Library Access and Services for Distance Students

Searching for a Specific Passage of Scripture in ATLA

The ATLA-RDB offers a unique method of searching the data store, one that is not found in any other EBSCOHost database. It’s called the “Hierarchical Scripture Authority.” This intimidating name actually indicates something with which all of our users are already familiar: it uses the canonical structure of the Bible itself to find verses in their Bible context. When you choose a verse using this method, you will retrieve the articles in the data store that include discussion of that verse, no matter how the passage or pericope is defined by the author of the article.

Using the "Hierarchical Scripture Authority"

On the Advanced Search screen, you will see a set of tabs along the top left edge of the screen. First, click on the tab marked Scriptures.

You see a list of the books of the Bible in canonical order. Let’s suppose you are looking for articles discussing Genesis 2:1-4, the conclusion of the long creation narrative in Gen 1:1-2:1- 4a. A complex citation like this is rather tricky to search for. But the Hierarchical Scripture Authority is just the tool for this type of search!

Next to Genesis, you see the word Expand. Click on that word.

First, it will offer you a list of all the chapters in the book of Genesis. If you click on Expand again next to Chapter 2, it will take you to the next level of detail — all the verses of Chapter 2. Choose a verse and click on it to initiate your search.

You receive a list of all the articles in this data store that concentrate upon the passage you are looking for. Please note that you can retrieve these articles even if the verse you chose is included inside a longer passage. Of course, scholars writing their articles or essays are free to define the passage as they wish. Some writers define the pericope as Genesis 1:1-2:4a, while others have chosen to discuss Genesis 1:27-2:24, or Genesis 2:1-3, or even a longer passage such as Genesis 1:1-6:8. Clearly, several of these choices do include the passage you want. Using this method, you can retrieve many relevant articles with a single search.

Find the Full Electronic Coverage for any Journal in the Database

Notice at the top of the search page, in the blue bar, a link labeled Publications. Click on that link.

You have two choices at this point: you can type in the name of a specific journal in the search box —such as Catholic Biblical Quarterly. If you click on the Search button you will get a huge set of all the articles published in that journal that are available in digital format through this database.

Or, you can use the A-Z list. Click on the letter C, and then scroll down the list to Catholic Biblical Quarterly. It shows the range of bibliographic coverage (articles cited in the database) and the range of full text coverage.

If you click on the journal’s title, you will see the details about that periodical, including a list of the years (volumes) and issues available in full text, in a column down the right side of the screen. You can click on any issue to access the articles.

How to Change or Combine Databases

Almost everyone looking for these research tools will start from our Library homepage, and then click on ONLINE DATABASES, under the LIBRARY RESOURCES tab.

Once you have opened one of the EBSCO databases and started using it, you might decide to move to another and find out what that one has to offer on your topic. Or, you might like to select several of them and search them at the same time. Look for the small link saying Choose Databases in the search box near the name of the resource you are using.

Click on that link. You receive a dialogue box showing all of the online databases to which we subscribe from this vendor. We list only the most heavily used resources on our ONLINE DATABASE page, but as you can see, there are many more available in other disciplines and subject areas. Feel free to explore any of these. If your research interests overlap from the traditional religious studies areas into social science, medicine, humanities, etc., these resources could be most helpful.

Click in the little box beside each database you want, and then click on the button marked OK.

You will return to the search screen, where you can proceed with your work.

However, if you are doing a type of search that all of your databases share in common — an Author or Subject search, for instance—it will be able to query all of the resources at once and return a single set of results.

The “Refine Your Results” Box

Look at the options listed along the left side of the search results screen. Below the words Refine Results, you are offered several ways of eliminating records from your set and keeping the rest of them. Below the words Limit To, find the little box beside the words Full Text. Click in that box.

The screen will darken for a moment, while the display is updating. Then it will provide a new view of your search results.

Now, you notice that you have fewer records in your results list but all of them have full text options available that are designated by distinct icons. (Do bear in mind that you have eliminated a lot of potentially valuable information, which you might want to go back and read later.)
 

Different digital formats

If a record has the PDF Full Text icon, this link will give you direct access to a scanned copy of the article or essay just as it appeared in the original publication. PDF is a superior digital format for this purpose; it’s searchable by keyword, using the PDF file’s own menus. It can be saved or printed easily. And the links to PDF files are very stable, so you can email records to yourself with a high degree of confidence that you will be able to open the record and read the article later (the link typically remains active for a week).

If the icon says HTML Full Text, that format is likewise very easy to read, although saving and printing require a bit more effort. The whole content of the article actually opens within the bib record, just like that. It also appears in the body of the email if you send that record to yourself. To print it or save it, however, you might need to copy the contents into a word-processing program such as MS Word.

Looking for Book Reviews in ATLA

A classroom assignment will often require you to find reviews of a certain book that were published in scholarly journals. The simplest way of doing this is to use the limiters on the lower half of the Advanced Search screen, below the words Limit your results.

There are many options available in this area: you can choose to bring up only articles available in full text online; only articles with abstracts; only articles published in peer-reviewed journals (as opposed to more popular publications); articles published between certain specified dates, and so on. There is also a box in which you can enter the title of a specific journal, which gives you another way to make that choice.

Notice the little box labeled Publication Type. If you scroll down that menu, you will find that Review is one of the options. Click on Review to select it.

In the Search boxes at the top of the screen, enter the title of the book for which you are seeking reviews. For example, suppose you need reviews of H. Richard Niebuhr’s pivotal work Christ and Culture. If you enter that title without limiting your search to book reviews, you will also retrieve lots of unrelated articles. But if you use this limiter, you will more efficiently retrieve a set of book reviews about this work.

If you find that you are retrieving many records about other works with similar or related titles, you might want to add the name of the author to focus in precisely on the work you want.

Filtering a Large Set of Results

If the set of results you receive is way too big— hundreds, or even thousands of bib records — probably your search is just too general, and you need to add more terms to narrow your search. For example, if you search for healing as a subject, you are likely to get thousands of records, using the term in many different contexts. As you add terms, your target will become more and more specific.

This search will retrieve a workable set of records specifically about the Sabbath healing miracles of Jesus and their theological implications.

You also have several options for filtering your results after you make your search. On the search results screen, there is a column or sidebar on the left headed Refine Results offering you a number of choices for eliminating some records and keeping the rest.

Under Refine Results, you can keep only those articles that exist in full-text digital formats that you can read online. Or, you can limit by publication year, keeping only articles that appeared between 2012 and 2017, perhaps.

You can also filter by Source Types (academic journals or periodicals, books, media), or by the title of the journal in which the article appeared (under Publication). You can also use the Library of Congress Subject headings to push your search in a particular direction.

Click on the tiny v-shaped arrow symbol to expand and close these menus. Some of these may take a little practice to use effectively, so we encourage you to experiment with each of them.

Saving, Emailing or Printing Your Search Results

Once you have done a search and retrieved a lot of records, you might want to select some of them and keep them to use later. You have several options for saving or sending this information, and all of them start with the Folder function.

Add Records to Your "Folder"

You will probably want to save only certain selected items from your results list, not everything. You can scroll down through your list, choosing the records that interest you most. To select a record, click on the blue icon that resembles a file folder, on the top far right top edge of the record. When you click on it, the icon will turn into a yellow folder with a piece of white paper in it.

Notice that the record shown above has a PDF Full Text icon with it. If the record you save has such a link, the link will also be saved, so that you can open the article itself later without having to repeat your search. You must develop an EBSCO account in order to save your searches. The folder will delete all of the information you wanted to save.

Now, look at the dark-blue bar across the very top of the screen. You will now see an icon resembling an open file folder, next to the word Folder. Click on it to go to your set of saved records.

From the Folder, you will be able to do all of the other operations: Print, Email, Save as File, or Export. Click on one of those choices and follow the on-screen instructions. For help in sending or printing your selected records, see below.

Saving, Emailing or Printing Your Selected Records

Click on the Folder icon in the dark-blue bar to open the list of the items you have added to your folder. It may seem senseless, but to perform any operations on these records, you must select them AGAIN. You may either choose an individual record by clicking in the little box beside its title or look for the Select / deselect all heading near the top of the Folder and click there.

Next, look at the right edge of the screen, and you will see the options for the records you have chosen. You can Print, Email, Save as File or Export these records. The Print and Save options both depend upon the capabilities of your own internet browser.

To print your selected records, click on Print. You are offered many options for formatting the records according to various style conventions (Chicago/Turabian, MLA, etc), deciding how much of the record to include (Brief Citations instead of Detailed Citations, with or without Abstracts). Make the choices you prefer and click on the Print button. You will see a “print preview page,” and at this point, your browser will take over. Your browser opens the Windows print dialogue box (or the equivalent on a Mac), and that is the way you will perform the print function. Choose your print preferences and proceed.

To email your records, click on Email. You get the same set of formatting options, plus a set of boxes asking for your email address, a subject line, any comments, etc. You can also choose to add the full-text PDF of the article as a separate attachment if it's available. Fill in this information and click on the Send button. You can send the email to more than one address if you wish.

Typically, this database will send a separate email for each bib record. When you receive each message, you should be able to open the record by clicking on the “Persistent link.”

When you click on the “Persistent link” in the email message, the bib record will open in a browser window, and it will look a lot like the record shown above.

If you wish to use the Save as File option, you can save your search results to the hard drive of your machine or save them to a portable device such as a flash or “thumb” drive. The web browser you are using will control those functions.

The Export option is for people who are also using a bibliographic utility such as EndNote, ProCite or RefWorks. You can choose to send your selected records to yourself in one of these database formats.

To print, email or save a single record without placing it in a Folder, click on the title of the article to open its detailed record. Then, choose from the links along the right side of the detailed record display, and then follow the instructions above.