Onsite Reference Assistance
Librarians are on call to provide reference assistance Monday through
Friday, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. Please inquire at the Circulation Desk if
the Reference Office is not open.
Remote Reference Assistance
Patrons may submit simple reference inquiries:
This service is provided in support of academic research for the students,
faculty, staff, and alumni/ae of Yale University. For questions requiring
more than 15 minutes of library research or instruction, please come
to the library for assistance or schedule an appointment with staff
either electronically or by phone. The Divinity Library staff will attempt
to respond to inquiries by the end of the following business day.
The Divinity Library reserves the right to limit the kinds of questions
handled electronically. If you are not affiliated with Yale, we can
reply to your question only if it concerns the Divinity School, the
University or some unique resource of the University Library.
Instruction and Workshops
During the academic term, the Divinity Library staff conducts regular
workshops on how to do bibliographic research and the use of electronic
resources. Divinity School faculty may also request custom workshops
related to the courses they're teaching by contacting the Research
Services Librarian. A number of online
tutorials are available as well.
For workshops on resources for the practice of ministry in congregations
and agencies, contact the Ministry Resource Center: ministry.resource.center@yale.edu
Research
Guide to Christianity
The Divinity Library maintains a Research
Guide to Christianity that is designed to assist students and researchers
in using the library effectively. If you have suggestions for additions
or corrections for this Guide, please leave a message in the Electronic
Suggestion Box.
Frequently
Asked Questions
The following are answers to some common questions asked of the Divinity
Library staff:
Where
can I find a complete listing of the Lyman Beecher Lectures?
The Divinity
Library maintains a list of these lectures at: http://www.library.yale.edu/div/beecher.html.
Where
can I find copies of Yale STM theses?
Students preparing
to write their thesis often ask to see examples of papers that have been
submitted at Yale Divinity School in partial fulfillment of the requirements
of the Master of Sacred Theology (STM) degree. Here is a summary of the
lore of the STM theses:Yale
Divinity School began granting STM's in 1939. The requirements for the
degree originally included an essay that was to be deposited with the
Dean. The current Bulletin specifies "A thesis, major paper in a regular
course, or other acceptable project in the selected field of study is
required."Until
recently, neither the School nor the Library apparently ever made a systematic
attempt to retain those essays. At some point, selected theses began to
be deposited with the Library on the recommendation of the faculty (presumably
of the degree advisor). Those papers are held in Archive & Manuscript
Record Group 41 in the Divinity Library's Special Collections.Beginning
with degrees granted in 1989, STM theses are submitted to Theological
Research Exchange Network (TREN, P.O. Box 30183, Portland, OR 97230,
800-334-8736) for microfilming. The Divinity Library receives microfiche
copies of all the YDS theses filmed by TREN. The microfiches receive brief
cataloging and are arranged under the call number FICHE B3500.TREN
will supply microfiche copies of the theses they have for a modest fee.
In those cases where we were able to secure the author's permission, we
also filmed theses retrospectively. We are making another effort to get
permission for the ones we still have in hard copy.Yale
STM's are NOT indexed in Research in Ministry because they are
not doctoral level theses. (RIM is strictly D.Min.).
Where
can I find the text of a recent papal encyclical or other Vatican document?
Every time the Vatican issues a major document (e.g. the recent encyclical
"Veritatis splendor"), we get a spate of questions asking where a copy
of the document can be found. There are some reliable print sources:
- Osservatore
Romano in the weekly English edition is the most immediate source.
It appears to publish the full text of all major Papal documents,
though it isn't clear how completely it covers other documents.
(Current issues in the Rotunda. No backfiles.)
- Origins,
published by the National Catholic News Service, comes next. It seems
to lag at least 2 weeks behind even for encyclicals.
(Current issues in the Rotunda. Bound volumes: ZP Or47)
- The Pope Speaks
lags even further behind. It concentrates completely on materials
attributed to the Pope himself, but it does include minor and harder
to find messages.
(Current issues in the Rotunda. Bound volumes: ZP P81)
There Vatican also
maintains its own Web site, URL: http://www.vatican.va/.
