Spirituality & Health Bibliography Update

smhbibThe famous Spirituality, Medicine, & Health Bibliography has been updated. This amazing bibliography, far and away the most comprehensive and best organized of its kind in the world, is the product of two generations of Boston University graduate students. The original effort, from the Fall of 2009, was created by Connor Wood, Eric Dorman, and Joel Daniels. The revised and expanded version, from the Fall of 2011, was created by Jenn Lindsay, Derrick Muwina, Stephanie Riley, and Lawrence A. Whitney. The new version features twice the entries, more annotations and abstracts, and the ability to download sections or all of the database in a format suitable for importing into bibliographic management programs. This is a priceless resource for anyone conducting research in the area of spirituality and health, as well as for members of the general public who want to catch up on the latest thinking in this complex and fast-moving area.

On the front page of the bibliography, the downloadable file formats are listed: BIB, RIS, and Zotero RDF. These files will open in most bibliography managers. There is also a downloadable rich-text file for a formatted bibliography using Chicago style; that will open in Microsoft Word and most other word processors.

The five main parts of the bibliography are:

  • Part 1: History, Influence, Metaphysics, and General Background of Spirituality and Medicine Traditions
  • Part 2: Contemporary Research on Spirituality and Health
  • Part 3: Integration of Alternative/Spiritual-Based Practices
  • Part 4: Ramifications on Health Care Policy
  • Part 5: Books for General Interest

Most of these five major parts have many subsections. By browsing the index of subsections, users can easily find exactly what they are looking for, conveniently and quickly. Users with access to the appropriate library subscriptions can click on the links and be taken directly to the original articles.

To keep track of literature published after Fall 2011, the best option is to subscribe to the free IBCSR Research Review, a monthly review of everything published in the scientific study of religion, including spirituality, medicine, and health. Sign up at ScienceOnReligion.org.