One of the challenges of graduate school is learning how to engage sources. If your school offers a research course for thesis preparation I strongly recommend taking it your first semester. It seems like many students don’t take this course (assuming they take it at all!) until their second or third year, which defeats the purpose of developing research skills along the way. No one will hold your hand in the humanities and teach you how to do good research. Therefore, your own self-efficacy is vital in developing good research skills. The following are a few resources that I wish I had mastered at an earlier stage of my studies.
1. ATLA: Learn how to access the ATLA (American Theological Library Association) database through your library’s website. ATLA is a massive search engine for religious studies where you can search topics or passages of the Bible for journal articles etc. Also, ATLA is a good way to access book reviews that pertain to your research topic. For example, search the title of a book you are interested in and book reviews written by different scholars will come up. These reviews will give you a preview of the argument along with basic critiques. Often these reviews are in PDF format so you can do this research from the comfort of home or even a good coffee shop. One last bit of advice: when you are on the ATLA search engine, make sure you click the “choose database” icon and pick New Testament Abstracts, Old Testament Abstracts and other databases that are of interest to you.
Your library will also have a hard copy of NT/OT Abstracts, which are brief introductions or “abstracts” to books that are being published. I recommend sitting down and reviewing abstracts from 2000 onwards at least once a month. This is the best and quickest way to expose you to cutting edge research.
2. Academic Journals: The temptation in beginning research is to look up a book and subsequently pick and choose books that are shelved in the same section. I remember writing an exegesis paper on Romans in undergrad using randomly chosen commentaries. Alas, I chose Rudolf Bultmann, Charles Hodge and Calvin! These are good scholars; however, they are dated and conversing with research from the past twenty years should be the primary concern. While recent commentaries are helpful, I encourage you to consult and cite a minimum of two or three journal articles in your first research papers. Once again, ATLA will help you to access Journal articles pertaining to your subject.
If you are feeling eager, familiarize yourself with the top Journals in your field. For a list of popular Biblical Studies Journals see Pat’s recent post here
Finally, many times I have found really good articles simply by paying close attention to the footnotes in commentaries or books I am reading. This is also a legitimate way to go beyond superficial research of a given subject. For a catalogue of commentaries on each book of the NT see Carson’s “New Testament Commentary Survey,” which you can find here . Although “the Don’s” survey has a preferential option for giving pride of place to more conservative scholars, it is an excellent resource for knowing what commentaries are out there. Don’t forget that commentaries are a good way to get started, but the goal is to go beyond the commentary to journal articles, monographs and even dissertations or theses. All of these can be searched through your library’s databases.
4. Google Books: If you have not used Google Books, bookmark it and utilize it for quick access to books that you can’t find at your library. I have found GB to be an indispensable resource in my thesis research. The benefit is that you can look up a book and many times you will be able to read it online by clicking the “limited preview” icon. All for free! This will save you from going to the library and finding hard copies of books. One trick, if the book you are looking up does not have a full “limited preview” then try amazon.com. Sometimes I have been able to read chapters of books I need by clicking on the “look inside” feature of Amazon. This can save you time and gas going to and from your library.
6. Google Scholar: GS is worth trying. I have not found it be the greatest search engine for New Testament studies. However, I have found it very helpful when I have a quote in my mind and I can’t remember what the source is. If you hit “advanced search” you can put in the quote and the author etc. and usually it will find it for you. It is worth messing around with, however, it is not ATLA.
7. Blogs: Consulting blogs on a daily basis is a great way to keep updated on conversations among scholars/students, conferences, and recent publications. If you are not familiar with the biblioblogosphere check out N.T. Wrong’s top 50 Biblical Studies blogs for the past month here. I personally stay up to date by making Mark Goodacre’s NT Gateway my home page. Two or more times a day I like to scroll through his blog roll for any interesting posts.
These are my thoughts for now. If any of these resources are new to you, find a good coffee shop (like Peet’s coffee) and spend a few hours working the databases etc. Have fun!
This is great information for
This is great information for me Drew! Thanks so much, I feel like starting seminary is like entering a new world. One I know little about, so I appreciate your insight and stuff...for Jesus!
Submitted by Jesse Richards (not verified)
on Tue, 02/10/2009 - 13:59
Awesome!
Hey Jesse!
I am glad you found some of this stuff helpful. All the best to you brother.
Drew
Submitted by drew.strait
on Mon, 02/23/2009 - 23:12