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World Religions
Offers research topics for courses in history, politics, ethics, classics and other global studies
K-12 Schools & Districts
K-12 Schools & Districts
Public Libraries
Public Libraries
Universities & Colleges
Universities & CollegesAbout This Product
From the beginnings of human history, societies and cultures have established themselves around religious and spiritual practices. Religion has affected decisions personal and political, local and global, and continues to play an important role in the lives of individuals and in the cultures of nations. With a dynamic new design, new features, and expanded coverage, World Religions explores religion and spirituality in an objective manner, from the ceremonies of the first practitioners to the elaborate rituals of today.
Ideal for research and study in the library, the classroom, or at home, our new, easy-to-navigate interface puts the information users need front and center. Topic Centers feature specially selected content on 15 of the world’s religions and traditional spiritual practices, quickly guiding users to information on important topics, spiritual leaders, sacred texts, and holy days and festivals. A wealth of new content has been added. The new home page offers many ways to begin exploring the material, from videos and slideshows to sacred texts, sacred music, primary sources, a calendar of holidays and observances, and more.
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For a limited time, we are offering easy, instant access to World Religion, which is cross-searchable with our five history databases for complete history and religion coverage. GO TO THE OPEN TRIAL
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- Comprehensive Coverage: World Religions includes a treasure trove of articles—including more than 5,000 new articles on ancient religions/mythology and faith in America—tablet/mobile-friendly videos, and images on the beliefs, practices, and history of religions across the world, allowing users to delve deep into their topics.
- Unique Topic Centers: The perfect starting point for research, World Religions’ Topic Centers feature clearly organized, focused content on 15 living religions—including African Traditional Religion, Baha’i Faith, Buddhism, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Native American Religions, New Religious Movements, Protestantism, Shinto, Sikhism, and Zoroastrianism—with links to core essays, key primary sources, complete sacred texts, fact files, glossary terms, timelines, images, videos, and more. Researchers can compare world religions easily with these identically structured Topic Centers, which emphasize diversity within and among religions across time while also showing similarities and common ideologies.
- News Articles: World Religions’ “Religion in the News” section features regularly updated news articles from Reuters® to help users stay on top of the latest information.
- Video Clips: World Religions features engaging tablet/mobile-friendly video clips that stimulate interest, provide convenient overviews and lecture-launcher material, and bring to life spiritual traditions from around the world.
- Image Slideshows: World Religions contains images—including full-color photographs—organized into informative slideshows that offer fascinating visual introductions to key topics and themes.
- Primary Sources: World Religions includes hundreds of historical documents with introductory paragraphs that provide context and background to the sources.
- Sacred Texts: Ideal for researchers seeking a deeper understanding of the world’s faiths, World Religions contains an eBook shelf of 100 complete sacred texts from the world’s major religions. From the Bible and the Quran, to the Tibetan Book of the Dead and Daodejing, to Popol Vuh and the Táin bó Cuailnge, World Religions provides a truly global collection of some of the most influential religious writings and collections of mythology.
- Sacred Music: World Religions features both audio and video clips of sacred music, allowing users to explore a key part of many religious observances. These recordings include:
- “Amazing Grace,” performed by Marion Williams
- Chanting by Tibetan monks of the Gelugpa sect
- Chants by Benedictine monks
- Torah blessing
- Hymn from the Resurrectional Apolytikia
- Adhan prayer
- Purusha Sukta, recited by Sri Venkata Sastry
- “Saint Bamba,” performed by Youssou N’Dour
- “Troddin to Zion/I’m a Rastaman,” performed by Morgan Heritage
- Holidays and Observances Calendar: World Religions includes a calendar of holidays and observances from around the world and across faiths—a boon for researchers, and for educators planning topics for class discussion.
- Book Chapters: Chapters from authoritative print titles complement the thousands of encyclopedia entries, biographies, definitions, and other resources World Religions provides. Book chapters allow for original thinking and are ideal for an in-depth study of a topic.
- Authoritative Source List: World Religions features a complete inventory, by type, of the extraordinary amount of expertly researched and written content in the database, including books such as Facts On File’s six-volume Encyclopedia of World Religions set and Wiley-Blackwell’s critically acclaimed Companions to Religions series as well as thousands of entries from a wealth of award-winning proprietary print titles; primary sources; images; videos; timelines; and a list of contributors to the database. Edited by academics and specialists from leading departments of religious studies, World Religions’ content is information researchers can trust.
- Full Cross-Searchability: World Religions is fully cross-searchable with any combination of Infobase History Research Center databases to which your institution subscribes.
- Writing, Usage, and Research Tips: The Curriculum Tools section of World Religions features usage and research tips for students and educators, such as:
- Tips for students on topics including analyzing primary sources, avoiding plagiarism, citing sources, completing a primary source worksheet, evaluating online sources, and writing a research paper
- Educator tools, including advice on preventing plagiarism and teaching about religion
- In-depth articles with extensive background on relevant topics, plus biographies and entries on key topics and terms
- A detailed general timeline, plus religion-specific timelines
- Original maps and charts with descriptions
- Convenient A-to-Z topic lists that can be filtered by Topic Center
- Tag “clouds” for all content, linking to related material
- Search Assist technology
- Real-time, searchable Reuters® newsfeed
- Save content directly to Google Drive
- Single sign-on with Google or Microsoft
- Google Sign-In allows users to easily access content with their Google credentials
- Google Translate for 100+ languages
- A variety of integration options and partners, including Canvas and D2L (Desire2Learn)
- Dynamic citations in MLA, Chicago, and Harvard formats, with EasyBib and NoodleTools export functionality
- Ability for users to set preferences for default language, citation format, and number of search results
- Persistent record links
- List of contributors to the database
- Read Aloud tool
- Searchable Support Center with valuable help materials, how-to tips, tutorials, and live help chat.
Selected Infobase databases now feature an “Export to NoodleTools” option for citation information. This new feature can be found via the Citation pop-up window on any page users wish to cite. The databases that now have NoodleTools include: American History African American History American Ind…read more →
World Religions explores religion and spirituality in an objective manner, from the ceremonies of the first practitioners to the elaborate rituals of today. Ideal for research and study in the library, the classroom, or at home, the easy-to-navigate interface puts the information users need front …read more →
Google Sign-In can now be turned on to allow users to sign into the World Religions database with their Google credentials, enabling one-click log-in access using the “Sign in with Google” button. This option is turned off by default and can be activated by account administrators in the Admin Po…read more →
Approximately 380 video clips have just been added to World Religions, including clips from the following three series: The Story of God with Morgan Freeman by National Geographic Digital Media: This six-part series explores how religion has shaped the history of the world and how it continues to mo…read more →
World Religions has been updated and enhanced throughout the past year, increasing the educational value of this award-winning resource. Recent Updates and Additions: Authoritative sources: Added six new books by academic press Wiley-Blackwell covering content on such key areas as African religions,…read more →
Infobase is pleased to announce the official relaunch of World Religions, its unbiased, comprehensive guide to the world’s religions and spiritual traditions. The World Religions database now brings its extensive range of content front and center for a richer research experience—adding a…read more →