Data Search in Theological Researches: Databases - Libraries - Citation Indexes

This study is aimed to introduce national and international databases which stand out specifically in the Islamic sciences, libraries and digital media that identifies citation. Moreover, databases on citation are also included in the research. The literature review is one of the pillars of academic work. Nowadays, the literature review is made mostly with databases in virtual environments that can be accessed via internet. There is not a single database which contains the literature of all disciplines of Islamic sciences in detail. It will be possible to reach a more comprehensive literature with multiple database searches. However, the upcoming developments show that databases will expand their scope day by day. In this context, classical sources, manuscripts, historical records, archives and registers, current studies (books, theses, articles), academic and popular magazines, visual materials (posters, postcards, stamps, etc.), audio and video records, newspapers, will be completely transferred to the digital media and made available to the users within the scope of these databases. Islamic sciences academia is rapidly digitalizing. Much electronic scientific software continues to develop. Our study is limited by the introduction of the databases which has been used frequently in Turkey Theology and Islamic Studies faculties. Especially it is aimed to introduce literature review and the websites that fresh postgraduates should see and know. In this study, relevant databases are introduced by obtaining introductory information from the official websites of databases and libraries widely known in the Islamic sciences field. Moreover, the answers of the following questions were tried to be given and demonstrated in practice: “How to search for a thesis, article, and journal in a digital environment or database in the field of Theology? How is it found? Where is it located?” While demonstrating the application, the database, and the part of the library that needs attention has been confirmed with the screenshots of each directory.