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.

Database Manuals and Tutorials

WorldCat

• Introduction to WorldCat. Searching, My List, Holds, Course Reserves.
• WorldCat videos: A brief look at WorldCat Discovery, Search techniques in WorldCat Discovery, Advanced searches in WorldCat Discovery, Filter search results in WorldCat Discovery, Interpret the Item Details In WorldCat Discovery, Share items from search results in WorldCat Discovery
• 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 Your Microsoft Azure Login Credentials. DTS students use this for databases.
• How to Set or Reset Your Microsoft Azure Login Credentials. DTS grads use this for databases.
• How to Set or Reset a WorldCat Password. Registered community users with a courtesy card use 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

• Introduction to Using EBSCO.
• EBSCO videos, each about 3 minutes in length: Basic Searching, Advanced Searching, Browsing, Result List, Personal Folder, Reading an article online, Reading an ebook, Three Methods To Search For Biblical Scripture Citations .
• EBSCO online help for the interface in general.
• Using SmartText. An EBSCO natural language query processor.
• How to use EBSCO ebooks.
• ATLA/ATLAS tips. Assumes you already know how to use EBSCO databases.
• Atla fields.
• OTA/NTA tips. Old Testament Abstracts and New Testament Abstracts. Assumes you already know how to use EBSCO databases.
• APA PscyINFO for EML students. Assumes you already know how to use EBSCO databases.
• Education Source . Assumes you already know how to use EBSCO databases.
• EBSCO manuals. Detailed user guides/manuals.

How to download the EBSCO Mobile App

• Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ebsco.ebscomobile
• Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ebsco-mobile/id1473281170

How to use the EBSCO Mobile App

• EBSCO Mobile App Tutorial
• EBSCO eBooks on the EBSCO Mobile App Tutorial
• EBSCO Mobile App Quick Start Guide
• eBooks on the EBSCO Mobile App

Other Databases/Systems

• Introduction to ProQuest Databases.
• ProQuest Ebook Central.
• Introduction to Gale OneFile.
• Introduction to ERIC. (Direct)
• We not longer subscribe to Religious and Theological Abstracts
• Index Theologicus. Very current!
• We not longer subscribe to Index Religiosus
• 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 CNKI 中國學術期刊數據庫
• 華藝電子書使用說明. Introduction to Airiti eBooks

Research Theory

• The Role of Wikipedia and Other Encyclopedias
• Review of Basic Research Method
• Bibliography on Basic Research Method. Sorry, we have removed this because it was so out of date.
• Examples of Bad Research Method. These are meant to show that even seasoned scholars sometimes violate the most elementary standards. If it can happen to them, it can happen to you. Beware.
• Introduction to Advanced/Original Research Method. (Not yet available, but covered in BS8104 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.

Style Guides

• Chicago Manual of Style is the basis for Turabian. CMS is a guide for publishing, while Turabian is a guide for student writing. We don't have online access to Turabian, so you may want to use CMS. This link uses the 18th edition of CMS by default, but you can also switch to the 17th ed.
• 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 Writing Center will be releasing a Style Guide that will replace the Turabian supplement.

Templates

There are three templates.

• Turabian Template with Explanation for papers
• Doctrinal Synthesis Paper Template (ST5101-5106)
• Thesis-Dissertation Template

The library no longer maintains the templates. The Writing Center has taken over that responsibility. See https://students.dts.edu/services/writing/#templates. You may have to scroll up two lines to see links for all three 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.

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.