Research Methods

Search Skills

• Basic concepts for database searching. Concepts and terminology useful in thinking about search engines. See also the larger glossary.
• Search operator comparison. A one page table comparing basic search operators in various search engines.
• Search tips, part 1. Elementary topics like metadata and controlled vocabulary; precision vs recall; how to find better search terms; how to retrieve more or less in a bibliographic database; how to group or combine terms.
• Search tips, part 2. More on searching a controlled vocabulary database. Single search and synonymy and polysemy. Undisclosed and unexpected automatic processing.
• Search tips, part 3. Searching natural language document sets. Relevance ranking. The future.
• Changes in LC subject headings. Including headings for God and the Bible.
• Assignments and drills. Exercises to help you develop better search skills. Includes some homework assignments for RS101, DM102, BS1004.

Database Manuals and Tutorials

WorldCat

We have just begun to write material about dts.on.worldcat.

• Introduction to WorldCat. Searching, My List, Holds, Course Reserves.
• Your WorldCat Account. What you can do. How to login. Differences between DTS students, registered Community Users, and DTS grads.
• How to Set or Reset a OneLogin Password. DTS faculty and students use this.
• How to Set or Reset a WorldCat Password. Registered community users with a courtesy card used this.
• How to Renew Your Loans.
• How to Access Journals. Search by journal title. Provides links to online journals and information about which print journals the library owns.

EBSCO databases

• EBSCO YouTube micro-lessons. More than 50 brief videos on various EBSCO functions and features. Some sales/promotional material, too.
• Introduction to Using EBSCO. Formerly Bare Bones Basics of Searching EBSCO Databases.
• How to use EBSCO ebooks.
• ATLA/ATLAS tips. Assumes you already know how to use EBSCO databases.
• Using SmartText. An EBSCO natural language query processor.
• 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.

Other Databases/Systems

• Religious and Theological Abstracts.
• Index Religiosus. Theology and Church History
• Ebook Central. A ProQuest interface.
• L’Année philologique. Greco-Roman history and literature.
• Perseus. Greco-Roman literature in Greek, Latin and English translation.
• TLG Online new interface. Nearly exhaustive corpus of ancient Greek literature. (The TLG Online old interface is still available, too.)
• Loeb Online. Loeb classical library of Greek and Latin works with English translation.
• Searchable Greek Inscriptions. All the Greek inscriptions formerly on the PHI cd-rom (but not the PHI papyri). NOT included in TLG.
• Finding Online Journals (aka, the eJournal List). How to use this resource to determine if the journal you want is available online. You must already have a specific article citation; this tool does not let you search by subject.
• Google Search Operator. Brief summary. But remember ranking is the key to Google's effectiveness, not use of search opertors.
• Google Translate. Use Google to translate journal articles you find in ATLA and other databases.
• English language introduction to CNKI Chinese database and Chinese language introduction to CNKI

Research Theory

• Review of Basic Research Method
• Bibliography on Basic Research Method. Sorry, we have removed this because it was so out of date.
• Introduction to Advanced/Original Research Method. (Not yet available, but covered in BS1004 course.)
• How to prepare for a Dissertation Research Consultation. For doctoral students.

Writing

Most papers at DTS should conform to the format detailed in A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate Turabian. The resources below will make this much easier.

Essential Files

• Turabian supplement. This is the authoritative DTS supplement to Turabian. It explains which Turabian options to use and it provides additional rules specific to DTS. The following has the same content but shows major version 9 changes in red.
• MS Word template for thesis with explanation of style and
  MS Word template for paper with explanation of style and
  MS Word template for paper with almost NO explanation of style.
  Finally, see instructions on how to use the templates.

Citation Software and Miscellaneous Tips

• Bibliographic citation management software. Introduction to software used to help you create footnotes and bibliographies.
• Introduction to Zotero. Zotero generates footnotes and bibliographies according to Chicago/Turabian style.
• Import RIS records into EndNote. How to transfer citations from WorldCat and EBSCO into EndNote citation management software.
• Importance of Unicode Fonts. 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.

• Request a Book via InterLibrary Loan
• Request a Journal Article via InterLibrary Loan
• 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.