Online resources

One of the most important parts of a research paper is finding and accessing pertinent sources. These may be primary (original) or secondary (scholarly) sources. In the old days, you'd hunker down with a million books and read through their bibliographies and find those books and read through their bibliographies, and spend lots of time getting to know the card catalogues: no longer! UCR subscribes to a number of databases, and there is also a great deal of public domain material on the internet. Of course, you can search "Google" (or, even better yet: Google Books) for your paper topic, but you'll want to find the most recent scholarly sources and many campus resources can help you with that. (Unless otherwise noted, the following electronic sources are only available from UCR-linked terminals; to connect to UCR resources from your home computer, see instructions here). (note: Links to databases have been removed from the archived version of this website.)

Scotty

The catalogue of the UCR libraries, often a useful first step to find out what we have on campus. (Available from any terminal.)

Melvyl

The combined catalogue of all UC campuses. If you find a source you need, but it is not available at UCR, Interlibrary Loan is usually fast and efficient and directly accessible through Melvyl. (Available from any terminal.)

WorldCat

An online catalogue of pretty much every library in the world, with direct links to Interlibrary Loan so you can request items directly from its database.

ATLA Religion Database

Gives references to articles, essays, books, book chapters, and book reviews, primarily in English but also in some European languages. To see if you can access the text of an article online directly, or to see if the resources is available at UCR (through Scotty) or at another California campus (through Melvyl) click on the orange "UC-eLinks" button.

Web of Science

A citation index, often useful in tracking down works on particular subjects and also creating bibliographies by seeing who has cited "classic" works on a subject. Although less reliable, the citation index will also catalogue primary sources (e.g., "Benjamin of Tudela"). To see if you can access the text of an article online directly, or to see if the resources is available at UCR (through Scotty) or at another California campus (through Melvyl) click on the orange "UC-eLinks" button.

JSTOR: The scholarly journal archive

A database of full-text files of many, many scholarly journals: a great place to start, although do note that most journals have a "moving wall" so that articles newer than five years (or so) will not be included in the database.

Other databases

Skim through the list of databases to which UCR subscribes: you'll find many topics (art, literature, music, history) that might be useful resources for your object of study. If you are studying a recent travel text, even the newspaper databases might be useful to you. To see if you can access the text of an article online directly, or to see if the resources is available at UCR (through Scotty) or at another California campus (through Melvyl) click on the orange "UC-eLinks" button.

The Internet Sacred Text Archive

This collection of "sacred texts" (understood very broadly) might be a good resource for finding primary source materials. Remember, many of these texts have been scanned in and contain errors: if the site refers to a print reference from which the digital version has been derived, it's a good idea to track down that print reference, as well.

Online encyclopedias like Wikipedia have limited value: their contents usually combine public domain encyclopedias with information that has been input directly by readers and is therefore not necessarily reliable. While you might decide to start at a site like Wikipedia for very general information, do not trust that information and certainly do not cite it in a paper for this class.

Links and resources from RLST 179 (Pilgrimage)

Here is a list of links and resources of all sorts from Prof. Jacobs' undergraduate course on pilgrimage: these links can be generally helpful and specifically useful in researching a final project.

Print resources

As you will learn if you haven't already, "B" is the home of religion works in the Library of Congress cataloguing system. Sometimes, the best way to find resources in print is to browse the stacks. For this course you may also be interested in G (travel) and PR (travel literature).

For materials we don't have at UCR, you should become familiar with the Interlibrary Loan process. When you find a book resource in Melvyl or Worldcat (see links above) that we don't have at UCR, click on the "ILL" link and fill out the requested information (you'll need your ID number for your UCR Card). If you find an article or essay resource not available at UCR through ATLA, click on the "UC-elinks" orange button; if we don't have that resources, there will be a link that says "Request." Usually the Interlibrary Loan office is able to send PDF files of requested essays or articles.

Here are some general volumes (pulled primarily from our catalogue) that may be useful to you related to travel, travel writing, pilgrimage, religion in general, etc.:

Literature of Travel and Exploration: En Encyclopedia, ed. Jennifer Speake (3 vols.; Rivera Reference G465 .L565 2003)

The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing, ed. Peter Hulme and Tim Youngs (Rivera PR756.T72 C36 2002)

English Travel Writing from Pilgrimages to Postcolonial Explorations, Barbara Korte, tr. Catherine Matthias (Rivera PR756.T72 K6713 2000)

From Medieval Pilgrimage to Religious Tourism: The Social and Cultural Economics of Piety, ed. William H. Swatos, Jr. and Luigi Tomasi (Rivera BL619.P5 F76 2002)

Sacred Journeys: The Anthropology of Pilgrimage, ed. Alan Morris (Rivera BL619.P5 S23 1992)

Intersecting Journeys: The Anthropology of Pilgrimage and Tourism, ed. Ellen Badone and Sharon Roseman (Rivera BL619.P5 I67 2004)

Encyclopedia of Religion, 2d ed. (Rivera Reference BL31 .E46 2005)

Finding a paper topic

For the final project, students must focus on a specific travel text. Students may choose to write on one of the texts assigned for the class, but are strongly encouraged to develop a final paper on a different text. Students are encouraged to look within their own area of interest for a travel text on which to write.

You can be creative in defining a "text" (as well as "travel"), but please focus on a text that lends itself to the sort of critical readings we conduct throughout the quarter. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring might arguably be a kind of fictional "travel text," but it would be difficult to subject it to the kinds of critical readings we have learned about it class. Consider a variety of genres, including fiction (novels, drama, poetry) and artistic representation.

I have asked the faculty of the Department to recommend travel texts, and here are some of their recommendations (along with my own):

Jerusalem Pilgrims Before the Crusades, ed. John Wilkinson (Rivera BX2320.5.P19.J47 2002)

David Roberts, compiled by Helen Guiterman and Briony Llewellyn (Rivera ND497.R6 A4 1986)

Crusader Chronicles (Christian and Muslim): check Louise and Jonathan Riley-Smith, The Crusades: Idea and Reality, 1095-1274 (Rivera D151.554) for some Christian sources and Philip K. Hitti's translation of Usamah ibn Munqidh (Rivera DS97.3 U813 2000)

Travels of Sir John Mandeville (Rivera G370.M2 M3613 2006)

The Book of Margery Kempe (Rivera PR 2007.K4 A199--several recent translations)

George Foster, A Journey from Bengal to England, Through the Northern Part of India (1808; available through Google Books)

Travels of Ibn Battuta (5 vols., Rivera DS6.I25)

Sir Thomas Raffles (d. 1826): The History of Java (2 vols.: Rivera DS646.R34 1965) and Report on Japan to the Secret Committee of the English East India Company (Rivera HF3828.G7 R3 1971)

V.S. Naipaul, Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey (Rivera BP63.A1 N35x 1981b)

Adolf Bastian, A Journey in Burma, 1861-1862 (Rivera DS527.6.B3713 2004)

Henri Mouhot, Travels in Siam, Cambodia, and Laos, 1858-1860 (Rivera DS565.M6813 1992)

Narratives of the Mission of George Bogle to Tibet and of the Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhasa, ed. Clements Markham (Rivera DS785.M37 1971)

Captain Cook's Voyages of Discovery (Rivera G420.C69 B37)

Alexis de Tocqueville, Journey to America (Rivera E165.T62 1971) or Journeys to England and Ireland (Rivera DA625.T63)