About the Religions Collection in the Library

  • Print collections

    The Library has important collections on religious faith and practice in the regions and individual countries of Asia, Oceania, the Middle East and Africa.
    It also holds a large collection of thematic, interdisciplinary and cross-cultural studies of religion and works on research methods and the philosophy of religions.
    Material on religions and religious practice in the United Kingdom, Europe and America, and with a more general scope are only collected where they support undergraduate teaching.

  • Classmarks and location

    Books on interdisciplinary topics or covering more than one country or region are shelved in the Social Sciences and Humanities Collection on Level E (classmark A)

    Books on religions in specific countries or regions are shelved in the regional collections

    For a full listing of classmarks and their location, please consult Location List

  • Journals

    The Library has an extensive collection of journals in both print and electronic formats. For more information, check

    We welcome suggestions for new purchases for from Library members. Please complete one of the recommendation forms .

  • Reference collection

    The reference collections (dictionaries, encyclopaedias, bibliographies, directories etc.) are shelved in separate sequences. Check the location list for details.

  • Special collections

    SOAS Library has:

    • Missionary archives (papers of both major societies and individual missionaries)
    • Personal papers
    • Photographic archives (historical, anthropological, ethnological, sociological interest)
    • Older and rare books (pre-1880)
    • Vernacular manuscripts

    For further information see - Special Collections