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 #7: Finding Theological Book ReviewsFinding theological book reviews is a hit-and-miss proposition. Many books are never reviewed at all: others are reviewed in periodicals that are not indexed. It is especially tedious to find reviews for earlier materials. The ATLA Religion Index One: Periodicals begins with 1950 and does not provide comprehensive coverage until the 1960s. The Catholic Periodical and Literature Index, available in full runs at Regis College Library, St. Augustine's Seminary Library, and the University or St. Michael's College-John M. Kelly Library, begins in 1930. For earlier publications, you must rely on general indexes and their coverage of religious periodicals is minimal. In addition, few 19th century periodicals have been indexed. Interestingly enough, it is just as difficult to find scholarly reviews of current books. Most reviews that appear within the first year of a book's publication are more likely to be notices, summaries, or recommendations rather than critical reviews, and even these take time to be processed by those indexing current materials. The problem of gaining access to reviews of current materials is illustrated when perusing the October 1981 issue of Religious Index One: Periodicals. None of the book reviews indexed were for 1981 publications. Only 24% were for 1980 publications, 45% were for 1979 publications, 32% were for 1978 publications, and 8% were for books published prior to 1978. Much of this time gap between the appearance of a book and its review, is circumscribed by the fact that the ATLA Religion Database is now available online. On the other hand, while an increasing number of journals whose contents are theological and religious (broadly defined) are available electronically, in the majority of cases these are not indexed. So that while such issues appear more punctually than printed journals, their usefulness may be curtailed because of the absence of cumulative indexes. Catholic Periodical and Literature Index(1930-) Print Version. Available in full runs at the libraries of Regis, St. Augustine's, and St. Michael's. Formerly Catholic Periodical Index. Limited almost entirely to American periodicals until recently. Treatment of reviews varies: In v. 1-3 (1930-1943) reviews are scattered throughout the entire index, listed under the name of the author, with references from editors, etc., and there are no title entries. In v. 4-6 (1943-1952) reviews are listed under the heading 'Book Reviews' and arranged by title: there is no access by author. In v. 7-13 (1952-1966) treatment is the same as in v. 1-3 but without references, in v. 14- (1967-), book reviews are listed by author in a separate section at the end of each volume, in more recent issues, however, reviews are listed under the heading "Book Reviews". In all cases, if the book has no clear author, it is listed under its title. Catholic Periodical and Literature IndexThe Catholic Periodical and Literature Index Online Version contains more than 300,000 records covering Roman Catholic publications including, but not limited to, periodicals, books, newspapers, and papal documents. Coverage in the database dates back to 1981. CPLI sources include, but are not limited to, periodicals, books, newspapers, and papal documents dealing expressly with the practice of Catholic faith and lifestyle. Notices about books about the Catholic faith that are authored by Catholics and/or produced by Catholic publishers are included. Reviews are searchable by book, movie, and theatre categories. Many reviews are available full-text. CPLI can be searched on its own, or in combination with the ATLA. Access confined to University of Toronto community. NOTE: When you are accessing UTL e-resources you will be prompted for your library barcode and PIN (last four digits of your student number) on your T-Card. For information on all this see my.access. ATLA Religion DatabaseThe ATLA Religion Database contains over one million bibliographic records covering the research literature of religion in 26 languages. It includes article citations from 650 journals, essay citations from 14,000 multi-author works, and book review citations. The database by the end of 2000 had about 364,000 book reviews currently covering over 600 journal titles in the field. The coverage areas include antiquities/archaeology, Bible, church history, ecumenism, ethics, missions, pastoral ministry, philosophy, and theology. Covering the indexing period from 1949 to the present, the database is an essential resource for researchers and students in theology as well as in the social sciences, history, and the humanities. For a list of the journals covered see the ATLA website. Access confined to University of Toronto community. NOTE: When you are accessing UTL e-resources you will be prompted for your library barcode and PIN (last four digits of your student number) on your T-Card. For information on all this see my.access. Arts & Humanities Citation IndexThe Arts & Humanities Citation Index is a multidisciplinary database covering the journal literature of the arts and humanities. It indexes 1,100 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals, as well as covering individually selected, relevant items from over 6,800 major science and social science journals. It provides access to current information and retrospective data from 1975 forward. It averages 2,200 new articles per week. Includes approximately 15,000 new cited references per week. Contains a current total of over 2.3 million articles. Some of the disciplines covered include archaeology, literature, classics, philosophy, history, and religion. Part of Web of Science. It is part of Web of Science a multidisciplinary database, with searchable author abstracts, covering the journal literature of the arts & humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Some of the disciplines covered include: archaeology, art, classics, philosophy, history, and religion. Access limited to University of Toronto community. NOTE: When you are accessing UTL e-resources you will be prompted for your library barcode and PIN (last four digits of your student number) on your T-Card. For information on all this see my.access. Historical AbstractsHistorical Abstracts organized by region and period, allows browsing of chronologies and brief summaries of significant events and themes in world history since 1450. Suggested research topics and easy-to-use search tools, provided within each topic area, allow you to research the entire database for articles, books, collections, and dissertations. For a list of the journals indexed see here. Access confined to University of Toronto community. NOTE: When you are accessing UTL e-resources you will be prompted for your library barcode and PIN (last four digits of your student number) on your T-Card. For information on all this see my.access. Humanities AbstractsHumanities Abstracts provides comprehensive abstracting and indexing of 400 English-language periodicals from 1983 onwards, covering the areas that include archaeology, classical studies, art, philosophy, history, literature, and religion. An essential reference tool for serious research in the diverse subject areas of the humanities. Access confined to University of Toronto community. NOTE: When you are accessing UTL e-resources you will be prompted for your library barcode and PIN (last four digits of your student number) on your T-Card. For information on all this see my.access. Electronic JournalsThe UTL subscribes to a number of electronic journals relevant to the theological disciplines. Three factors should be noted about these:
However, titles of interest are:
NOTE: When you are accessing UTL e-resources you will be prompted for your library barcode and PIN (last four digits of your student number) on your T-Card. For information on all this see my.access. Scholars Portal Includes multiple database search capability including Philosopher's Index, British Humanities Index, Iter, and Index Islamicus. NOTE: When you are accessing UTL e-resources you will be prompted for your library barcode and PIN (last four digits of your student number) on your T-Card. For information on all this see my.access. Apart from the e-journals available from UTL, you should also consult the following: Compiled by Tom Power, July 2001; revised May 2006. |
