This guide is intended for students in HSOC 0361 (formerly HSOC 059): From Medical Missionaries to Community Partners. It covers library skills and reference sources relevant to the subject area.
See also this Penn Libraries guide for a detailed presentation of specialized reference works and primary sources available for missionary research through the Penn Libraries:
• Christian Missions in Africa - Penn Libraries research guide
Books: When looking for books and other materials, use the Penn Libraries Catalog. As the new catalog is still in development, you might want to use our old (but still current) catalog, Franklin, which features title and subject heading browsing.
Journal Articles: to search for articles, see related databases.
Interlibrary Loan: If the library does not have a book or a title is unavailable, or if the library does not have a journal article, you can request it through our resource sharing services. Turnaround on requests can be very quick : 4 days for a book, a few hours for a PDF journal article. Use our "Request an item" form.
Questions or Appointment request: please email Lauris Olson at olson@pobox.upenn.edu.
Don't know who to write about? Start with Reference Works > Biographical Information.
Always try to identify the missionary organization with which your missionary is affiliated. This will help you to locate directories, registers, and magazines produced by that organization. Some of the major missions in Africa (and they'll usually have missions in other world regions, too) and their materials are described in the Penn Libraries guide, Christian Missions in Africa : Primary Sources - Mission Records.
Need contemporary articles on your missionary? Use the databases listed under Finding Articles and Books > Contemporary Magazine Databases and Contemporary News Sources.
Need vital details about your missionary? Use Ancestry Library to search census and birth/marriage/death records for your missionary's country of origin. You might also find immigration and ship registers mentioning your missionary.
When in doubt, work on a missionary affiliated with the Church Missionary Society.
The Penn Libraries hold digitized versions of the CMS missionary registers, CMS periodicals (in which missionaries share their experience with readers in their country of origin), and the CMS archive (with annual letters from missionaries and manuscript correspondence files).
