Transcript Bertha Smith Library

Luther Rice University
Bertha Smith Library
Learning to Use
ATLAS
In this tutorial, you will learn . . .
What ATLAS is,
How to access ATLAS,
How to quickly and efficiently
search ATLAS, and
How to read and print articles
from ATLAS
Been through the tutorial before? Click the links to go directly to the corresponding
sections.
What is ATLAS?
ATLASerials (ATLAS) is an online collection of major religion and theology
journals selected by leading religion scholars and theologians. ATLAS
users can read articles or research the history of a topic from as early as
1924 to the present. Researchers may search ATLA citations, or browse
ATLASerials to retrieve images of the pages of journals.*
ATLAS contains over 80 well known journals, including:
Bibliotheca Sacra
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Interpretation
Novum testamentum
Review and Expositor
Theology Today
Church History
*From ATLAS help page
And more!
Accessing ATLAS
There are two ways to access ATLAS :
On Campus
1. Find any available Library or
Computer Lab terminal,
2. Go to the LRU Library website
3. Double-click the “ATLAS”
oncampus link on the Frequently
Used Databases page.
Online
1. Go to the LRU Library website
2. From the Main Menu choose
Frequently Used Databases
3. Click on the “ATLAS” link
4. Login by using your username and
Password *.
*You may have to hold CTRL while clicking if you have Internet Explorer Popup Blocker enabled
ATLAS Layout
ATLAS provides you with a very simple layout that is
quick and easy to use.
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Searching ATLAS
If you
aren’t at
the search
page, click
the
“Search”
tab in the
Main
Menu.
Then enter
your search
terms in the
appropriate
field.
You can search by Keyword . . .
Author . . .
Journal . . .
Title . . .
Language . . .
Subject . . .
Record # . . .
Scripture passage . . .
Or ISSN . . .
Searching ATLAS
Use
Boolean
Operators
to expand
your
search
capabilities
AND searches for
OR searches for
both words in a given either word in a given
field
field
NOT searches for the
first word in a given
field, but not the second
Searching ATLAS
You can
also
truncate
words to
help you
search
Use * (Shift + 8) after a word to find all possible variations.
“Hist*” will find all occurrences of “history”, “historical”, and “historicity”
“Bapt*” will find all occurrences of “baptize”, “baptism,” “baptist”, etc.
Searching ATLAS
Enter search terms in multiple fields to focus your searches
Limit your searches to focus your results.
Click “Submit Search,” and wait for your results . . .
Search Tips
Be sure you know how to use each of the search fields correctly to maximize your search’s potential:
Keyword
Use this field to retrieve an article or review with a particular word or phrase any where within the full citation
with the exception of Language, Scripture Passage, Year or Record type. Language, Scripture Passage, Year
or Record Type terms should be searched in other fields or as limiters.
Author/Editor
Use this field to retrieve an article or review by a particular author, editor, translator, or reviewer. Both
individual personal names and collective corporate names are included in this Search Field. Personal names
are usually indexed in the inverted form: last name, first name middle name (or middle initial).
Title
Use this field to retrieve an article, review or serial description with a particular word or phrase within its cited
title.
Subjects
Use this field to retrieve an article that has been assigned a particular ATLA subject heading. Scripture subject
headings are included under the heading “Bible? Personal name subject headings are included, as well as
fictional and mythical characters.
Search Tips
Scripture Passages
Use this field to retrieve an article that makes reference to a particular scripture passage. Most references
indexed in this field are canonical; there are very few apocryphal references. It is possible to construct a
search that specifies a scriptural book, chapter, and/or range of verses. Multiple biblical books require that the
number of the book being searched be spelled out prior to the name of the book.
Example: Genesis 1: 1-20
Result: Returns records discussing the first chapter of the book Genesis, verses one through twenty.
Example: Matthew-John
Result: Returns all records discussing the book Matthew through and including the book John.
Example: First Kings 2-7
Result: Returns all records discussing the first book of Kings, verses two through seven.
Example: First Kings 2-Second Kings 1
Result: Returns all records discussing the second chapter of the first book of Kings through the first chapter of the second book of Kings.
Citations referencing specific scriptural passages are also indexed in the Subjects data field under the heading
“Bible? Because indexing practices vary between the two data fields, a search for the same scripture citation
in the Subjects and Scripture Passage fields may not yield identical results. It may be profitable to perform a
scripture search using both fields.
Journal
Use this field to retrieve an article or review published in a specific journal or journal issue. This field can also
be used to retrieve the serial record of a specific journal.
Language
Use this field to retrieve an article or review written in a specific language.
Search Tips
Record #
Use this field to retrieve article, review or serials records assigned a unique number by ATLA. Records that
indicate a relationship with another record will also be retrieved when that record’s unique number is
searched.
ISSN
Use this field to retrieve serial records, or articles and reviews within a serial publication with a given
International Standard Serial Number.
Limiters: Year
Use this field to retrieve an article or review published in a particular year or a serial that started in a specific
year. The pull-down menu allows for selection of the type of year input: All years, Greater than (a specified
year), Less than (a specified year), Equal to (a specified year), or a range (of specified years).
Limiters: Type
Use this field to retrieve specific types of records. There are three possible record types.
Article: Retrieves ATLA citations of articles and other journal contents along with the link to the available
images of that material.
Review: Retrieves ATLA citations of reviews within journals along with the link to the available images of
that material.
Serial: Retrieves ATLA citations describing journal titles and their relationship to other journal titles
along with links to the volume list of the ATLAS coverage for that title.
Search Tips
Use Boolean Operators to refine your searches. ATLAS recognizes the operators AND, NOT, and
OR.
AND Finds articles with both words in the selected field.
OR
Finds articles with either word in the selected field.
NOT Finds articles with the first word, but not the second, in the selected field.
Truncate words to broaden you search results. In ATLAS, the truncation symbol is *
Example: Bap* or Bapt* or Baptis*
Result: Retrieves records that contain the words Baptist, Baptism, Baptismal, etc.
Example: Spa*
Result: Retrieves records that contain the words Spain, Spanish, Spaniard, etc.
Alternatively, it is also possible to enter the "*" symbol within a word in order to retrieve an increased result set.
Example: wom*n
Result: Retrieves records that contain the words woman, women, womyn.
Example: analy*e
Result: Retrieves records that contain either the word analyze or analyse
Note: ATLA recommends use of truncation searching only in the following fields: Keyword, Author/Editor, Title, Subjects, Journal, and
ISSN. Truncation cannot be used in the Scripture Search.
Use Phrase Searching to find exact matches. Simply put the search terms in quotation marks. Note
that Boolean Operators within quotations are treated as part of the phrase.
Example: 'philosophy or miracles'
Result: Retrieves records that include the exact phrase "philosophy or miracles".
Browsing by Journal
ATLAS also
allows you
to browse
the various
publication
titles it
indexes.
Simply click
the
“Browse
Journals”
tab in the
Main Menu.
A new screen will come up showing a complete list of journal titles available. To
access a publication, just click the title.
Accessing and reading Articles
In this last
section, we
will deal with
how to
access the
documents
found in your
searches
and what
you can do
with them.
Suppose we want to
research general
revelation. Our search
may look like this . . .
And our results like this . . .
Accessing and reading Articles
We decide the second
article looks the most
promising.
First, we access the
bibliographic information by
clicking “Complete
Citation.”
From there, we can get
such information as the
Author, ISSN, Record #,
etc.
We can read the actual
article by clicking “View
Article.”
Accessing and reading Articles
To print the article or
To move forward or
page use ATLAS’
backward, use the page
“Print” feature (NOT
navigation
Thebuttons.
single arrows move
your browser’s print
forward or backward one
command!)
The double arrows
pagemove to
To see what other
the first and last pages of the
articles are available
journal.
in this issue of the
journal, click the
And to view the
“Table of Contents”
other issues
icon.
available in this
To go to a specific
journalpage
of the same
in this issue,year,
type click
the the “Issue
number in the
“Go
to
List”
icon.
Page” bar and click
“GO”
The full text of the article is available in the reading window. Note
that the article is in a scanned format, so you view it page by page
as in a regular journal.
Accessing and reading Articles
To print from ATLAS,
input the range of
pages you want to
print.
Then click “Redisplay”
The pages to be
printed will appear in
the print preview
window.
Then click “Print.”
For further help . . .
Congratulations! You’ve completed the Bertha
Smith ATLAS Tutorial. If you have any further
questions, you can:
See the search tips section on the ATLAS search page,
 See the Guide to Searching Library Databases at any of the
on-campus computer terminals,
 Request assistance from any of the Library staff, or
 Send questions to [email protected] or call 770-484-1204
ext. 247.

Happy searching!