WELLESLEY COLLEGE LIBRARY

LIBRARY RESEARCH GUIDE

Always start by using the Wellesley College Online Catalog
To find books written about your subject, do a keyword search --- islam arab states
To find books written by or about a writer, type the author's name on the keyword line or add criticism to the author's name in a keyword search. naguib mahfouz or naguib mahfouz criticism
To find chapters in anthologies about your writer, do a keyword search with parentheses. "yusuf idris"

Databases A-Z. An alphabetical listing of the College's database titles covering all disciplines.

E-reference books is listed under the Articles & more heading. There is a growing list of electronic encyclopedia and dictionary titles, and this is a good resource for background information. For this course, try Britannica Online and check the alphabetical listing of all e- ref holdings by clicking on Full list of our e-reference works.

Citing sources, under the Get assistance column. There are links for electronic citation styles. For Print version citation information, go to the main desk in the Ref Room. Copies of Kate Turabian's Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, & Dissertations, (6th ed.), MLA Handbook, (6th ed.), and Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), (5th ed.) are kept there for the convenience of students working on papers in the library.

Borrow from elsewhere ILL under the Borrowing & ordering heading for titles that are not available here at Clapp. NExpress is the fastest service, but if your title is not available there, please request via ILL.

Check out our newest feature, "what is Encore?"

For more complete information on any Middle East topic, go to the library's Home Page, look under the Get assistance column, and click on Middle Eastern Studies in-depth.

As you do your research and look for resources, you will find there are basically four options available to you ---

Our libraries own a print copy.

Our libraries have the journal title on microfilm.

The article you need is in full text in one of our databases (See the Databases A to Z list).

Our libraries do not have access to the book or journal title. Request via ILL or NExpress.

To find books:

Wellesley College Library catalog

To find books not at Wellesley College: Use WorldCat (via FirstSearch) to find books audio, DVD titles and other materials not here at Wellesley.

To find background information:

Language Resources ---

Al-Mawrid: A Modern Arabic-English Dictionary. Clapp Ref PJ6640 .B34 1999

Arabic Language, another Arab Gateway site, provides an introduction to the language, how to study it, and a list of common English words with roots in Arabic

Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic by Hans Wehr; edited by J. Milton Cowan. Clapp Lib PJ6640 .W43 1994

Encyclopedia of Arabic Languages & Linguistics. Clapp Ref PJ6031 .E53 2006 (3 vols.)

Introduction to Koranic & Classical Arabic: An Elementary Grammar of the Language by Wheeler M. Thackston. Clapp Lib PJ6307 .T45 2000

Introduction to Modern Literary Arabic by David Cowan. Clapp Lib PJ6307 .C68 2000

Oxford English-Arabic Dictionary of Current Usage; edited by N.S. Doniach - Clapp Ref PJ6640 .O93 1972

Cultural, Historical & Political Resources ---

Al Mashriq: Lebanon has a number of materials, thematically organized, about the country of Lebanon. There are photographs, remarks about various cities & cultural sites, as well as sections on education, food, maps, money, politics, politics, and religion.

Anthology of Arabic Literature, Culture, & Thought from Pre-Islamic Times to the Present by Bassam Frangieh. Clapp Lib qPJ6119 .F69 2005

Arab Gateway: Literature provides brief overviews of Arabic literature & links to related articles.

Cambridge History of Islam edited by P.M. Holt, Ann K.S. Lambton, Bernard Lewis in 2 vols. Clapp Library DS35.6 .C3

Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World, .edited by Francis Robinson. Clapp Lib qDS35.63 .C35 1996

Companion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern & North African Film edited by Oliver Leaman. Clapp Ref PN1993.5 .A65 C66 2001

Contesting the Saudi State: Islamic Voices From a New Generation by Madawi Al-Rasheed. Clapp Lib DS215 .A385 2007

Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World ^WC is a new electronic reference source that can be used for background information on Islam's role in the modern world and its history and development over the last thirteen centuries.

Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East (in 4 volumes) edited by Reeva S. Simon, Philip Mattar, & Richard Bulliet. Clapp Ref DS43 .E53 1996

Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa ^WC This 2nd online edition was edited by Philip Mater.

Global Studies: The Middle East. Clapp Ref qDS41 .G56 (6th Edition, 1996)

Historical Atlas of Islam by Malise Ruthven; with Azim Nanji. Clapp Ref G1786.S1 R9 2004

Literature of Islam: A Guide to the Primary Sources in English Translation by Paula Youngman Skreslet. Clapp Ref BP161.3 .S57 2006

Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Clapp Ref DS36.85 .M434 2006 (2 vols.)

New Encyclopedia of Islam by Cyril Glasse; introduction by Huston Smith. Revised edition. Clapp Ref BP40 .G42 2001

Oxford Dictionary of Islam ^WC edited by John L. Esposito, has 2,500 up-to-date and authoritative entries, focusing mainly on 19th and 20th century developments. It provides a look at the religious, political, and social spheres of the modern Islamic world.

Rituals of Memory: In Contemporary Women's Writing by Brinda Mehta. Clapp Lib PJ7525.2 .M44 2007

Schooling Islam: the Culture of Politics of Modern Muslim Education edited by Robert W. Hefner. Clapp Lib BP44 .S38 2007

State of the Middle East: An Atlas of Conflict & Resolution by Dan Smith. Clapp Ref G2205 .S653 2006

Survey of Arab-Israeli Relations, 1947-2001, edited by David Lea. Clapp Lib DS119.7 .S93 2002

Youth & Youth Culture in the Contemporary Middle East ^WCedited by Jorgen Baek.

Religious Resources ---

Atlas of Religion by Joanne O'Brien & M. Palmer. Clapp Ref G1046 .E4 O2 2007

Concordance of the Quran / Hanna E. Kassis; foreward by Fazlur Rahman. Clapp Ref qBP133 .K37 1983

Encyclopaedia of Islam edited by J.H. Kramers, H.A.R. Gibb & E. Levi-Provencal, under the patronage of the International Union of Academies. Clapp Ref DS37 .E523 v.1-11 + supplements, glossary, & index

Encyclopedia of Religion , ^WC the 2nd edition, is an e-reference resource that emphasizes religion's role within everyday life and as a unique experience from culture to culture.

Encyclopedia of the Qur'an. Clapp Ref BP133 .E53 2001 (6 vols.)

IslamiCity.com allows users to search the Qur'an by topic or phonetic query, listen to recitations while viewing translations or Arabic script, or read more than 20 translations in languages from Albanian to Urdu. "Can be slow & buggy."

The Koran / translated with notes by N.J. Dawood, 5th revised ed., 1990 reprinted with further revisions & additional notes, 1997. Clapp Library BP109 .D38 1997

The Koran: University of Michigan Humanities Text Initiative is the translated 1983 edition of the Koran by M.H. Shakir[1993].

The Qur'an: An Encyclopedia. Clapp Ref BP133 .Q73 2006

Virtual Religion Index has links to about 50 Web pages, sites, & portals, with General Resources, Muhammad, Oral Tradition (Hadith), Law (Shari'ah) as just some of the headings. Besides the large number of articles and essays, there are speeches & translated texts that can be useful for more serious research.

Find articles and essays

Academic Search Complete  ^WC The world's largest scholarly, multi-disciplinary full text database. Dates of coverage vary by title.

Historical Abstracts ^WC HA is an index to articles in history journals published since 1954. It covers World History topics (excluding the United States & Canada) since 1450.

Index Islamicus ^WC A bibliography of books & an index of journal articles on Islam & the Muslim world from 1906 to the present.

Infotrac General Onefile ^WC  Great starting point for scholarly and popular articles in every discipline, 1980 to present

Iter ^WC A bibliographical and multilingual database of Middle Ages & Renaissance materials (400-1700) from over 500 journals, 1859 to present.

JSTOR  ^WC  Collection of key scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences & natural sciences, starting from the first issue but not the latest 3-5 years

LexisNexis Academic ^WC LexisNexis is a full-text database of newspapers and magazine articles (including business and legal information). Choose News, then either General News or World News. Use this source for fairly current events as some newspapers and magazines go back only to the mid-1970's at the earliest, and most only go back to the 1980's and 1990's.

Literature Resource Center ^WC Biographies, bibliographies and full-text critical analysis of authors from all genres and eras, including the contents of Contemporary Authors, Dictionary of Literary Biography, and Contemporary Literary Criticism.

MLA International Bibliography ^WC is an excellent resource for topics dealing with literature, linguistics, film, folklore.

PAIS Public Affairs Information Service ^WC features articles about political, social, economic issues, & public affairs.

Periodicals Index Online ^WC(formerly Periodicals Contents Index/PCI) is an index to articles published in over 4,500 periodicals, in as many as 40 languages, and covering topics in the humanities and social sciences.

Project Muse  ^WC Academic journals in the humanities & social sciences, from the past five years - see JSTOR for prior years

If there are further questions on this material, or if anyone would like to have a one-on-one session, please feel free to contact me via e-mail (see link below) or by phone

Jacqueline B. Fitzpatrick x3497 - email address: jfitzpat@wellesley.edu

Wellesley College Library

November 11, 2008