POIESIS/Philosophy Online now available
The UH Libraries now have a subscription to the POEISIS (Philosophy Online) database. It provides electronic access to many important philosophy journals and can be used both at the library and remotely from anywhere (with MyUH login). To access the database, go to the database list and click on the title.
(Electronic access to specific journals is based on the library’s current print subscriptions. If you cannot access the journal you want, please contact me at mhenry4(at)uh(dot)edu, and I’ll be happy to help you out.)
Online programs from PBS and NPR
You can now access free online content from PBS and NPR on a website called Forum Network. The site includes many lecture series supporting public radio and TV programs such as NOVA, FRONTLINE, and even Car Talk. Unsurprisingly, topics lean toward current events and popular history, but you can find religion- and philosophy-related programs, too, especially in the area of ethics.
New databases!
The University of Houston Libraries recently acquired a sizeable collection of databases from ProQuest, including many historical newspapers, the Gerritsen Collection of women’s studies materials, and Early English Books Online. You can always check the new databases list to see what has been added, and if your interest is religious studies, you’ll be pleased to know that Acta Sanctorum and Patrologia Latina will soon appear on it.
Google Scholar
If you use Google Scholar in your research, here’s a tip: set your preferences to show you what’s available through your library.
Just click on Scholar Preferences, go to the Library Links section, and search for up to three libraries to add to your profile. University of Houston and Houston Public Library are both available. Once you add a library or libraries to your preferences, your search results will include access information from those libraries. (Note that if you’re using a UH Libraries computer, the UH links show up automatically.)
Codex Sinaiticus
The Codex Sinaiticus, an ancient Greek Bible, can now be viewed online. It is brought to us by the Codex Sinaiticus Project, an ambitious attempt “to reunite the entire manuscript in digital form and make it accessible to a global audience for the first time.” The viewer takes a little time to figure out, but the quality of the reproduction is remarkable. It will be interesting to see if this and similar projects inspire new scholarship.
Patheos
Here’s an interesting new website to play around with. Patheos describes itself as “the premier online destination to engage in the global dialogue about religion and spirituality and to explore and experience the world’s beliefs.” Among its notable features are a searchable directory of religion-related locations (physical sites, not websites–although Patheos links to lots of those, too) and a “public square” page that describes different religious perspectives on topical issues.
Philosophy and religion webcasts from Rice
The Rice University IT department has an extensive webcast archive of lectures and other programs held on campus over the past several years. By searching for the keywords “religion” or “philosophy” you can find many recordings of possible interest, including lectures by such well-known figures as Diana Eck, Peter Gomes, and Mark C. Taylor.
Philosophy and Religion on the Kindle
I recently received an Amazon Kindle e-book reader as an early birthday present, and I have been very interested to discover the variety of content available for it. Searching for philosophy- and religion-related material has uncovered a wealth of material you can put on the Kindle for free or for a dollar or two, including several different Bible translations, works by many philosophers, and lots of theological primary sources. And then there are all the strange public domain books that you can’t help but wonder about. Just do a broad search (for, say, “religion”), then sort by price, low to high. You’ll be amazed at some of the titles that come up!
(By the way, Kindle books are apparently now available on the iPhone or iPod Touch, too, so it looks like you can access all this great free or cheap content that way, too.)
Women and religion
March is National Women’s History Month, so it’s a good time to check out some of the many online resources related to women and religion. The Jewish Women’s Archive has just released a free, online version of Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia, which is well suited for browsing. Useful bibliographies include Susan Lau’s Bibliography on Women and Religion (ends 1999) and American Women’s History: A Research Guide–Religion. Finally, the always intriguing Internet Sacred Text Archive includes a section on women.
Academic Earth
Here’s another source for academic web videos. Academic Earth offers lectures, often making up entire courses, by prominent professors from some of the country’s most prestigious universities. While not much philosophy and religion content is available yet, the site seems so well designed and appealing that I anticipate its offerings will increase in coming months.
