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JEWISH STUDIES

GETTING STARTED

This guide provides general starting points for common approaches to research in Jewish Studies. For a basic introduction to Library research methods, see "How to Do Research in the Library" http://library.ucsc.edu/ref/howto/. For more specialized research projects, a visit to the Reference Desk (or an appointment with one of the Library's Subject Specialists) may provide critical assistance in getting started.

Reference Sources | CRUZCAT | MELVYL | Subject Headings | Key Series | Finding Articles | Web Resources

REFERENCE TITLES

Reference works are good starting points for any research project, helping to identify key aspects and refine your strategy. Below are examples of useful Jewish studies titles available in the McHenry Library Reference collection:

  • American Jewish desk reference E184.35.A44 1999
  • Antisemitism : a historical encyclopedia of prejudice and persecution DS146.E8.A58 2005 v.1-2
  • Complete English-Hebrew dictionary PJ4833.A4 1965 /
    Complete Hebrew-English dictionary. PJ4833.A42 1965
  • Concise companion to the Jewish religion online resource
  • The concise dictionary of American Jewish biography. E184.J5 C653 1994
  • Country profile. Israel online resource
  • Dictionary of antisemitism from the earliest times to the present. DS145 .M465 2007
  • Dictionary of Jewish biography. DS115 .C57 2005
  • Dictionary of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict online resource
  • Encyclopaedia Judaica DS102.8 .E496 2007 (also available online)
  • Encyclopedia of Jewish American artists. N6538.J4 B37 2007
  • Encyclopedia of Jewish Life before and during the Holocaust DS135.E8 E45 2001
  • Encyclopaedia of Judaism BM50.E53 2000 v.1-3
  • Encyclopedia of the Holocaust D804.3.E53 1990 v.1-4
  • Hebrew and English lexicon of the Old Testament... PJ4833.G513 1953
  • Historical atlas of the Jewish people DS116.A54 2003
  • Historical dictionary of ancient Israel DS102.8.L38 2004 table of contents online
  • History of Zionism : a handbook and dictionary DS149 .E25 2000
  • Holocaust film sourcebook. PN1995.9 H53 2004
  • Israel : and the West Bank and Gaza Strip DS102.95.B42 1994
  • JPS guide to Jewish traditions BM50.E49 2004 - table of contents online
  • JPS guide to Jewish women : 600 B.C.E.-1900 C.E. HQ1172 .T35 2003
  • Jewish women in America : an historical encyclopedia DS115.2.J49 1998
  • Judaica reference sources : a selective, annotated bibliographic guide DS102.C87 2004
  • Medieval Jewish civilization : an encyclopedia DS124 .M386 2003
  • New encyclopedia of Judaism BM50.E63 2002
  • Oxford dictionary of the Jewish religion BM50.O94 1997
  • Political dictionary of Israel DS126.5 .R385 2000
  • Reader's guide to Judaism BM50.R43 2000
  • The Routledge atlas of the Arab-Israeli conflict G2236.S1 G55 2005
  • Theological dictionary of the Old Testament BS440.B5713
  • Timetables of Jewish history DS114.G68 1993
  • Webster's New World Hebrew dictionary PJ4833.B26 1992
  • Who's Who In Jewish History After The Period Of The Old Testament DS115.C6 1995

CRUZCAT - the UCSC library catalog

CRUZCAT (http://cruzcat.ucsc.edu/) lists books, journals, and other materials by the UC Santa Cruz Library. (Note: CRUZCAT does NOT index articles within journals: See Finding Articles below.)

A KEYWORD search is a more flexible way to begin to look for items by subject. Subject Headings included in item records will provide leads for refining your search.

Examine the likely items you have found first-hand to assess their usefulness to your project. Look at bibliographies and notes included in these items and browse the shelves while you are there to get leads about additional sources. Expect to go back to CRUZCAT (or expand your search to MELVYL) as your research experience helps refine your approach.

MELVYL

The MELVYL catalog (http://melvyl.cdlib.org/) lists books, journals, and other materials held by all ten UC libraries, providing access to titles not held at UCSC. Current students, faculty and staff borrow can items held by other UC libraries using MELVYL's REQUEST function. (See How to Use Request with Melvyl.)

Aside from including items owned elsewhere in UC, MELVYL's added features provide other approaches useful for certain, more complicated searches. For tips using MELVYL see http://melvyl.cdlib.org/F/?func=file&file_name=help-1.

Note: Many digital editions available to the UCSC community are listed in CRUZCAT and MELVYL. For access to additional sources of digital editions, see "online resources" below.

SUBJECT HEADINGS

Subject headings in both CRUZCAT and MELVYL are derived from the Library of Congress (Library of Congress Subject Headings or LCSH). The following are examples of subject headings relevant to research in Jewish studies found in CRUZCAT and MELVYL. The confusion and contradiction apparent from some of these heading (e.g., Cabala and Mysticism-Judaism; Haggadah and Seder--Liturgy--Texts; Jews, Oriental and Mizrachi; Jewish motion picture producers and directors and Jews in the motion picture industry) should warn researchers to be flexible in approaching subject searching in library catalogs.

  • Arab countries -- Foreign relations -- Israel
  • Arab-Israeli Conflict
  • Bible. O T
  • Bible. O T - Dictionaries
  • Bible. O T Pentateuch
  • Cabala
  • Conservative Judaism
  • Cookery, Jewish
  • Feminism - Religious Aspects - Judaism
  • Haggadah
    		•
  • Hebrew language - Dictionaries - English
  • Hebrew literature - History and criticism
  • Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
  • Israel -- Antiquities
  • Israel-Arab War, 1948-1949 (etc.)
  • Israel -- Biography
  • Israel -- Description and travel
  • Israel -- Politics and government
  • Jewish-Arab relations
  • Jewish law
  • Jewish literature
  • Jewish motion picture producers and directors
  • Jewish women
    		•
  • Jews
  • Jews, American
  • Jews -- Cultural assimilation
  • Jews -- Dietary laws
  • Jews -- Identity
  • Jews in Motion Pictures
  • Jews in the motion picture industry
  • Jews. Liturgy
  • Jews -- Music
  • Jews, Oriental
  • Jews -- United States
    		•
  • Judaism -- History
  • Judaism -- Liturgy
  • Judaism -- Relations
  • Mizrachi
  • Mysticism -- Judaism
  • Palestine -- History
  • Seder -- Liturgy -- Texts
  • Sephardim
  • Sex -- Religious aspects - Judaism
  • Talmud -- Feminist criticism
  • Women in Judaism
  • Women in rabbinical literature
  • Zionism
    		•

    KEY SERIES IN JEWISH STUDIES

    FINDING ARTICLES

    To find journal articles you will need to search indexes covering the your research topic. Most article indexes useful in academic research are available as online databases: many provide access to the full-text of the articles. See the How to Find Articles guide.

    Jewish Studies Indexes & Abstracts

    Subject indexes with Jewish Studies coverage: UC-sponsored *

    Directories of Online Journals

    		Selected academic Jewish studies journals - available online at UCSC *

    ... and some other periodicals online

    * For help connecting to UC-sponsored online databases and journals from off-campus, see the Off-Campus Access FAQ page at http://library.ucsc.edu/services/oca/faq.html/ .)

    WEB RESOURCES AND TOOLS

    Comprehensive Research Sites

    Guides and Bibliographies

    General Guides

    Scholarly Organizations & Institutes

    Local and Regional Scholarly Resources

    Major Religious Organizations

    Area Congregations & Cultural Organizations

    		 Archives & Repositories - Digital Texts

    General Digital Archives of Scholarly Titles

    Jewish Book & Software Sources

    Online Bible Commentary Sources

    Other Useful Tools

    Updated 8 November 2007 || Contact Lee Jaffe (ldjaffe@ucsc.edu) || Text Version

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