A450 Catholic Controversies
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Here are some ideas about where to find sources for your research paper. You'll find many additional resources on the Library web site, under Resources by Subject. See especially: Religious Studies, History, Gender Studies, and Political Science.
***IMPORTANT: Did you get here from Oncourse? Please click here to open this page in a new window (some resources won't work inside Oncourse).***
Need help with your research? Contact the Religious Studies Librarian, Celestina Savonius-Wroth, cewroth@indiana.edu
Get a quick start on your project with OneSearch@IU, a search engine that searches more than 100 different research databases at once. Or try Google Scholar, the academic version of Google (make sure you're on campus or logged in to IU-VPN, to get access to all the resources IU owns or subscribes to). Remember that your topics are controversial by definition, so be on the look-out for bias or hidden agenda in your sources no matter where you find them, but especially if they don't come from academic sites.
On the rest of this page: more resources for researching historical controversies and contemporary controversies
illustration: "The Auto de fe of Pangloss," from Voltaire's Candide, 1759 (Wikimedia) |
Researching Historical Controversies
You'll need to find books or journal articles written by scholars, usually referred to as "secondary sources," about the historical controversy you are researching.You may also need "primary sources," original materials written during the time of the controversy. Here are some sources for both.
IUCAT - IU Libraries Catalog (try IUCAT for contemporary controversies as well)
Try the Advanced Keyword Search, using catholic church as a subject, and experimenting with keywords describing your topic. Other helpful subject terms are doctrines (for discussion of official church positions on issues) and sources (when you're looking for primary sources). Another way to find primary sources is to limit by date of publication (works best for 19th- and 20th-century topics). Also remember that you can limit by language (to find English-language translations of original sources).
Examples:
Keyword: contraception
Subject: catholic church
Keyword: divorce
Subject: catholic church doctrines
Keyword: war
Subject: catholic church
Publication year: 1935-1947
Author: galileo
Language: english
Many out-of-copyright books are available in HathiTrust Digital Library (or Google Books). Use WorldCat to broaden your search beyond IU and what's available online --books can be borrowed from other libraries in WorldCat using the "request materials through ILL" link.
ATLA Religion Database - online index of research in religious studies (try ATLA for contemporary controversies as well)
Historical Abstracts, America: History & Life - online indexes of historical research (be sure to try JSTOR as well --it covers fewer journals but is full-text searchable, so very useful for finding references to specific names and places.)
MLA International Bibliography - online index of literary research
Catholic Periodical and Literature Index - online index of major US Catholic journals and magazines
ProQuest Historical Newspapers - digitized collection of major US newspapers back to the late 19th century (for contemporary media coverage)
For more collections of digitized primary sources, check out the resources listed under "online texts" on the Religious Studies, History, and Gender Studies pages.
Researching Contemporary Controversies
Contemporary controversies are happening now. You'll find more information about them in news sources, magazines, and on the internet. You may also find books and scholarly articles, by religious studies scholars, sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, or political scientists, depending on the type of controversy.
Academic Search (EBSCO) - search/access thousands of journals and magazines on all topics (also useful for historical controversies)
Factiva - search thousands of newspapers and news magazines
Lexis-Nexis Academic - similar to Factiva, but includes radio and TV transcripts, and legal documents as well. See the News and Current Events Resources page for access to many more news sources, including international news sources.
Ethnic NewsWatch - source for news about ethnic minorities in the US, alternative viewpoints
Contemporary Women's Issues (CWI) and GenderWatch - online index to journals and news sources for women and gender issues
Anthropology Plus - online index of anthropology journals and books
PsycINFO - online index of psychology journals
International Political Science Abstracts- online index of political science journals
last updated February 11, 2013
