RESEARCH GUIDE

Missions & Evangelism

Use the Master’s College Library Web site[1] to access the library’s online catalog and the many online databases the library has to offer.  The library’s Web site also provides information on how to do research, library services, hours, personnel, links to other libraries’ catalogs and links to other recommended scholarly Web Resources.

Dewey Decimal Classification Numbers

The TMC library’s collection is arranged according to the Dewey Decimal Classification System (DDC) with a few exceptions.  An outline of the whole DDC can be found at Summaries: DDC[2].  The following are the more common Dewey numbers used in the field of Missions & Evangelism:

Missions – 266

Religions - 280’s & 290’s

Ethnology and Culture – 301 thru 307

Language Studies 400’s

History & Geography - 900’s

Biography 922

Library of Congress Classification Numbers

The Master’s Seminary Library and many other libraries around the world use the Library of Congress Classification System (LC).  For an outline of the entire LC System go to the Library of Congress Classification Outline.  The following are the more common LC numbers used in the field of Missions & Evangelism:

Missions and Evangelism – BV2000 thru BV3799

Religions – BL thru BQ

History – D

Sociology - HM thru HX

Geography – G

Language and Literature – P

OPAC Search

The library's online catalog is the index to all the resources the library provides.  This is a good place to start looking for information related to the field of Missions & Evangelism.  The following are suggestions for getting started with research in this field. 

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)

Search the library catalog for appropriate LC Subject Headings (not to be confused with the LC Classification System) to use in your research.  Select the Basic Search screen and type in a broad subject term in the free text field, and then select the Subject (Left Anchored)  field.  When you receive your hit list, be sure to scroll through the list of headings for additional narrower terms and "See" or "See also" terms.

Here are some noteworthy LC Subject Headings to start with:

Acculturation

Anthropology

Christianity and Culture

Cross-cultural orientation

Culture

Ethnic groups (Search also individual ethnic groups and peoples, e.g. Indo-Europeans; Caucasian race; Hopi Indians, etc.)

Ethnicity

Ethnology

Evangelistic work

Indigenous peoples

Intercultural communication

Language and languages

Manners and customs

Minorities

Missions (be sure to read the Note)

Missions Anthropological aspects

Religion and Culture

For information on specific countries use the name of the country as a “Subject” from the library catalog “Advanced Search” screen or the Subject tab.

Foreign language materials can be found using the name of the country and the word language as [all of these] in [Subject] from the [Advanced Search] screen.  For cassette tapes only set the "Location" to cassettes.  The library has the Language/30 series on cassette representing 16 different languages[jt1] .

Reference Resources

The reference collection is one of the first places to start doing research because the resources there will provide background information on the topic, a ready made outline, expert authors in the field and contextual parameters of a topic. To find appropriate reference books from the Advanced Search screen set the "Location" to Reference and these search usi the appropriate term as a Keyword.

Or go to the shelves and browse the Reference collection for these:

Missions:

The Almanac of the Christian World (270.03 AL62d)

Mission Handbook (266.025 M691r)

Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions (266.092 B52a, 1998)

World Christian Encyclopedia (230.003 W893b, 2000)

 Operation World 2001-(266.03 J656o) 

Cultures:

Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Living (305.8)

CutlureGrams (306)

Encyclopedia of World Cultures (306)

Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology (306.03)

Language and communication : a cross-cultural encyclopedia (410.3)

Folklore : an encyclopedia of beliefs, customs, tales, music, and art (398.03)

Cross-cultural statistical encyclopedia of the world (306)

Main Books

To find materials in the main circulating collection use the same search strategy used to find reference books but without setting the Limits option to Reference.  For example type in appropriate search term(s) in the “Search” free text field, select the most suitable Boolean operation (“any of these”, “all of these”, as a phrase”) and then select an applicable field from the “within:” drop down menu.

Research TIP:  Use Sources to Find Other Sources -- when relevant records are identified search the Call Numbers and Subject Headings found with those records to identify additional related resources.  Also, scroll through the hit list and identify the most commonly used Dewey Classification numbers and then browse the shelves in those areas.

Finding Periodicals

Magazines, Journals, Newspapers

For all periodical titles available through the TMC library go to library Web site and select Periodical Holdings from the menu on the left.  From this page you can find periodicals by title or by subject.  There are also links to the online indexes that provide full-text articles. The periodical holdings list indicates which periodical titles are held by the library as well as inclusive dates and format availability -- microform, print, electronic.

Periodical Indexes

Periodical Indexes are used to identify the location of articles contained in magazines, journals and newspapers.  These indexes provide citations to the articles (author, title of the article, journal title, volume, issue, date, and page numbers).  Some indexes also provide abstracts (includes a summary of the article) and many online indexes provide the full-text (FT) of the article (e.g. the complete text of the article).

To access the indexes available to the TMC community go to library Web site and select Library Databases/Indexes.  Use the various search options to identify all available print and electronic indexes by either title or main topic and type.

Several of the indexes you will find there have the added benefit of the CEHCK FOR FULL TEXTservice.  CHECK FOR FULL TEXT enables you to link from the citation in the online index to the library’s periodical holdings information of full-text and print journals.  Then from there, you may link directly to the online journal, the online article or to the print holdings record in the OPAC.  In the event the TMC library does not have the journal in question, Journal Linker also provides a link to our interlibrary loan service.  Look for the Journal

Research TIP:  The Periodical Holdings List and CHECK FOR FULL TEXT are especially useful when attempting to determine whether or not the library has a particular journal either in print or electronic formats.   If TMC does not have the article, it may be ordered through ILL.

These Indexes will be particularly useful

Religion

ATLA Religion (FirstSearch): indexes several thousand religious journals from a wide variety of doctrinal positions and religious affiliations; some journals are available in full-text

Christian Periodical Index: indexes only evangelical journals; this database is strictly an index; no abstracts; no full-text; see the Research TIP above

Proquest Religion

Social Sciences

Arts & Humanities Citation Index (FirstSearch)

Interdisciplinary

Academic Search (EBSCO)

ArticleFirst (FirstSearch)

Proquest Research Library

Online Databases

The Databases/Indexes page includes all subscription based electronic research tools including periodical indexes and reference ebooks. To access all of these online research tools use the Databases/Indexes menu option on the library Web site

These Online Databases will be particularly useful:

Early English Books Online: English books published between 1475-1700.

World Almanac (FirstSearch)

World Data Analyst

WorldCat(FirstSearch)

American National Biography: only dead Americans

Dictionary of National Biography: only dead Britains

Biography Resource Center

Global Road Warrior

Web Resources

Go to the library Web site and select Web Resources from the main menu.  From this page you can find resources by title or by subject and type.  All Web sites posted have been evaluated and recommended by subject specialists.

Of particular interest are these:

ARDA: The Association of Religion Data Archives - Find statistics on religions and denominations regionally, nationally and internationally

ASARB: Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies - information and statistics about denominations and other faith groups in the United States.

Minority Links: racial and ethnic populations in the U.S.

CIA World Factbook

Country Studies

Global Evangelization Movement
Global Mapping International 

Internet Resources for Social & Cultural Anthropology

Missions & World Christianity

Missions References: an annotated list of Missions related Web sites 
Missions Web sites: more Misssions Web sites; no annotations
Google – Directory - Society

Additional General Research Guides: (also available on the Reference Desk)

Basic Steps in Library Research – six simple steps explaining the research process

From Cite to Hand - Books – how to actually obtain books and other materials whether or not the library owns them

From Cite to Hand - Articles – how to actually obtain magazine and journal articles whether or not the library owns them

Finding Articles in Two, sometime Three, OK maybe Four Easy Steps

Identifying Scholarly Books – clues for distinguishing scholarly books and journals

Identifying Scholarly Periodicals- clues for distinguishing between magazines, journals and peer reviewed journals

Evaluating Resources – easy way to help evaluate the usefulness of research resource both paper and electronic

Research Worksheet – designed to make research simpler by working step by step through the research process

Copyright for Higher Education– help in understanding the copyright law as it pertains to faculty and students

Additional Topical Research Guides:

Biblical Studies

Countries & Cultures