Religion 302: History of Christian Thought I

Keywords
Keywords are the words that you already use to describe what it is you are researching.  This may be your own vocabulary or it can be terms you discovered from doing some initial exploring or terms you found in a basic encyclopedia article.

Subject Headings
Subject Headings are terms that librarians apply to items in the catalog.  This is a controlled vocabulary meaning that they are published and you must use the proper syntax in order for them to work.  Their power lies in the fact that they are systematically applied so when you discover one that accurately describes your research topic, you can use it in a search and guarantee that you have found everything on that topic.

Here are some examples of Subject Headings appropriate for this class:

• Church history -- Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600
• Fathers of the church
• Theologians -- History
• Theology, Doctrinal -- History

Another good research strategy is to find a book in the catalog and then go to that section of the library and browse.  Sometimes you can find things you may not have uncovered in the catalog by simply scanning the shelves.
 

You can find books about Christianity with the following prefixes in the reference room and in the main religion section on the 5th floor of Rolvaag:

BR: Christianity
BS: The Bible
BT: Doctrinal theology
BV: Practical theology
BX: Christian Denominations