Research skills and use of the Columbia and New York Public Library New York Theological Seminary

1. DMIN RESEARCH
Where to Begin

2. What is Research?
 Research is finding information and incorporating
it into your writing.
 Research to answers a question, authorizes a
statement, or accumulate data
 Research is the inclusion of ideas and voices that
you do not and could not ever speak.
 Research is the careful reference of words and
ideas in outside works to give credit to the author
and aid other researchers.

3. Types of Research Information
 Primary Sources
 Data such as results of questionnaires and census
 Writing from experience, biographies, letters, novels, original
works
 Secondary Sources
 Writing that analyzes and makes sense of primary sources,
 Most important form are Journal articles
 Tertiary Sources
 General analysis of information or a pointer to data: dictionaries,
encyclopedias, wikis, databases such as ATLA Religion Database
 Many professors do not permit use of tertiary in research papers
 If used, usually only cited in footnotes, not bibliography

4. What’s the question?
 Research begins with a question; the better the question
the better the research.
 At the same time the question will be modified by the
information found and the amount of that information.
 The question is proportionate to the amount of writing
space.
 Typically your 3 research questions which will include
 Bible-Scripture/Theology
 History
 A cross over discipline such as education or psychology

5. Map Resources
 Map resources in your neighborhood and see how you may obtain
access.
 Public and college/university libraries
 historical societies,
 other places where information is stored such as county or state offices
 People who have been in the community a long time
 There is always a packrat who keeps and organizes every church bulletin
 Get to know a librarian and develop a relationship
 No matter how large the institutions, personal relations rule.
 Make mapping an ongoing part of your life and ministry
 When you leave here, you will no longer have access to seminary
resources.
 Know where the texts are kept and how to access them.

6. Me as Resource
 Jerry Reisig
 Associate Professor of Information Literacy
 Director of Library Services
 New York Theological Seminary
 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 500
 Monday-Thursday; 11am to 4pm, or by appointment
 Phone (212) 870-1213
 jreisig@nyts.edu
 The Burke Library– 1st Floor Reference Desk
 3041 Broadway
 Tuesday and Thursday, 4– 7pm

7. Is the work appropriate?
 Perhaps the most difficult problem that researchers
have is knowing when they have enough information to
proceed to writing.
 Be tough on yourself
 Check Table of Contents to see if addresses your question
 If no, lay it to the side.
 If yes, read the first page of the chapter and the conclusion.
 If no, lay it aside.
 If yes proceed to read the work.

8. Writing up your results
 You are writing a narrative that another person would want
to read.
 Do not give facts unless they give meaning to them in the text.
 Do not quote a work unless you analyze that quote in your work..
 Treat Internet with the same respect that you would give a text.
 Avoid direct quotes unless they enhance your argument.
 Cite everything. It is easier to tighten up too many citations
than finding ones that were missed.
 You are not adding authority if you do not cite the source.
 Get an editor early.

9. Required Publications
 Dmin Formatting Guide: available online at NYTS
 All information in this style sheet takes precedence
 Jerry Reisig, Access: Unlocking the Power of Research,
A Guide to Library Resources and Information
Literacy, 3rd ed. New York Theological Seminary,
2013.
 Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research
Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 8th ed. (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2013). ISBN 0226816389
 Bibliography and footnote

10. Library Services
 NYTS students have full checkout privileges.
 Library Card is free and valid for one school year.
All cards expired at end of Spring semester
 Can be renewed yearly as long as the patron is a
current student, faculty, or staff member.
 Library hours for all of the Columbia libraries are
available on the Columbia University Library
website at
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/services/hours/.

11. Services not Provided
 Access to Teacher's College, the Law Library, or
the Medical Library.
 Alumni/ae Access.
 Off-site access to the Columbia online databases
and e-books.
 Inter-library Loan (ILL).

12. Three Things Needed to Begin
NYTS ID with current semester sticker
Available from NYTS Registrar
Columbia ID
Available at any
NYPL Library
Available at Butler
Library
New York Public
Library Card
Make sure you know
your UNI address

13. Obtaining a Columbia Card
 Get a current semester sticker for your NYTS ID
from the NYTS Registrar.
 Go to the Library Information Office (LIO) at the
Butler Library on the Columbia Campus, Room 201.
 The LIO office is the first door to the left as you enter the
library and before you pass through the security station.
 Only two people can be in the office at one time.
 After you show your NYTS ID, your picture will be
taken and a Columbia Library ID will be created in
your name.
 Make sure that you are given a UNI ID.

14. Barnard
Library
Burke
Library
Butler
Library
LIO
Office
RIVERSIDE
CHURCH
NYTS
ADMIN
UNION
BARNARD
COLUMBIA

15. The Burke Library
 During your graduate education, the most useful
library for your research will probably be the Burke
Library
 Housed on the Union Seminary Campus
 Largest theological Library in North America
 I am the reference librarian Tuesdays and
Thursdays from 4pm-7pm
 Students should visit me there so that I can help
them develop their research projects

16. Partnering with the New York Public
Library
 Students do not have access to the Columbia
Databases from Home
 NYTS students are required to get an NYPL card
 Will allow access to essential databases such as ATLA
Religion Database
 Available to all students who live, work in, go to
school or pay taxes in New York state
 Go to any Branch or research library and apply for
one
 Closest Branch on Broadway and 113th

17. Go onto the Internet

18. Enter Columbia Address
www.columbia.edu

19. Select Libraries, then
Catalogs

20. The search screen defaults to “All,” which includes the library
catalog, articles in journals, articles shared by the Columbia
community and those available on the web

21. When you start typing a menu appears that allows you to select the
Search Source for information.
Quicksearch is the default Columbia Search Engine and simultaneously searches
through
1) the CLIO Library Catalog: including books and journals at the Columbia Libraries;
2) Articles in Databases that are in the Columbia Library System and can be accessed
only within a library;
3) Academic Commons: works submitted by members of the Columbia Community;
4) Website Search; academic documents that are available on the Web.

22. Select Catalog to Search
for books in the Columbia
libraries
Select Go to
start the search
Enter the
Search query
The search result shows 6556
books…way too high
You man remove any search
query by clicking on the x

23. Refining Your Search
On left side of screen is a panel with
options to refine your Search
Click the “+” sign
to expand

24. Format=Book
Date=1990-2011
Subject=Women
in church work
Library=Burke
When you select one of
the choices under the
“+” sign, the database
will immediately refine
the search.

25. 51 books that meet your
criteria were found
Four search areas
display

26. To view
bibliographic
information, click
on the title in blue
The final entry in your bibliography would be:
Dodson, Jualynne E. Engendering Church: Women Power and the AME
Church. Lanham, MD: Rowan & Littlefield Publishers, 2002.
The entry contains all of the
information that you need in order
to cite it in a paper: author, title,
publication place and date.
The green check mark informs you
that the books is available

27. USING THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
Searching on the ATLA Religion Database

28. Databases at NYPL
 Because students cannot use Columbia Databases
from home, they will access them through the New
York Public Library.
 The ATLA Religion Database is the largest
database of theological and biblical secondary
literature in the western world.
 Password to these databases is the 14 digit code on
the back of your NYPL library card
 Access to and Usage of ATLA explained in Access:
Unlocking the Power of Research.

29. On the Internet go to the
New York Public Library at
www.nypl.org

30. On the NYPL home page,
select Research

31. Select Articles and
Databases

32. At Database title, type
ebscohost
Select FIND

33. Select ebscohost

34. Input 14 Digit Code on the
Back of Library Card
Select Login
Scroll down and Select the ATLA
Religion Database with ATLAS
Serials

35. To find an article that has a
subject to search on, input a
general query Select Search
Scroll down to find a result that fits your
query
Locate a subject that seems to cover
your topic Highlight and copy
with Ctrl+C
ATLA displays the
default Basic Search
Screen

36. Select Advanced Search
Select Full Text
Type Ctrl+V to paste the subject you
have copied into the Search Box
Open drop down
menu and select
SU Subjects
Return to the search screen

37. Scroll Down to find a
document
Click on the PDF icon to
view the original journal
article
129 full text documents
have been found with the
desired subject

38. Or email the article to
yourself
You can print the article

39. Highlight and press Ctrl+C
to copy
Scroll down to Turabian/Chicago Humanities
To cite the article, select the
cite icon on the left

40. Busenitz, Irvin A. "Marriage and homosexuality: toward a biblical
understanding." Master's Seminary Journal 19, no. 2 (September 1, 2008): 203-
216. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed
September 4, 2012).
Bibliography
Busenitz, Irvin A. "Marriage and Homosexuality: Toward a Biblical
Understanding." Master's Seminary Journal 19, no. 2 (September 1, 2008): 203-
216. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed
September 4, 2012).
Busenitz, Irvin A. "Marriage and Homosexuality: Toward a Biblical
Understanding." Master's Seminary Journal 19, no. 2 (September 1, 2008):
203-216. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed
September 4, 2012).
Paste into Bibliography
Change to Title Case
Format Correctly

41. USING ADVANCED
SEARCH ON THE
INTERNET
Searching Google

42. Google Search
women in the church
Type in a general search
Select Search

43. Before you continue, note
the number of hits.
692,000,000 is out of the
range of possiblilty
On the upper right hand
corner of the screen press
the flower to open other
searches
Select Advanced Search

44. women in the church
Your search displays all the search
words as an AND statement
Search for words in the
exact order that you
typed them
Or Statement Not statement: not
these words
Range of units of measure,
including dates
The language of the web page
type of web site
The region where web
page originated
Type of file, eg PDF

45. women in the church
You currently are searching an AND
statement, women AND in AND the
AND church
Move the statement down to exact
word or phrase
The double quotes before and after
the query denote text search
The number of hits decreases from
692,000,000 to 839,000.
Select Advanced Search

46. Because we are looking for a
document, we will change the file
type to Adobe Acrobat PDF (.pdf)
filetype:pdf is added to the search
Hits are reduced to 44,500
Advanced Search
Select Advanced Search

47. We can continue focusing the
search as much as we want and
the original search information
will remain.
We add korean to AND
statement
We limit the search to educational sites
Korean displays alone as an
AND statement
Site type is edu for educational
Click on the title to open the PDF document
Select Advanced Search
Hits reduced to 1020

48. The Document is a Dissertation
The bibliographic entry is the
same as a standard dissertation,
with the addition of the web
address
Kim, Nina Young. The “Call of God”: Korean American Women's’Activism in
the Pacific Northwest. PhD diss., University of Washington, 2013.
https://digital.lib.washington.edu/xmlui/handle/1773/23460.