I noticed a query in Open Stacks blog "Teaching Each Other "wondering why reference librarians don't mention the best tools for reference help. That started me also wondering if those of us in Religious affiliated institutions might not also have resources both print and electronic which are better at answering some questions than others. I have noticed that many of the discussion lists to which I subscribe rarely mention resources for religion, let alone Christian and Biblical reference works.

For example, I was helping math students locate Babylonian number system. I referred them to the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible because it is most complete print resource for their needs. While this does not discount other excellent math references, they were often too lengthy for the answer the students required. Does someone else have a similar comment or better resource?

I also found that using Lottie Moon in Christian Biographical resources was a good test of how complete that resource was for women missionaries. Does anyone else have any other tests for religious resources they would recommend?