Research Methods

Search Skills

Learn how to pick the right database, how to select good search terms, how to formulate a more precise or more complete search. Improve your search tactics, whatever database or search engine you are using.

• Selecting databases (Not yet available)
• Selecting terms. How to select/discover good or better search terms.
• Recent changes in LC subject headings. Including headings for God and the Bible.
• Search tactics (Not yet available)
• Assignments and drills. Exercises to help you develop better search skills. Includes some homework assignments for RS101, DM102, BS1004 and other courses.

Database Manuals and Tutorials

Connecting to Databases

• BIBLOS connection and configuration info
• Database connection and configuration info

BIBLOS

• BIBLOS (basics). Summary of search operators and the basics in extremely compressed and incomplete form. For the impatient.
• BIBLOS (detail). The Long Guide to BIBLOS. Also an approximate pdf version as of March 2007.
• BIBLOS assignments to help you develop search skills
• Browser search box. How to customize the search bar in Firefox 2 and Internet Explorer 7 to search BIBLOS anytime without logging in or going to the library website.

EBSCO databases

• Bare Bones Basics of Searching EBSCO databases . Introduction. Overview.
• ATLA/ATLAS tips. Assumes you already know how to use EBSCO databases.
• Practice searching ATLA (displays questions in one frame, and allows live searches of ATLA in another frame; answers appear on demand).
• ATLA assignments to help you develop search skills
• OTA/NTA tips. Old Testament Abstracts and New Testament Abstracts. Assumes you already know how to use EBSCO databases.
• EBSCO databases manuals. Detailed user guides/manuals. Also available searching, browsing, print/email as MS Word files, but perhaps not most recent versions.
• EBSCO databases. Online help.
• PsycINFO tips (Not yet available)

OCLC FirstSearch databases

• Introduction to FirstSearch databases. OCLC documentation. Brief.
• FirstSearch databases.

SeminaryLibrary.com ebooks

• SeminaryLibrary accounts. How to connect. How to create a personal account.
• SeminaryLibrary.com tips. Miscelleous tips for those unfamiliar with this resource.
• Turpin Library Role in SeminaryLibrary.com. The beginning.

Other Databases/Systems

• Religious and Theological Abstracts.
• Index Theologicus. Very current!
• Elenchus of ETL . Elenchus of Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses. Theology in general.
• Perseus. Greco-Roman literature in Greek, Latin and English translation.
• TLG Online. Nearly exhaustive corpus of ancient Greek literature.
• Searchable Greek Inscriptions. All the Greek inscriptions formerly on the PHI cd-rom (but not the PHI papyri). NOT included in TLG.
• Communication Abstracts.
• eJournal List. How to use this resource to determine if the article you want is available online. You must already have a specific article citation; this tool does not let you search by subject.
• NetLibrary accounts. How to connect to NetLibrary. How to create a personal NetLibrary account.
• Library Materials in Google Scholar. How to use Google Scholar to identify relevant books and identify which library near you owns the book

Research Theory

• Bibliography on [Secondary, Simple] Research Method.
• Introduction to Primary/Original Research. Need some help beginning original research? Here Is Some Guidance from URIM and THUMMIM. This essay was written to help doctoral students think about research strategies. Section one distinguishes between primary research (original, creative research) and secondary research. Section two explains why the familiar literature review model of research is not an adequate guide to doctoral work. Section three recommends the hypothesis-validation model of research and suggests a technique for formulating research strategies. This approach to research deemphasizes generic methods and stresses problem-specific methods for primary research. (Not yet available; scheduled for Fall 2007.)
• Research FAQ. Questions about how to research and what tools to use. (Not yet available; scheduled for Summer 2008.)

Writing

• Books on academic writing. Annotated bibliography on scholarly writing and style guides.
• Turabian supplement. DTS supplement to Turabian. Explains which Turabian options to use and lists additional rules specific to DTS. Turabian mistakes lists most common mistakes.
• Turabian citation examples. Power point sides showing example citations conforming to Turabian style.
• MS Word template for thesis. And MS Word template for paper. Use these MS Word templates to format your papers/thesis according to Turabian style. Download, open in MS Word, click Save As (under the File menu), pick Save as Type "Document Template". This will cause copies to be saved to your templates folder.
• Recording and organizing notes. Duh! Mostly common sense, but two tips worth knowing.
• Footnote software. Bibliographic citation management software used to help you create footnotes and bibliographies.
• Intro to Zotero. Zotero plug-in for Firefox browser generates footnotes and bibliographies according to Chicago/Turabian style.
• EndNote X2 introduction explains how to use the EndNote program to create footnotes and bibliographies. It includes a section on how to download and import records from online databases. For MUCH more detail see Endnote version X1 for Windows manual or Endnote version X1 for Mac manual.
• Unicode fonts for biblical studies. The problem of document portability. Links to recommended fonts.
• Breaking into print. Annotated bibliography on how to be published.

Research Aids

Here is a potpourri of practical tips and aids to research.

• Copyright expiration
• Glossary of library research terminology.
• Theological abbreviations
• LC call numbers. Syntax, organization, and sorting rules explained.
• Translation services. How to find a published translation. Free and fee based translation services.