REL115: Christian Beliefs: Finding Sources

Don't forget, you don't need to use the whole book. Want to use just a chapter? Let us scan it for you. Fill out this form and bring it and the book up to the front (circulation) desk and we'll scan it and email it to you.

• Try searching for your specific doctrine and Christian Doctrine. Placing quotes around your keywords or phrases will ensure that the database or library catalog finds those specific words or phrases in the results.
  • A sample search would look like this: "Justification" AND "Christian Doctrine"
• Start with the library catalog & general databases first (Academic Search Premier & JSTOR), then move onto the more specialized databases if you can't find anything.
• If you find a book about the Christian Doctrine in general, use the index in the back of the book to see if it includes information about your specific doctrine.
• Make sure to double check your spelling if you're not getting results The databases won't pull results if something is misspelled.
• The more words you search for the fewer results you'll get. So if you don't have enough results, take a search term away...don't add more!
• Create a list of keywords you've used that work, so when you search the next database you remember. 

1. Determine what kind of source it is. Is it a book chapter? A journal article? (Easiest way to do this is to look for a volume or issue number. Then you know it's a journal article!)
2. If it is a book, look in the catalog to see if we own it. If we don't, you need to Interlibrary Loan it. Do so by checking the "Libraries Worldwide" link on the left, and clicking "Request Copy."
3. If it is an article, use the Journal List to search for the journal title to see which database it is in. If we don't own it, use Find It to request the title. If it's not in a database, use Interlibrary Loan to request the article.