HIST 3333: Religion in World History

Books that are primarily about Religion are generally shelved on the 4th floor with call numbers starting with B.

The images below will give you a sense of this organization, and you can explore it in more detail at http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/ .

However, because of the intersection in this class between religion and history, you will also find relevant books for some topics on the 4th floor in the call numbers beginning with D.

The images below will give you a sense of this organization, and you can explore it in more detail at http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/ .

All books in the library catalog are described by subject headings, and books that are about the same subject are given the same standardized subject headings. When you understand the basic structure of subject headings, you can use them in your searches to more precisely pinpoint the books that will help you.

A subject heading may be very broad, like Religion, or it may be very narrow, like Religion 19th Century African Americans Southern States. In history, most subjects will be divided according to time periods and/or geography, but you will also find important subdivisions of topics using phrases such as Social aspects, Political aspects, Economic aspects, and similar.

The images below will give you a better sense of how subject headings break down within a topic:

Within a topic like religion, be aware that you can also start your search with a specific faith and then see a breakdown of topics:

To discover more subject headings, go into the library catalog and click Exact Search in the toolbar. Enter a word or phrase into the search box, then click the subject button and browse through the results.

Once you have a sense of the words and phrases used in subject headings, you can type them into the subject row of an advanced search, in combination with other keywords, to help narrow your search for books and ebooks.