Commentary and Reference Survey by
Now in its tenth edition, this reliable, acclaimed guide lists and ranks approximately 900 commentaries and 1,600 other biblical resources for the benefit of professors, Bible students, and pastors. The theological slant of each volume is provided as well as its level (either technical or expositional). Two new chapters on exegetical software round out this comprehensive guide.
Bibliographies are an effective tool for finding the best information sources for your topic quickly. You can lean on the efforts of qualified scholars to compile these works into a list and cut your search time considerably!
Old Testament Commentary Survey by
In this handy guide, trusted scholar Tremper Longman offers expert guidance that makes choosing resources much easier for the student, minister, and layperson alike. Longman lists the best works available for each book of the Old Testament, gives a brief indication of their emphases and viewpoints, and evaluates them.
General reference resources are the best information source to begin with, especially when you are not very familiar with your topic. These resources generally contain brief articles on topics and key terms. Study Bibles, dictionaries, and encyclopedias can be used to get "the big picture" on your topic and will expose you to key terms related to your topic so that you can develop a search strategy for your reearch project. Each of these resources will contain bibliographies that you can use to find books and articles on your topic. Bibliographies are resources which provide a list of key resources on your topic.
Study Bibles are a fabulous resource when investigating a topic, and you may already own one! These two are highly recommended because the introductions to the books of the Bible are thorough. Note that study Bibles are less likely to contain bibliographical references to other works.
Dictionary of the Old Testament Pentateuch by These are just two examples of Bible dictionaries/encyclopedias. Such works can treat the whole Bible, either testament, or subjects within the Bible. Kellar library has quite of few of these works; click here to see them listed in the catalog.
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books by 
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings. by 
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets by The web can be a great source for general reference information, but you need to be careful to evaluate a source to be sure that it is scholarly. There are also a number of older reference works that have been made available on the web, such as the following:
A Survey of Old Testament Introduction by You probably have a survey of the Old Testament in your possession. Use this fact to your advantage by investigating your topic before you even come to the library to search for books. These are great for research on a particular book of the Old Testament and will always cite standard scholarly works on each book.
An Introduction to the Old Testament by 
Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance by 
Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament by Biblical languages students will use these resources most, but students in Old Testament classes will find word study tools useful for investigating a topic. Word study tools such as theological wordbook articles may be cited in a research paper. This category includes concordances, lexicons, and wordbooks.
