Reading background information helps fill in knowledge gaps. Virtually everyone, even experts, can benefit from reading authoritative summaries of the historic background, current developments, major players, and primary issues of a chosen topic. These summaries often include basic bibliographies that help to jump start research projects.

Major sources of authoritative summaries are subject dictionaries and encyclopedias. Other background information may be obtained from biographical and statistical sources and other reference works such as handbooks and directories.

Search the titles listed below in the library catalog. Then, for books located in the library, record the call number and location to find the book. For ebooks, click the link in the catalog record to go to the full text ebook.

Search the library catalog for subject dictionaries and encyclopedias. Below are some sample searches to try:

• (Bible OR biblical) AND (dictionar* or encycloped*)
• theolog* AND (dictionar* OR encycloped*)
• (counsel*OR psycholog* OR care OR ministry OR "church work with") AND (dictionar* OR encycloped*)
• (Pentecostal* OR charisma* OR renewal) AND (dictionar* OR encycloped*)
• (church) and (histor* OR fathers OR patrist*) and (encycloped* OR dictionar*)

To find biographies, you can search the library catalog in several ways. Try searching by:

• Personal names as subjects or keywords
  • Lewis, C. S.
  • Kuhlman, Kathryn
• Classes of people as subjects or keywords
  • Bible scholars -- Biography
  • Clergy -- Biography
  • Evangelists -- Biography
  • Missionaries -- Biography
  • Theologians -- Biography
• Other keyword searches
  • Religio* biography
  • Spiritual biography
  • Christian* biography
  • Evangelical* biography
  • Pentecostal* biography

Try one of the selected biographical theological dictionaries below. Search the catalog for the titles below, then browse the book/ebook biographies.

Note: You can also search theology databases for biographical information about a particular person.

To identify the more scholarly Bible commentaries, use the Bible commentaries series opens new windowchart in the opens new windowBible Commentaries Plus guide. The chart categorizes the commentaries as devotional, pastoral, or academic, with the academic category generally being the most scholarly and therefore the most desirable for use in college papers.

See also David Bauer's opens new windowEssential Bible Study Tools for Ministry, especially the "Highly Recommended" sections of his selected lists of commentaries for each book of the Bible. The book is kept at the Library Services Desk on the "Quick Reference" shelf.

Religious statistics databases

Statistics related to religion:

Other sources of statistical information