The Tyree Library has over 160,000 print and electronic books in its collection. As a Santa Fe student you can check out books, read eBooks online, and access materials on course reserve from the Library. Your Santa Fe College ID card is also your library card. Present it to the first floor Circulation Desk to check out books and other resources.
Many general books on a religion will cover the core tenets and figures important to that faith. You may browse the following sections in the Reference Collection (2nd floor) and Circulating Collection (3rd floor) to locate books on a particular faith.
Religion | Call Number Area | Catalog Search |
---|---|---|
Hinduism | BL1100 - 1295 | Hinduism |
Islam | BP | Islam |
Judaism | BM | Judaism |
Shinto | BL2216 - 2227.8 | Shinto |
Taoism | BL1899 - 1942.85 | Taoism |
World Religions | BL1 - 80.4 | Religions |
Sacred Scriptures | BL 70 -71 | Sacred books |
From the Library's website, click the Catalog link to access the library catalog.
Type keywords for what you would like to find in the search box and click Search. It is recommended that you search as broadly as possible in the library catalog.
If you find a good book, click the title to view the record. This will give you more information about the book. You can also look at the subjects given for the book. These will give you better search terms to use.
If your specific topic does not have any results, try searching for your religion as a subject; many general books on a world religion will cover major religious figures, etc. You can use the index of the book to find where your topic is located.
Expand your search even more by searching the Statewide Catalog. This will expand your search to the full catalogs of all 12 Florida public universities and 28 state colleges. You will be able to request items directly from the catalog; view our UBorrow tutorial for more information.
When you have found a book about your religion, use the index to locate the pages on which your specific topic will be covered. An index is usually located at the back of the book, and will list all covered topics alphabetically, providing page numbers for each topic.
The following video tutorial will show you how to use an index.
Introduction to Indexes from Lawrence W. Tyree Library on Vimeo.
This video tutorial will demonstrate how to use indexes of books to locate information about a topic.
Indexes can help you quickly find specific information within a book or set of books. For example, the Encyclopedia of Religion is a 15 volume set, which can make it difficult to look up a specific topic.
In most academic books, there will be an index. This is a list of topics that are in the book, along with where exactly to find that topic. Single volume books may have an index at the back. For multi-volume works, look at the last volume. Many times the spine of the book will say Index. In the Encyclopedia of Religion, volume 15 contains the index for the set.
Indexes organize topics alphabetically, beginning with A. This is the first page of the index in the Encyclopedia of Religion. The index will tell you in what volumes and pages your topic can be found. If you were looking up Aaron, you could go to several different pages to learn about him, including pages 1 and 8144. The main entry for each topic is in bold. For instance, the main entry for Aaron is located on pages 1-2.
This encyclopedia only gives page numbers in the index. However, at the bottom of every other page, there is a key to tell you which pages numbers can be found in each of the volumes. Since volume 1 has pages 1 to 610, the main entry on Aaron can be found in that volume.
Some topics may have a few different aspects to explore. If you were looking up mandalas, you can find the main entry on pages 5640-5646. But mandalas are used in several religions, and three are listed here: Buddhist, Tantric Buddhist (listed inversely), and Hindu. Under each religion are aspects of these types of mandalas, along with corresponding page numbers.
The main entry for mandalas begins on pages 56406. Looking at the index key, this means the entry is in volume 8.
Here is the first page of the entry for mandalas.
There are some other common index terms to be aware of. If you look up Medicine Lodge, it tells you to see Sun Dance. This means you need to look up this term to find the page number. The entry for Medicine Men, however, gives you page numbers, but then says to see also Shamanism. This is a related concept that you may be interested in looking up.
Single volume books may have indexes as well. Flip to the end of the book to locate it.
This index for the Encyclopedia of World Scriptures begins on page 291.
The entry for the Koran shows that information about this topic can be found in a few different places. The main entry, which is bold, is on pages 196-211.
Here is the first page of the Koran entry.
This concludes the video tutorial on using indexes. If you still have questions, please contact a librarian:
352-395-5409
reference@sfcollege.edu
Building Y, NW Campus
sfcollege.edu/library
The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries has many resources that may be helpful to you in researching your topic. You may check out ten books for free with your SF ID card. Please complete the Access to Library Services Application two business days prior to visiting.
To get there from Santa Fe College, take RTS bus route 43, which picks up at S building and passes by Library West. You may ride for free with your SF ID card.
You may also request any book that we do not own by filling out an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) form or requesting a book via UBorrow. This is free for you, but may take a week or two to fulfill, so plan accordingly.
Commitment to Equal Access and Equal Opportunity
Santa Fe College is committed to an environment that embraces diversity, respects the rights of all individuals, is open and accessible, and is free of harassment and discrimination. For more information, visit sfcollege.edu/eaeo or contact equity.officer@sfcollege.edu.
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Santa Fe College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). For more information, visit sfcollege.edu/sacscoc.