Finding Information

All our print books are shelved according to the Dewey Decimal System. How this works is each topic is assigned a number, so that all the books about the same topic are shelved together. In theory this is simple but in reality it is not straight forward and some topics will end up in multiple locations.

Finding a specific book

1. Search for the book on the Library Catalogue:
   • Enter the title in the search bar and click Search
   • If that brings up too many results you may need more details, try adding the authors surname to the search
   • Click on ‘Book’ under the Type of Resource filter on the left to further filter your results
   • You can use the advance search screen to search in specific fields like title or author
2. Once you have found the record for the item you are looking for, look for the availability and location to locate the item. If the item is available there will be a green tick, if it is not available there will be a red crossed out circle. The item below is available (green tick) and you will find it in the Main Collection at 230.041 ROB
3. Next use the signs on the ends of the shelves to locate the right shelf and then scan the spine labels until you find the right number. The book below will be on the shelf labelled 227.9 – 230.04.

What to do if you can’t find the book you are looking for

If you can’t find an item on the shelf where it should be it could be checked out, being used by someone in the library or be missing. Make sure you check the availability status of the item in the Library Catalogue if you can’t find it.

Request the item if it is checked out or consider asking classmates or putting a post in the Moodle discussion section to find out who has the item and if you can borrow it for part of the day.

Talk to Library Staff if you need help finding an item or placing a request.

Journals are like magazines or newspapers but for academia. They publish the most current research in a specific field. For example the Journal for the Study of the New Testament will publish journal articles about research relating to the New Testament.

Journals are published in volumes and issues. Each year is a new volume and each journal published in that year is a new issue. Each issue contains journal articles, often on different topics, written by different authors, within the field of research of the journal.

Where to search for journal articles

Most people will search for journal articles in the Library Catalogue, which is a great place to start but not the only place to look. We highly recommend searching ATLA for journal articles because the indexing (fancy term for the description of a record) is of a higher quality. You are more likely to find relevant articles for your research in ATLA.

For help with searching the Library Catalogue or ATLA check out the Search Tools page. For help with figuring out what keywords to search check out the Search Strategy page.

Finding a journal article with a citation

Sometimes you may want to look up a journal article referenced in something you are reading or you find a record like this in ATLA with no full text:

This is called a citation record in ATLA, the record describes the article but does not give you full text access. Trinity may have access on another database or have print copies of this journal title. Work through the following steps to access a journal article when you have a citation.

Option 1: Search the article title in the Library Catalogue

• If there is online access a full text link will appear
• If we have the journal in our print collection it will say Trinity Theological College has…. Look for the journal title, volume and issue in the print journal collecion to find the article
• If your search is not successful try option 2

Option 2: Search for the article with the Journal Finder

• Click on Resources > Journal Finder in the grey navigation bar of the Library Catalogue
• Include as many details as possible to search for the article
• If your search is not successful try option 3

Option 3: Search for the journal title with the Journal Finder

• Click on ‘Journals’ in the search feature of the Journal Finder and search for the journal title or ISSN
• This should list all electronic and print options for the journal title. Have a look at the coverage notes to work out where you can access the issue you need
• If this search fails it is likely we do not have access to this title, try option 4 if you would still like to access the article

Option 4: Submit an inter-library loan request

• Inter-library loans are a free service for all research degree students and will come at a small cost for others. Contact Library Staff for more details if you are interested in placing an inter-library loan request.

The best place to search for eBooks is on the Library Catalogue. All eBooks we have purchased will have a record in the Library Catalogue.

When you search for a topic use the ‘Type of Resource’ filter on the left to filter to eBooks. To access an eBook click on the blue ‘View eBook’ button. If you are at home you will need to sign in with your library card number (this is the 6 digit number starting with B on the back of your library card) and password.

Reading and downloading eBooks

All of our eBooks can be read online through the EBSCO and ProQuest eBook platforms. For some eBooks you may be able to download chapters and save them to your computer. If the license does not allow for this you may be able download the whole eBook for a short time to a program like Adobe® Digital Editions.

For more information about reading and downloading eBooks see these guides for our two major platforms:

EBSCO eBooks 

ProQuest Ebook Central Online Reader

ProQuest Ebook Central: Downloading

Reference eBooks

We have a number of reference eBooks available through the Library Catalogue. Check out this catalogue search to see what reference eBooks we have available.

Often when researching Christianity in History you will need to look up primary sources for your assignments. The most common way to identify primary resources for a topic is to follow the references of secondary sources.

You can find secondary sources in the Main Collection under the topic or in the Reference Collection at 270.1. One of the best reference books to look up for Christianity in History is A dictionary of early Christian beliefs which can be found at R 270.103 DIC in the Reference Collection.

Once you have a reference to follow there are three places you can find the primary sources:

1. Online – because these sources are in the public domain you can find many of them online.
   • A couple of great websites for the Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers are
     https://ccel.org/fathers
     https://www.biblestudytools.com/history/early-church-fathers/ante-nicene/
2. Print copies in the Library – These will be in multiple location in the library and we may have multiple translations of some titles. A catalogue search is the best way to find what you are looking for. Two great places to start if you would like to browse are:
   • Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers – Reference Collection R 270.1
   • LOEB Classical Library – Main Collection 880
3. eBooks – We will have some translations available as eBooks, search the Library Catalogue to find these

How to follow a primary source reference
Below is an excerpt from Christianity in ancient Rome by Bernard Green. If you are interesting in looking up reference 134 you will need to work out who the author is in the text and then look at the footnote for the book title, chapter and location.

In this case the Author is Justin the abbreviated title is 2 Apol. and the chapter and location is 10.3. (Note: there will not always be a location, most of the time there will just be a chapter)

Since this is a book concerned with the first three centuries it is likely Justin is an Ante-Nicene Father. So you can visit either:

• https://ccel.org/fathers
• The Ante-Nicene Fathers in the reference collection at R 270.1

Locate which volume Justin is in, in this case volume 1 and then locate the book, in this case The Second Apology. Once you find The Second Apology locate chapter 10, the location will give you an idea of where to look, in this case it is the third sentence the author is quoting.

Abbreviations in Early Church History and Patristic Studies

There is a guide for Abbreviations in Early Church History and Patristic Studies under ‘Assessment Schedule, Guides, and Policies’ on the Assessment page in Moodle that may be helpful when following references.

We are always adding new books and receiving current issues of journals in the library. New books are on the wall opposite the staircase and current issues of journals are on the ends of the journal shelving.

You can view the new books on the Library Catalogue by clicking Resources > New Books in the grey navigation bar or clicking on this link. Please note this will only show new print books and not include new eBooks.