject (e.g., etiquette not manners). Library subject headings are similar to tags. We attach these special terms to library catalog records in order to describe the intellectual content of an item more precisely. Subject terms are categories of information; click on one and you'll retrieve a list of similarly tagged items. Allows books on a similar subject to be grouped together in the book stacks.

Use Library of Congress Subject Headings* in the Library Catalog to locate books on your topic. Click image below (live link!) to be brought to the Browse search function in CATQuest.

Some examples of Library of Congress subject headings on religion and philosophy:

religion	buddhism	confucianism
theology	buddhism sacred books	philosophy confucian
christianity	buddhist philosophy	philosophy chinese
church history	hinduism	taoism
judaism	hinduism sacred books	taoism sacred books
bible o.t. (also, bible n.t.)	philosophy indic	shinto
talmud	india religion	philosophy japanese
islam	dharma	japan religion
asia religion	south asia religion	east asia religion
koran	zen buddhism	sacred books
caribbean area religion

TIP When viewing the list of subject headings on the screen after performing a search, note the additional subject headings provided that will lead to additional materials.

Find Books by Keyword

CATQuest Advanced Search

Use a Keyword search in the CATQuest Advanced Search to search topics that are complex with multiple concepts or if you are unsure of the Library of Congress Subject Heading. A keyword search finds the term anywhere in the library catalog record. When you do a keyword search, be sure to look at the subject headings used to describe this topic and then also search by the correct Library of Congress Subject Heading.

Tips:

Limit entire search to "Library Catalog."
To force a phrase, use the pull-down menu for the "contains" box to choose "phrase."
When connecting words with "and" or "or," use uppercase letters (i.e., AND OR)
To limit your search to books in your results list, select "Books" from the pull-down list in the Resource Type category.
To broaden your search, use the truncation symbol * at the end of the word or root word to retrieve variant endings.example: feminis* --> feminist, feminists, feminism

Sample Search in Advanced Search - Library Catalog limit:

Books Beyond Howe Library

Enrich your research by searching for books beyond the UVM Libraries.

Hathi Trust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
This resource provides access to millions of digitized titles that are in the public domain. Use it to locate historic or primary source materials from around the world. Use is open to everyone but UVM affiliates can log in to download texts for offline use.
WorldCat This link opens in a new window
This resource is a searchable database of library collections across the United States, Canada and many other countries. Well over a billion records describe books, multimedia, serials, maps, and other information resources. Materials identified through WorldCat can be ordered through UVM's Interlibrary Loan Service.

In addition to the databases above, consider:
Book Reviews: Article databases frequently index book reviews. If you find a review (or citation for a review) for a book that looks useful or interesting, check the library catalog to see if the library owns it. If the library doesn't own the book, borrow it through Interlibrary Loan.
Bibliographies: Scholarly journal articles, scholarly encyclopedia essays, and academic-oriented books will provide bibliographies or lists for further reading. If you find a book that looks useful or interesting, check the library catalog to see if the library owns it. If the library doesn't own the book, borrow it through Interlibrary Loan. These are indeed the "low hanging fruit" during the research process!