Library - Frequently Asked Questions

General
  1. How do I find the recommended list of commentaries for Old Testament and New Testament?
Finding Resources
  1. How do I find books that the Carey S. Thomas (CST) Library holds?
  2. How do I find journal citations?
  3. How do I find journal articles once I have a citation?
  4. What if CST does not have what I'm looking for (ILL request)?
  5. How do I recommend materials for the CST Library?
Sophie
  1. How do I access Sophie?
  2. How do I know if a book is both in Reference and Stacks?
  3. How do I know if a book is on Reserve?
  4. How do I renew a book?
  5. How do I save a bibliography (listing of book titles)?
  6. How do I place a hold on a book that is currently checked out?
  7. How do I search for Doctor of Ministry projects?
Electronic Databases
  1. I am a student, staff, or faculty at Denver Seminary. How do I access the electronic databases from off campus?
  2. How do I print a full text article from ATLAReligion?
  3. How do I make a bibliography list from the online databases (such as ATLAReligion or PsycINFO)?
  4. How do I find journal articles on a particular Bible passage?

 

General

1. How do I find the recommended list of commentaries for the Old Testament and New Testament?

The Old and New Testament professors have compiled a bibliography of helpful biblical studies tools. These lists, which include commentaries, are included in the Denver Journal. Look under Annotated Old Testament Bibliography and New Testament Exegesis Bibliography.

Finding Resources

1. How do I find books that the Carey S. Thomas (CST) Library holds?

Search Sophie, the online catalog, for books held by CST. The catalog is also available from links on the library home page.  Tutorials for searching Sophie:  By Title; By Author and By Subject.

2. How do I find journal article citations?

Use the databases available that include citations to articles on your search topic.

3. How do I find journal articles once I have a citation?

To see if the Carey S. Thomas Library holds a particular journal title, the hardcopy listings are available in the library. Then simply locate the item in the periodical section of the library. If CST does not own this particular journal title, try checking to see if any electronic databases contain the full text of the article. If not, browse Iliff's journal holdings. Also search the Prospector Union Catalog to see if other local libraries hold this journal title. If these avenues prove fruitless, request the item via ILL (Interlibrary loan.)

4. What if CST does not have what I'm looking for?

Interlibrary loan (ILL) services are available to acquire most items not owned by CST. See the ILL pages for limits and forms.

5. How do I recommend materials for the Cary S. Thomas Library?

Recommendations should be sent to the Collection Management Librarian

Sophie (Online Catalog)

1. How do I access Sophie?

Sophie is the name of the library's online catalog, which is accessible from anywhere internet access is available, on or off campus.

2. How do I know if a book is both in Reference and Stacks?

When viewing the detailed record in Sophie for a book, check the box at the bottom of the page titled "Copy/Holding information." The collection and call number will be given for each item. A Reference item will be in the Reference collection. A copy that can circulate will be in the Stacks collection.

Note: copies of commentaries in both Reference and Stacks may have different call numbers.

3. How do I know if a book is on Reserve?

View the detailed record for an item in Sophie. Check the "Copy/Holding information" box at the bottom of the screen. An item on reserve will be in the "Reserve Shelves" collection. You may also search by course or professor in the Reserves search method in Sophie.

4. How do I renew a book?

Select the "My Account" tab. Login following the prescribed procedure. Go to the items you have out. Check the one(s) you want renewed. (Note:  You may only renew an item one time.)  Click the "Renew" button. See the new due date, if the system lets you renew it (if it is not on hold or you renewed the item previously).

5. How do I save a bibliography (listing of book titles)?

Conduct your search(es) in Sophie and click the "Add to my list" button for each title you wish to save. Alternatively, you may utilize the "Add/Remove" entry box at the bottom of each brief view search result screen. The system will let you add a total of 100 titles to a list. Once you have selected all your titles, click on the "My List" link in the upper right corner of the screen. You may then print out the list or save to a file.

Note: in an edited work, the editor's name does not display in the My List view. This may be important when composing a formal bibliography.

6. How do I place a hold on a book that is currently checked out?

You can place a hold on a book that is currently checked out. For items not checked out, locate the book in the stacks. To place a hold on an item that is currently checked out, view the full record of the book with copy status included. Click on the "Request Item" button and login following the prompts. Confirm this is the item you wish to put a hold on and click the "Request" button. You will then be notified by phone when the item is available for you to pick up. You may also want to check which phone number the library has for you. Do this in the My Account tab under your Profile.

7. How do I search for Doctor of Ministry Projects?

Select the Subject Keyword(s) search in the drop down menu and enter Doctor of Ministry projects. (You can also just enter projects as the search term and then choose Doctor of Ministry projects from your results set.)

Electronic Databases

1. I am a current student, staff, or faculty at Denver Seminary. How do I access the electronic databases from off campus?

Option one: configure your web browser to route your web requests through the Seminary's computer (specifically the proxy server), thereby eliminating the need for multiple passwords. This option necessitates only one username/password combination, which you can acquire from the Reference Librarian in person or . These are the values you will need to configure your browser to use the Denver Seminary proxy server: address "proxy.densem.edu"; port "8080" (without quotes). See the help function of your browser to configure it for the proxy server. Using Internet Explorer, go to the Tools menu. Then choose Internet Options.... Go to the Connections tab. Then in the Dial-up and Virtual Private Network settings, highlight your connection and select the Settings... button. On the subsequent window you will see the boxes to enter the proxy server and the port number. Click OK on that window after entering the values. Once your browser is configured, use the links provided on the database page to access the databases without having to login. You will be asked for the proxy server username/password combination. Remember to disable use of the proxy server when finished searching databases.

Option two: either ask the Reference Librarian for the individual access codes to each database provider or send to the Reference Librarian requesting the passwords for off campus use.

2. How do I print a full text article from ATLAReligion?

After clicking on the "Go to Remote Full Text(ATLA)" link, click on "Print" from the right of the yellow menu bar near the top of the web page. Enter the page range you wish to print in line one. Click on the "Redisplay" button. Now use the File -- Print Menu on your browser to print these pages.

3. How do I make a bibliography list from the online databases (such as ATLAReligion or PsycINFO)?

Perform your search(es) in the database of choice. Most databases have a check-box option by each title. Mark (or check the box) each title you want to save. Then select the link that says something like "Marked records" or "Selected records" or similar. From this subsequent page, with only the records you have marked showing, you may then print, email, or save your results.

4. How do I find journal articles on a particular Bible passage?

Using the advanced search in ATLAReligion, enter the passage in the search box and select "Scripture Citation Phrase" from the pull-down menu. Then click on the blue icon to the right of the pull-down menu in order to browse what is in the database. Note that the database may use different abbreviations for book titles. Experiment until you find a match. Also, format the passage as "Book ChapterNumber VerseNumber." Do not use a semicolon between the chapter and verse number.

Using Religious & Theological Abstracts, select the "BIBLE CITATION" field to search. Enter the book title only. To see how the book is entered in the database, click on the "Browse" button to the right of the entry box. Narrowing your search to a particular verse or range of verses is not precise in this database.