The Wilderness, the Nation, and the Electronic Era: American Christianity and Religious Communication, 1620-2000: An Annotated Bibliography

by Elmer J. O'Brien

Overview

The Wilderness, the Nation, and the Electronic Era: American Christianity and Religious Communication 1620-2000: An Annotated Bibliography contains over 2,400 annotations of books, book chapters, essays, periodical articles, and selected dissertations dealing with the various means and technologies of Christian communication used by clergy, churches, denominations, benevolent associations, printers, booksellers, publishing houses, and individuals and movements in their efforts to disseminate news, knowledge, and information about religious beliefs and life in the United States from colonial times to the present.

Providing access to the critical and interpretive literature about religious communication is significant and plays a central role in the recent trend in American historiography toward cultural history, particularly as it relates to numerous collateral disciplines: sociology, anthropology, education, speech, music, literary studies, art history, and technology. The book documents communication shifts, from oral history to print to electronic and visual media, and their adaptive uses in communication networks developed over the nation's history. This reference brings bibliographic control to a large and diverse literature not previously identified or indexed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810861589
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	07/29/2009
Series:	ATLA Bibliography Series , #57
Pages:	688
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Elmer J. O'Brien was a theological librarian for 35 years, serving as director of library and information services and professor of theological bibliography and research at United Theological Seminary.

Editorial Reviews

With access to so many electronic databases, good bibliographies are hard to find today. This expansion of a previously published bibliography in 1993 provides summative annotations of published scholarly works that discuss communication methods of clergy, churches, associations, and religious publishing houses. Organized by historical periods, the bibliography includes examinations of such topics as evangelist television, Native Americans, science, captivity narratives, and slavery. While the bibliography focuses on religion, much of American life is tied to religious beliefs and activities, and as such, this work is useful for a wide range of American cultural studies. Recommended for academic libraries.

Reference and User Services Quarterly

An especially commendable feature is O'Brien's commitment to inclusion, a determination to look broadly across the religious landscape. On this point he admirably succeeds, bringing together an extensive array of resources from across the theological spectrum that include women, as well as resources that include perspectives other than Catholic or mainline Protestant. O'Brien has produced a substantive foundation for bibliographic studies in Christian communication. This work is highly recommended for academic libraries of all types.

American Reference Books Annual

An especially commendable feature is O'Brien's commitment to inclusion, a determination to look broadly across the religious landscape. On this point he admirably succeeds, bringing together an extensive array of resources from across the theological spectrum that include women, as well as resources that include perspectives other than Catholic or mainline Protestant. O'Brien has produced a substantive foundation for bibliographic studies in Christian communication. This work is highly recommended for academic libraries of all types.--American Reference Books Annual

With access to so many electronic databases, good bibliographies are hard to find today. This expansion of a previously published bibliography in 1993 provides summative annotations of published scholarly works that discuss communication methods of clergy, churches, associations, and religious publishing houses. Organized by historical periods, the bibliography includes examinations of such topics as evangelist television, Native Americans, science, captivity narratives, and slavery. While the bibliography focuses on religion, much of American life is tied to religious beliefs and activities, and as such, this work is useful for a wide range of American cultural studies. Recommended for academic libraries.--Reference and User Services Quarterly

From the Publisher

An especially commendable feature is O'Brien's commitment to inclusion, a determination to look broadly across the religious landscape. On this point he admirably succeeds, bringing together an extensive array of resources from across the theological spectrum that include women, as well as resources that include perspectives other than Catholic or mainline Protestant. O'Brien has produced a substantive foundation for bibliographic studies in Christian communication. This work is highly recommended for academic libraries of all types.

American Reference Books Annual (ARBA)