Subject Guides: Latter-day Saint Movement Studies: Advanced Research

Philosophy and Church History/Doctrine Librarian

Contact:

Click the button to set up a short research consultation with me or feel free to email me your questions. I will help in whatever way I can!
gerrit_vandyk@byu.edu

Subjects: Religion & Philosophy

Literature Review

Use these resources to discover what has been done on your topic.

GospeLink (First-time Users Only - must create account) This link opens in a new window Only available on campus. Requires creating individual logins but it is free for all BYU patrons. GospeLink contains over 3,000 works including scriptures, reference works, LDS periodicals, works by General Authorities, works by Mormons and for Latter-day Saints, and a World Classics library.

Latter-day Saint Studies This free online database, formally known as Studies in Mormon History, after the print volume (Allen, Walker, and Whittaker, 2000), includes citations to articles, books, and dissertations dealing with the history, culture, and doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many entries have links to the full text of an article or dissertation.
GospeLink.com (All users except for first-time users) Currently only available on campus, GospeLink contains over 3,000 works including scriptures, sermons, conference talks, commentaries, reference works, periodicals, and historical works. LDS.org content can also be searched here. From on campus, use previously created login here.
Dissertations & Theses (ProQuest) Coverage: 1861 - Current. With more than 2 million entries of dissertations and theses, many with abstracts and/or PDFs of the full product. 28,000+ entries on Mormon topics.

ProQuest Research Library This link opens in a new window 20,000 entries on all aspects of Mormonism, from history to film. 9,000+ are from academic journals.
ATLA Religion Database (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window Produced by the American Theological Library Association, includes information on topics such as biblical studies, world religions, church history, and religion in social issues from 1949 to the present.

Church Periodicals Index This searches articles from dozens of LDS Church periodicals from 1830 to the present.

Periodicals Archive Online (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window Periodicals Archive Online is a major archive that makes the backfiles of scholarly periodicals in the arts, humanities and social sciences available electronically, providing access to the searchable full text of hundreds of titles. The database spans more than two centuries of content, 37 key subject areas, and multiple languages. Contains over 6,000 citations on Mormonism.
Historical Abstracts (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window Indexes more than 3,100 academic historical journals in over 40 languages back to 1955. Contains 400+ citations on Mormonism.
America: History and Life (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window Focuses on the History of the U.S. and Canada. This database includes scholarly articles, book reviews and dissertations dealing with history in the Americas from pre-history to the present. Publication coverage is from 1964 to the present. Contains 5,000+ entries on Mormonism.

Academic Journals

This is a short list of some prominent, peer-reivewed journals currently publishing in Church history, doctrine, theology, and culture, or have a large number of Latter-day Saint Movement-related articles. Click on the links below to get online and/or print access through BYU.

Journal of Mormon History Sponsored journal of the Mormon History Association. Each issue contains new research, reviews, and book announcements.
BYU Studies Quarterly In this quarterly journal, you will find articles from experts in a variety of disciplines related to the Church, its doctrine, history, and culture.
Journal of the Book of Mormon Studies A peer-reviewed, biannual periodical, dedicated to promoting understanding of the history, meaning, and significance of the scriptures revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. A publication of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute.
Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought Dialogue was established to express Mormon culture, and examine the relevance of religion to secular life. It is edited by Latter-day Saints who wish to bring their faith into dialogue with the larger stream of world religious thought and human experience.
Mormon Historical Studies Mormon Historical Studies is an independent periodical that includes essays, biographies, documents, book reviews, historical site descriptions, indexes, and archival listings relevant to subjects of general interest to Latter Day Saints.
Utah Historical Quarterly Utah Historical Quarterly was first published in 1928. Since then, it has published the best scholarship available on Utah History. The journal is filled with articles, memoirs, annotated primary sources, book reviews, and photos.
International Journal of Mormon Studies This journal is a European based internationally focused, peer-reviewed scholarly journal, which is committed to the promotion of interdisciplinary scholarship by publishing articles and reviews of current work in the field of Mormon studies.
Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture Published by the American Society of Church History. This quarterly peer-reviewed journal publishes original research articles and book reviews covering all areas of the history of Christianity and its cultural contexts in all places and times, including its non-Western expressions. Contains over 400 articles on Mormon topics.

Newspapers, Magazines, and Other Published Sources

Use these resources to discover new research and information from current and contemporary newspapers, as well as magazines.

Ensign Church magazine from 1971-2020. Full color images of each issue, uploaded to the Church History Library's website.
LDS Church Magazines Archive 19th and early 20th century Church periodicals archive through Archive.org. Includes The Improvement Era, The Millennial Star, The Juvenile Instructor (and Instructor), and The Contributor.
Mormon Texts Project A list of 19th and early 20th century texts written by LDS members and general authorities.
Relief Society Magazine Digital Archives The Relief Society Magazine was one of the premiere LDS periodicals of the 20th century. Issues from 1914-1970 are digitized.
Woman's Exponent Archives Online Issues from 1874-1910; available through the Chadwyck Gerritsen subscription database.
Young Woman's Journal Archives Online Published from 1889-1929; available through the Chadwyck Gerritsen subscription database.

Utah Digital Newspapers This link opens in a new window A growing digital collection of early Utah newspapers browsed by title or searched by keywords, article titles, weddings, deaths, and births. This is a Utah Academic Library Consortium project funded by the Library Services and Technology Act.

Chronicling America: Utah Digital Newspapers Contains 40 newspapers from 19th and early 20th century Utah; access provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
General Religious Periodicals This collection of periodicals dating from 1820-1916 documents the experiences of a number of American religious communities, ranging from Ohio and Virginia to Methodists and Catholics in Montana and Utah. Originals housed in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.
19th Century Mormon Article Newspaper Index This database is a bibliography of newspaper articles in the HBLL Special Collections which deal in some way with the Mormons between 1831–1900. It indexes 5800 articles.

Historical Newspapers (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Search the archives of historical newspapers from back to 1786.

19th Century U.S. Newspaper Digital Archive (Gale) This database has full-text searching capability, and it displays images from numerous newspapers from urban and rural areas of the 19th-Century United States.

Frank Leslie's Weekly This link opens in a new window Founded in 1855 and continued until 1922, Frank Leslie's Weekly was an American illustrated literary and news publication which combined elements of war, politics, art, science, travel and exploration, literature and the fine arts in each issue. Contains over 300 articles about Mormonism. Includes keyword searchable transcripts and scans of the original pages.

HarpWeek Weekly newspaper covering the Civil War Era, 1857-1871. Prolific Mormon and Civil War subject content. Fully indexed, web access. Original displayed in image format.

Nineteenth Century Collections Online (Gale) This link opens in a new window NCCO contains newspapers, books, and manuscripts published in the 19th Century on global topics in politics, religion, literature, and art. Contains over 1,500 citations to Mormonism.

Diaries and Letters

Resources for Latter-day Saint life-writing.

Mormon Journals, Diaries, Biographies Online Journals and documents of some early Mormons. Compiled by Dr. Milton V. Backman, Jr., In Cooperation with Keith W. Perkins, Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, with various additions by the Book of Abraham Project Group.
Overland Trails Trails of Hope: Overland Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869 showcases original pioneer writings.
Journal of Heber C. Kimball Journal of Heber C. Kimball, an elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Giving an account of his mission to Great Britain , and the commencement of the work of the Lord in that land.
Mormon Missionary Diaries Missionary diaries from the 1830s to the 1960s located in BYU’s L. Tom Perry Special Collections made available online.
BYU Library Materials: Mormon Diaries A list of books and manuscripts at BYU with diaries of Mormons.
BYU Library Materials: Mormon Correspondence A list of books and manuscripts at BYU with the correspondence of Mormons.
Church History Library Materials: Mormon Diaries A list of books and manuscripts at the LDS Church History Library with diaries of Mormons. Enter in a keyword search in the advanced search box along with "journals" to find diaries by an individual or from a particular geographic location.
Church History Library Materials: Mormon Correspondence A list of books and manuscripts at the LDS Church History Library with the correspondence of Mormons. Enter in a keyword search in the advanced search box along with "correspondence" to find letters by an individual or from a particular geographic location.

Photographs

Locate photographs on your topic.

George Edward Anderson Photograph Collection This BYU collection contains almost 13,000 images taken ca. 1878-1928, which includes studio and environmental portraits, mostly of Utah residents; Utah railroad and mining history (including the 1900 Scofield mine disaster); and LDS Church historic sites
C. R. Savage Photograph Collection Over 1,000 images from one of the foremost 19th century landscape photographers of the western United States. The BYU collection includes portraits, many of prominent Mormon leaders; views of Utah and the west; mining operations; and some Native Americans
Utah State Historical Society Image Collections These collections contain a large variety of photographs from the Utah State Historical Society, including the Salt Lake City Engineers, Schools in the Salt Lake Valley, 2002 Olympic Legacy, and the Philo T. Farnsworth Television Tubes Collections.
Religious Education Archive Image Collection The Religious Education Archive contains approximately 3,000 images pertaining to the doctrines and history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
BYU Religious Education Photo Gallery View, search, and plot images from Religious Education's regional studies.
Library of Congress: Prints & Photographs Online Contains thousands of digitized images related to the United States culture and history. Contains over 600 historical images of Mormons or about Mormonism.
Church History Library Materials: Mormon Photographs A list of photograph manuscript collections at the LDS Church History Library. Enter in a keyword search in the advanced search box along with "photographs" to find images.

BYU Resources

BYU Special Collections Finding Aids Search the finding aids of several thousand collections in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections at BYU.
Mormon Publications Database This collection of early Mormon publications includes books, missionary tracts, doctrinal treatises, hymnals and periodicals.
Early Mormon Documents A five-volume set with transcripts of original documents from 19th century Mormon history. This link goes to the catalog record for the books.
Mormon Web Archive A collection of blogs, websites, social media, news, and other Internet content relating to or created by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and captured using the Internet Archive.
Foundations of the Restoration Sources A list of materials in the BYU library archives related to the various units of REL 225, Foundations of the Restoration. Search by an individuals name (e.g., "Emma"), by an event (e.g., "First Vision"), or by a location (e.g., "Kirtland").
Global Women's Studies Guide A research guide for help in finding women's studies resources.

Church Resources

Use these resources to find materials published by the Church or held in its archives.

Church History Library Archives This searches the LDS Church History Library archival collections of diaries, correspondence, photographs, and other personal papers.
Joseph Smith Papers Online In combination with the print volumes, here is where all documents written by or about Joseph Smith during his lifetime are being published. Also provides information on Smith's contemporaries and events in LDS Church history.
Selected Collections from the Archives of the Church DOWNLOADABLE. Volume One DVDs contain many pages of manuscripts from the Archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, scanned in full color at high resolution. Volume Two contains the Journal History of the Church (1930-1923) and its index (1830-1972).
Journal History of the Church The Journal History of the Church is a daily history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1830 to 2008. It was taken mostly from newspapers but also from minutes and diary entries, and, as a result, it contains valuable historical and biographical information. This is the landing page for the all of the histories including indexes. The first link, Journal History will take you to an online finding aid. Vol. 1830-1923 have been digitized.
Early Mormon Missionaries: Missions A list of LDS church missions from 1830-1930. Includes some bibliographic citations and information on missionaries who served in the mission.