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HON 3399 - Hell Across Cultures

Background Information

Step 2: Find Background Information

Background information gives you an understanding of your main concepts so that you can do your journal research more effectively.  Here's how...

  • Search your main ideas, events, or people individually using reference materials (dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc...see the boxes below for ideas),

(These first searches can be as simple as looking up the term hell in an encyclopedia for a specific religious tradition)

  • And be sure to stay on the lookout for other useful keywords for in-depth article searching!

Credo Reference

Not sure about your topic and looking for ideas?

CREDO can be a great way to start - use the mind-map (it's clickable), or search through multiple encyclopedias at once. 

Definitely use the subject-specialty encyclopedias! 

Image of a search of "hell" on the CREDO database.

 

Searching Encyclopedias

If the encyclopedia is in our CREDO Reference database, it will look like this...just type hell on the "Search within this title" search bar to find general information about hell in Buddhism.  (That general information will lead you to more specific information, I promise!)

Image of the browser for the Encyclopedia of Buddhism in CREDO.

 

If the encyclopedia is a stand-alone e-book, it will look something like this...again, use the "Search within this title" search bar!
Image showing the search function in a Gale e-book, the Encyclopedia of Buddhism.