Gail Horton Library

20 Cornerstone Way       Bozeman, MT 59718       (406) 556-7215

Student Guide to Using the Library

The purpose of this guide is to help you become familiar with the resources that are available in the library

Which library resources to use

Should you use reference materials, books, or journal articles for your research? Yes, you should use all of these resources. Start with reference materials to get a good overview of your subject. This may help you develop good questions that will then direct your search for more resources. The bibliography at the end of a dictionary/encyclopedia entry is used to show you from which materials the information was gathered. It is also useful to “chase the bibliography” in order to find resources you might find on the stacks of circulating materials in our library.

Use books to gain more general information on a certain aspect of your research, then use journals to gain more precise study of your subject. Remember to evaluate all of your resources and use the best ones possible. Keep in mind that you may find opposing views on your topic and this is okay. You will want to evaluate all of your information through the grid of Scripture, and it is good to compare and contrast information.

Using Electronic Resources

Computer Lab

Please remember that when using the computer lab that RANDOM TERMINATION HAPPENS so always save your work as soon as you begin working. The computers are set to auto save every 5 minutes, so you should be able to auto recover your work if you have once saved it and random termination happens. Some people still hit the save icon occasionally when working just to be sure.

 Internet

The following extensions will help you when evaluating an internet source:

 A web address for a personal site might include the following:

1) personal name

2) ~

3) %

To find the history of any website go to www.archive.org . This information might help you evaluate the site. Always evaluate a site for authenticity, accuracy, and currency.

Boolean Operators

When using the library it is helpful to use Boolean operators when searching for information on the internet or databases. Remember that AND narrows the number of responses, OR adds to the number of responses, and NOT will exclude a subject from your response. While you may find lots of information on the internet without using these operators, your results will be improved if you do. The Boolean operators for example are very helpful when using databases and will narrow the response when using the internet. They are not essential to all applications but you may find them helpful.

Christian Periodical Index

When using databases such as the Christian Periodical Index (CPI) it will be necessary to understand how the Boolean operators improve your search. The following is a page taken from the CPI. Use the CPI to search war and you will get over 2000 responses. Now search war AND Christian History and you will get fewer responses.

You will find it easier to do an "Advanced Search" using the title of the publication and a subject search to narrow your results. Christian History and Biography is one of the journals we have here at MBC. Keep in mind that we don't have all of the periodicals listed in the CPI so in order to get the best search you will want to know which journals we do have. A better way to search for articles in Christian History and Biography is to use an advanced search entering the title of the journal under publication.

You can find a link to the Christian Periodical Index under cool sites on the MBC electronic catalog or "Search Journals" on the right . You will need your student ID number to access the CPI.

Using Bibliotheca Sacra

To access Bib Sac choose MBC's Journals/Bibliotheca Sacra . Contact the library for username and passwords.

As you can see from the screen below, you can do various types of searches – Keyword, author, title, subject, and Scripture passage.

The nice thing about BibSac is that everything is available online in PDF for MBC student use. Once you find an article, simply click on the PDF and you can read it from your computer screen.

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Searching the MBC Montana Shared Catalog

To find the online catalog click on "Search Books" to the right of this screen. From here you can search a variety of ways. Unlike the internet you cannot enter a question and expect to get an answer. You must use subject headings or keywords/phrase.

When searching commentaries, I have found the best success using commentaries AND genesis as a subject search for example. Or you can use commentaries genesis and get good results. Or just use genesis to get more results. Subject searches will yield fewer results than keyword or phrase search. If you click on the "Advanced Search" you will have even more options.

If you want electronic resources you can add that as a type in the advanced search. We have several hundred books available electronically.

Netlibrary

You can also access our electronic resources through Netlibrary. To do this go to www.netlibrary.com and create an account . You must do this while you are in the library or elsewhere on campus, but once you have signed in you can use Netlibrary off campus as well.

WorldCat

You can also find WorldCat on the MSC electronic catalog. You can enter this site without logging in. Here you can enter the name of an author, a title, or subject. From this site you can see which library carries a particular resource and the number of miles to that resource. If we do not have the resource for which you are looking, we can request it through interlibrary loan. You can build a “cloud” in this website to connect your subject with related subjects. If you are interested in this, stop by the library for a tutorial session. 

InfoTrac

This is a Gale Database available by clicking on the InfoTrac link under cool sites on the MBC electronic catalog, or click on "Search Journals" to the right. Find InfoTrac and scroll down to InfoTrac Religion & Philosophy, check the select box and click the blue active link (InfoTrac Religion & Philosophy).  From there Click on browse subjects at the top of the page and enter your subject.  If you limit your search to full-text you should be able to read the article from the computer screen. I have found a number of full text articles here when searching preaching as a subject .

Ebsco

This is available under cool sites as well or "Search Journals" on the right. You will need your student ID to log on to this site which has some car repair diagrams and maintenance information among other topics as well as another path to the Christian Periodical Index.

Other Resources

Primary/Secondary Resources

Remember that primary and secondary resources are both used in doing research. Primary resources are eyewitness accounts. Secondary resources are those written by someone else using either primary resources or other secondary resources.

Popular/Scholarly Journals

Popular and scholarly journals are also useful. Use CPI, BibSac, and Theological Journals as search tools. Tailor your research to an appropriate audience.

Evaluate

Evaluate everything you read or see or do in life through the grid of Scripture. Talk to your professors often and ask them questions if you don't understand a passage of Scripture or something you read elsewhere.

Learn to be a life-long learner and discover the rich resources available through the library. It takes time to find good resources so please come by the library often.