ICSM Devi: Power and Narrative in Hindu Goddess Traditions

Durga

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IC Library Print & Media Resources

IC Library Databases (Articles)

Recommended Databases

ATLA religion database with ATLASerials : Our discipline-specific database for religion research. Setting search limits on the home page is a good idea if you are looking specifically for journal articles (under "publication type" select "article" to eliminate books and essays in books, which will not be available full text) or if you read only English (under Language select "English" to eliminate retrievals in other languages).
   Subject searching is available--just open the "Select a Field" drop-down menu to the right of the search slots. And you can preview the Subject Headings available here by clicking on "Indexes" above the search slots and selecting "Subjects All." Not only will this allow you to confirm Subject Headings, but for each one you will be given a "count" of how many records have been assigned it, so you can see in advance where the greatest number of resources are available for your topic. Among those available here are Hindu Law, Hindu Literature, Hindu Saints, Hindu Sects, Hindu Theology, Hinduism, Hinduism--History, Hinduism--Ritual, Hinduism--Sacred Books, and Hindus--United States.

   General OneFile : is the most user-friendly of our comprehensive databases, covering almost any topic from a wide range of disciplinary angles and offering lots of full text. Use the default Subject search to find the best subject heading for your topic (and when you find a good one be sure to look at the "Related Subjects" to see if there's something even better).
   After finding the best Subject term--and these include Hinduism, Hindus, Diwali, and Hindu-Muslim Relations--use the “Subdivisions” link below it for focus. These allow you to target articles on a particular aspect of the topic, including "Beliefs," “Ethical Aspects,”"History," “Political Aspects,” and “Social Aspects.”
   If the best available subdivision is still too broad, open it and add your own Keywords in the "Search within these results" slot at the upper left.      User Advisory: When first viewing your retrievals in General OneFile, note that you are seeing onlythe "Magazines" (popular articles) and must click on the tabs for "Academic Journals" (scholarly articles) or "News" (newspaper articles) to see those results.

ProQuest Research Library : is another comprehensive database with substantial full text. Use the "Thesaurus" (above the search slots) to preview what Subject Headings are available. Subect searching can be a more efficient way to search than with only Keywords, since it guarantees that the articles retrieved actually be about the Subject--not just use a particular word. Among the Subjects available here are Hinduism, Hindus, and Hindu Life & Ethics.
Note that to the right of your search results you can limit your retrieval by "Source Type" (including Magazines, Newspapers, Scholarly Journals), "Document Type," (including Cover Story, Editorial, or Interview), "Document Feature" (including Photographs, Illustrations), and "Location."
Above each set of articles you retrieve ProQuest will display related Subject searches to help either broaden or narrow your focus.
User Advisory: ProQuest is fussy about entering Subject searches in the designated search slot. If your subject is a person, enter the name--last name first--in the "Person" slot, for example Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand; if a place enter it in "Location," for example, India.

   Academic Search Premier Comprehensive subject coverage with considerable full text. Note that there is a “Subject Terms” link just above the search boxes, allowing you to search the index of Subject Headings--often a good first stop for more efficient Subject searching whereby you are guaranteed that your topic is indeed a main subject of the articles retrieved.    A good initial strategy in this database is to search a likely topic in the Subject Terms and when you find it “explode” the term by double clicking it--this brings up a list of related Subject terms. You can check as many terms as you like before "adding" them to your search by AND-ing or OR-ing them together. Among those available here are Hinduism, Hinduism & Politics, Hinduism & State, Hinduism--Doctrines, Hinduism--Rituals, Hindu Diaspora, Hindu Law, Hindu Mythology, Hindu Philosophy, Hindu Sects, and Hindu Women.
     User Advisory: For any retrieved set of articles, there will be a box displayed on the left that will limit the articles to “Scholarly” journals—just check the box and click the “Update Results” button below.

   JSTOR : covers a wide range of scholarly journals in most disciplines, always beginning with the first issue of each one. This provides 100% full text access to articles from not only the first half of the 20th century but even the second half of the 19th. (This is our only database where you can retrieve scholarly articles on Hinduism across a wide range of disciplines published in the 1900-1970 period.)  Be aware, however, that at the other end of the date range articles don't appear full text in JSTOR until at least 2-3 years after publication.
   JSTOR offers only a Keyword search of its complete full text, so retrievals are large, but the relevancy ranking does a good job of putting the strongest matches on the first few pages. This relevancy ranking does not weigh date, however, and will display a mix of articles written decades apart. So if your topic is time sensitive, be alert to publication dates.
     User Advisory: The academic journals covered here feature numerous book reviews, so it's a good idea to tick the "Article" limit below the search slots so you won't be overwhelmed by book reviews on your topic.
   Also note the "Date Range" limit, which in a database with an archive this deep can be very useful.

Project Muse , although a smaller database, it complements JSTOR. LIke JSTOR it provides 100% full text of mostly scholarly journals, but its coverage is entirely current--mainly spanning the last 10-15 years. Muse uses a "black box" search approach--you enter your search terms in one slot with no designated field options--but in addition to slapping in keywords, you can use the same Library of Congress Subject Headings that work in the Library catalog (see above under "Subject Searches"). This broad approach to searching tends to generate large retrievals, so it's best to be as specific as possible. And note--once you have a retrieval set, you can add more search terms by clicking "Modify Search" at the top.

      Philosopher's Index : No full text, but the “ArticleLinker” arrows at the end of each citation will connect to scholarly full text in our other databases--making this an efficient one-stop search for ethics, political philosophy, metaphysics, and logic. Try Hinduism as a Descriptor and then add keywords for focus.

  GenderWatch :A ProQuest database with a focus on women. Begin with Hinduism as a Subject search and add keywords for focus.

   AnthroSource : Open "Advanced" search and put Hindu Hinduism in the "at least one of the words" slot. This database is particularly strong on Hinduism's cultural traditions and mores.

   delivers full text of the policy briefs, case studies, and working papers issued by government groups, research institutes, and think tanks. These are not available from IC's other databases and often provide very substantial analysis of issues. For this topic it is especially good on Hindu nationalism and relations between India and Pakistan.
   Do not settle for the single search slot on the home page--open the "Advanced Search" just below.
     User Advisory: Even the" Advanced" search recommended above is a blunt instrument: only Keyword searching is available. Begin by entering Hindu Hinduism in the "At Least One of these Words" slot.

LexisNexis Academic News: Offering a keyword search of 100% full text from a vast number of national and international newspapers, this is an easy database to use poorly and a bit tricky to use well. In order not to be overwhelmed with articles in which your search terms are mentioned anywhere—first or last paragraph—or any number of times—once or ten times—use commands to target articles in which your topic words are mentioned early or mentioned often.
     Use the hlead command (headline and lead paragraphs) to target articles in which your topic words occur in the prime news-story position of headline or first paragraphs. For example: hlead(Hindu! and women) will retrieve just the articles in which the words “Hindu” or "Hinduism" and “women” are used in the headline or first paragraphs (the exclamation point ! is the truncation symbol in Lexisnexis--retrieving the root word with any ending). Note: the term or terms to which you want this command to apply must be put in parentheses after hlead, with no space between.
     Use the altleast command to target articles in which your topic words occur a set number of times. For example: atleast3(Hindu! and women) will retrieve only the articles where this phrase is used at least 5 times—indicating that it must be a main topic.

Where's the Full Text for this Article??

Few databases offer 100% full text. Most retrieve a mix of full text articles and article "citations"--article title, author(s), publication info, and usually an "abstract" or one-prargraph summary of the content. When a citation makes you want the full text, look below it for this icon:

Clicking "GETIT" checks (almost all) the IC Library's other databases to see if any offers the full text of the article--or if the Library has a print subscription to the journal in which the article appeared.

"GETIT" will usually find the full text in another database and open it in a new window.

If none of our databases can access the full text but we have a print subsciption to the journal, "GETIT" will retrieve the Library catalog record for the journal so that you can see if the date of the article falls within the date range we have on hand.

If full text is not available from any database or from a print subsciption, "GETIT" will provide a link to the IC Library's Interlibrary Loan. Log in (same as your IC e-mail)--and set up your account if you've never used it before. "GETIT" will have populated the article request form with all the necessary information and you simply submit the request elecrtonically. Most articles are supplied as digital files and will be sent to you via e-mail when they arrive.

Contact Us

Dr. Brian Saunders

Humanities Librarian

(607) 274-1198

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Related Guides

Selected ebrary Books (full text)

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Hinduism: Goddesses & Women:

Hindu Goddesses : Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition
Song of the Goddess : The Devi Gita: Spiritual Counsel of the Great Goddess
Invoking Lakshmi : The Goddess of Wealth in Song and Ceremony
Ritual Worship of the Great Goddess : The Liturgy of the Durga Puja with Interpretations
Singing to the Goddess : Poems to Kali and Uma from Bengal
Sarasvati : Riverine Goddess of Knowledge : From the Manuscript-carrying Vina-player to the Weapon-wielding Defender of the Dharma
Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls : Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal
Lord Who Is Half Woman : Ardhanarisvara in Indian and Feminist Perspective
Encountering Kali : In the Margins, at the Center, in the West
Raja Nal and the Goddess : The North Indian Epic Dhola in Performance
Revelry, Rivalry, and Longing for the Godesses of Bengal : The Fortunes of Hindu Festivals
Female Ascetics in Hinduism
Women in Ochre Robes : Gendering Hindu Renunciation
Goddesses and Women in the Indic Religious Tradition
Jewels of Authority : Women and Textual Tradition in Hindu India
Woman as Fire, Woman as Sage : Sexual Ideology in the Mahabharata
Everyday Nationalism : Women of the Hindu Right in India

Hinduism: General Resources:

Hinduism: Avery Short Introduction
Hinduism Today : An Introduction
Understanding Hinduism
Unifying Hinduism : Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History
Rethinking Hindu Identity
Eclecticism and Modern Hindu Discourse
Survey of Hinduism
Eclecticism and Modern Hindu Discourse
Philosophy of the Upanisads
Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics
Goddesses and Women in the Indic Religious Tradition
Bringing the Gods to Mind : Mantra and Ritual in Early Indian Sacrifice
Ethics in Ancient India
Hindu Psychology
Hindu Nationalism
Saffron Wave: Democracy & Hindu Nationalism in Modern India
God Market : How Globalization Is Making India More Hindu

Online Reference

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Hindu Philosophy

From Gale Virtual Reference:
(log-in required)

Hinduism
Hindu Perspectives
Knowledge in Indian Philosophy

Print Reference

Note: The print reference collection is located in the back right-hand corner of the Library's main floor as you enter.

Encyclopedia of India
Introduction to the world's major religions: Hinduism
Human rights and the world's major religions: The Hindu Tradition
Routledge encyclopedia of philosophy: "Hindu Philosophy"
Encyclopedia of religion: "Hinduism"

Web Resources

Selected Web Sites

Hindu Goddesses:

"Worship of the Goddess in Hinduism" Essay by Sarah Caldwell, professor of religious studies.
"The Loving Aspect of Holy Mother" Essay posted by the Vedanta Society of New York. The Society's Web site has other interesting resources.
Devi: The Great Goddess Virtual exhibit from the Smithsonian.
Durga Temple of Virginia: Publications Succinct overviews of Hindu goddesses.
Hindu Image Gallery See especially Images of Pavati.
Shakti: The Power of the Feminine Brief overview from the Asia Society.
ReligionFacts: Hindu Goddesses
Picturing the Goddess: Bazaar Images and the Imagination of Modern Hindu Religious Identity:
Recent Ph.D. dissertation from Vanderbilt University.