Where to Start - Encyclopedias
The encyclopedias (and some books) I am listing here are specific to their subject and will provide you a basic introduction to that creed's viewpoints on suffering, death, grief, and afterlife. You can't know everything, so these encyclopedias will help you understand the perspective(s) from a spirituality other than your own. Where possible, I've linked to the online version of the item.
I will be adding to this list as the semester goes on, so check back for updates.
- Encyclopedia of Religion in Gale Virtual Reference LibraryCovers all religions. Excellent essays on "Health and Religion," and individual articles on "Healing and Medicine in _______" filling in the blank with country/faith group. Be sure to use the search box below the picture of the book to search just within that book.
- New Catholic Encyclopedia - Gale Virtual Reference LibraryWill provide you with the Catholic perspective on health, healing, right to health care, suffering, death, and bioethics.
- Gale Virtual Reference Library - Encyclopaedia JudaicaMany Christian traditions and beliefs have their roots in the common Judeo-Christian tradition. This is the authoritative source for Jewish belief and culture.
- Encyclopedia of bioethics [electronic resource]Useful articles on bioethical issues which will provide a common language for class discussion and understanding. Entries include a bibliography of scholarly sources and cross-references to related entries in the work.
Journal Sources
If you are curious about what others are saying and want to join in that scholarly conversation, the surest way to find scholarship on your topic is to use a database focused on the topic you want. There are many disciplines which research end of life and bereavement from religion and philosophy to psychology and sociology. I've listed the key databases that index scholarly publications on this topic. If you are looking for articles and resources for the general public, I recommend using Baylor's OneSearch, which will search our entire collection (books, articles, etc.). You can narrow the search results to get a more reasonable number of items.
- PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
Premier database for psychology research dating back to the 1800's. Includes journals, books, book chapters, and dissertations. Coverage includes psychological aspects of related fields: medicine, psychiatry, pharmacology, and law. - CINAHL with full text This link opens in a new windowNursing, allied health, biomedicine, alternative medicine, consumer health. Probably better coverage of religious and spiritual aspects of medicine than PubMed. Terminology may be more comprehensible if you are not familiar with medical terminology.
- Sociological abstracts This link opens in a new windowAbstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Includes citations to book reviews and abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers. Records. Searchable by author, title, keyword, descriptors, source, and 26 other fields. Covers the years 1952 to the present time. ProQuest/CSA.
- ATLA religion database with ATLASerials This link opens in a new windowBroad ecumenical coverage of both scholarly and non-scholarly religious or religion-focused journals. This is the oldest and most comprehensive religion index available. A definite first consult resource for researching topics in Biblical Studies, Theology, Church history, social issues with a religious focus.
- Philosopher's indexCovers all major fields of philosophy and philosophy of related interdisciplinary fields such as education, medicine, history, law and religion.
Contains citation information and author-written abstracts for journal articles, books, contributions to anthologies, and book reviews, published from 1940 to the present.
Indexes over 620 journals from more than 40 countries in 30 languages.
