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William Madison Randall Library

PAR 235 - Introduction to Old Testament


Reference Materials
These resources can help you become familiar with a topic and identify the key terms related to your topic.
  • The Interpreters Bible
    REF BS491.2 .I55 
    A 12-volume work with introductions, articles, and explanation of books of the bible.
  • The Complete Parallel Bible: containing the Old and New Testaments with the Aprocryphal/ Deuterocanonical books : New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible 
    REF BS125 .B5 1993
  • A Concordance to the Apocrypha / Deuterocanonical books of the Revised Standard
    Version

    REF BS1700 .C66 1993
    A list of the occurrences of words in the RSV
  • The Apocrypha and Pseudepigraphia of the Old Testament 
    REFBS1692 1913
    Contains excellent explanatory notes.  2 volumes.

Library Catalog
Search for materials in Randall Library by using the online Library Catalog located in the middle of the Randall Library homepage [http://library.uncwil.edu]. Searching the Library Catalog will give you call numbers and locations for books, maps, N. C. documents, U.S. Government documents, special collections, microforms, music scores, periodicals titles, audiovisual materials, reserve materials and the Curriculum Materials Center materials help in the Library.

Some search options for the library's catalog are  keyword, subject, author, or title.  You may want to try the subject heading "Bible O.T." Or you may want to do a subject search on the actual book you are researching.

Article Databases/Indexes
Article indexes provide citations (e.g., author, title, a journal name, volume, issue, page numbers, etc.) to identify articles. Most indexes also include abstracts (summaries) and a small handful of online indexes provide selected full text of the actual article. The Library does not own every article cited in each index so remember to check the Library Catalog to verify if we own the journal the article was published in.

CD-ROM: (Request at the Reference Desk; you must search these databases in the library.)
Biblical Studies--Indexes journal articles and essays dealing with biblical passages and teachings.  
Religious & Theological Abstracts--Indexes and abstracts religious periodical literature.

PRINT: 
Religion Index One
        Index BL1 .I5 
Old Testament Abstracts
        Index BS410 .O42 

ONLINE:
Humanites Index
   
     Citations to art, archaeology, folklore, literature, music, philosophy, religion, and world history. Silver Platter 
EBSCOHost - Academic Search FullTEXT Elite
   
     Indexing and abstracts of scholarly journals covering the social sciences, humanities, education and more.
        Some fulltext.
InfoTrac OneFile
   
     Indexing and abstracts of some peer reviewed/scholarly journals on a wide range of topics. Some fulltext.


Web-Site Evaluation
The reliability and quality of information from Web sources has created much debate in the academic world. Researchers must always remember that the Web is a vast, unregulated information resource that ANYONE with the proper tools and a little money can create a site on the Web. When viewing a site for research purposes, users can and should perform a Web-site analysis by consider the some of the following points taken from Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources - UCLA College Library:

Who is the author of the page or site? Does the author appear to be qualified to write about the topic?
Is the site affiliated with any institution, company, or organization? If so, does this affiliation add bias to the information? Or, does it suggest that the source is credible?
Does the information seem unreasonably or unfairly biased in any way? (Avoid any sites that appear to be advertising a product or service.)
Who is the intended audience? Is the information for a specialized or general audience?
When was the site created or last modified? Is the design of the site effective? Is it easy to navigate the site? Do links to other sites work?

Helpful Information

Off Campus Access to Library Resources

UNCW Students and Faculty may access Databases from Home. If you are NOT on campus, you must have a library PIN number.

PIN Number:
To set a PIN (Personal Identification Number) on your library record, simply click on the "My Library Record" link on the Library homepage and follow the instructions. In addition to using your PIN for home access to library resources you need to have a PIN number when printing out certain electronic reserves.

Inter-Library Loan (ILL)

ILL is a free service to UNCW students, faculty, staff and administration through which research materials (articles, books, etc.) not owned by Randall Library may be borrowed from other library collections. Allow up to two weeks for delivery of materials.  Photocopies are mailed directly to your campus mailbox. Pickup notices for books are mailed to your campus address as well.  ILL materials are requested online from the ILL webpage [http://library.uncwil.edu/ill_home.htm]. Before using ILL, check the Library Catalog and the appropriate electronic databases. If the material you need is not available in any of these sources, you may request the item using one of the above listed forms.
Last Update: December 12, 2005