Book review: Beyond the Qumran community

Review of John Collins' "Beyond the Qumran community: the Sectarian Movement of the Dead Sea Scrolls" by Alex Jassen (University of Minnesota) in the H-Judaic pages of H-Net Online ("an international consortium of scholars and teachers")
Collins argues in support of the theory that the Khirbet Qumran site is a sectarian settlement. Jassen states that the book "advances considerably our understanding of the origins and identities of the communities of the Dead Sea Scrolls"

Find "Beyond the Qumran community" in SOAS Library at QI296.815 / 733599 (Level C, Stacks 95-96)

Religion, tourism and development

New York Times article on Ezekiel's tomb in Kifl (Iraq) looks at the historic and religious context of the site and the "competing aims of historic preservation and modern development".
This online article includes a slide show (pictures of the shrine) and video about the plans for the restoration and development of the historic centre of Kifl, including Ezekiel's shrine

Updated research guide launched on the BLE

A fully updated version of the Study of Religions research guide (containing information on how to search full-text and bibliographic databases, internet resources in SOAS and beyond, and tips on how to keep up to date with your research and manage references and citations) has just been launched on the Information Skills: Religions site on the BLE - go to the Research Guides tab

Riot in Alexandria (Book Review)

Edward Watts' "Riot in Alexandria: tradition and group dynamics in late antique pagan and Christian communities" (published this year by the University of California Press) has just been reviewed in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review by Peter Van Nuffelen of Ghent University.

Read the book in SOAS Library. It is shelved at NE916.2104 / 741999 on Level B (between stacks 59 and 61)

Reminder on Religions database trials

The following Brill databases are available on trial until the 26th October. Please let us know what you think, by e-mailing bc3@soas.ac.uk with your comments. 
They are also accessible from http://www.soas.ac.uk/library/resources/a-z/database-trials.html
Brill Online - Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History
"A bibliographic history" covering the period 600-1500 and recording details of more than 200 works in various languages where encounters between the two faiths are described. 
http://bit.ly/BrillCMR

Brill Online - Index to the Study of Religions
A cross-searchable database of abstracts of articles "which contribute to the academic study of religions". It currently contains 20,000 records. The abstracts are in English, derived from articles in various languages from a variety of journals. This is an ongoing project, with 600 or so entries being added annually. 
http://bit.ly/BrillISR

Brill Online - Religion Past and Present
An online encyclopedia - the English translation of the 4th edition of the "definitive encyclopedia of religion worldwide" - Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (RGG). 
http://bit.ly/BrillRPP

Welcome to SOAS

Welcome to all new and returning students

The Study of Religions Library blog will give

• details of information skills training offered by Library staff
• Library updates
• details of new web resources and recommended websites
• and lots more !!

If you have not been on a Library tour yet, there are more tours running next week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. 

The tours start from open area at the top of the stairs on the 3rd Floor of the School Building (near "Library Tours Start Here" sign !!)

Library training sessions run throughout the year. There will be general introductory sessions on a variety of topics during the first few weeks of term. 

Pick up a handout at the Enquiry Desk for further details of our introductory sessions - Getting started, Electronic journals and bibliographic databases, and Beyond Google: using the Internet for research

For further information on the Library and Library resources, go to the main Library website or go to the Information Skills section on the BLE

As your Librarian, I will be here to help. You can contact me on ms28@soas.ac.uk  or drop in to Room C3 in the Library