Using the Library Database
Westminster Library's search box allows you to locate books, ebooks, and PDFs from most of our databases directly from one place.
How to Search
- Go to the library's home page and enter the research term, author, or title you want to locate. Tip: use quotation marks for results that match the phrase (e.g., "systematic theology").
- You will need to log in after you have done an initial search. Click on the yellow login link at the top of the results page to login with your WTS account name and ID (if you don’t log in, you will only see a fraction of our available resources).
- When you do a search, the system will display the number of results available in the library collection. This includes books, eBooks, and databases (e.g., journal articles and primary resources in full text). To narrow your results, use the limiters on the left side of the screen.
- In the search results list, look for a link that indicates full text availability. In some cases, you will need Adobe Digital Editions downloaded and authorized on your device to read the full text of ebooks.
- The library’s search provides access to most of our resources. However, a few of our databases are not fully searchable within this system. Access to these, is available in the “Extend Your Search” section of the results screen.
Viewing Full Text
Note: Theological eBooks will also appear in the main Discovery Search accessible from the library's home page (wts.edu/library ).
For books from Theological eBooks, if a book is available, simply click "Borrow." You are able to borrow up to two books for two weeks each. The appropriate due dates will be listed on your account. If you are finished using a book, return it for other students to access. Any unreturned books by the deadline will be automatically returned. EBooks from the Theological eBooks site are limited in number. Please only check out a book on the site if you are planning to actively use the text within a reasonable time span [2-3 hours maximum] and return the book as soon as you are finished using it. This allows other students to enjoy and benefit from this resource.
To borrow books you will need to sign in. Select Westminster Theological Seminary as your library and proceed to use your Populi Student ID number as your barcode and your last name as your pin, capitalizing the first letter. For students who began their studies in March 2019 or later, please add an "S" to the front of your student ID number when you login to any library resource.
The easiest way to view the eBook is to read it right within your web browser. You are also able to download a supported eBook reader to read the text offline.
For Windows, Linux or Mac laptops, desktops, and mobile devices install Adobe Digital Editions
Note: Sources in the library catalog with PDF or EPUB Full Text allow for unlimited access, but will not allow downloads or will only permit limited downloading (i.e. 100 pages). The Theological eBook Library will allow downloading using Adobe Digital Editions or the Blue Fire Reader App, but will limit the length of access.
Narrowing ("Limiting") Search Results
When you do a search, the system will display the number of results available in the library collection. This includes books, eBooks, and databases (e.g., journal articles and primary resources in full text). To narrow your results, use the limiters on the left side of the screen.
Limiters let you narrow the focus of your search so that the information retrieved from the databases you search is limited according to the values you select. You can use more than one limiter if more than one is available.
Here are some common limiters that may be helpful for your searches:
- Full Text (Online) – Click to limit results to articles with full text available from databases, custom links, and local collections.
- Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals – Limits search results to articles from peer-reviewed journals. Peer-reviewed journals are publications that include only those articles that have been reviewed and/or qualified by a selected panel of acknowledged experts in the field of study covered by the journal.
- Published Date – Use this option to search for articles within a specified date range. Create a range by using the drop-down lists to specify the months of the range and enter the last four digits of the year in the entry fields to specify the years of the range.
- Author – Enter an author's name to limit your search to items by a particular author.
- Title – Enter an article title or words from a title to limit your search to only items that match that title.
- Source – Enter the name of a publication/Journal to limit your search to only items from a particular publication.
- Source Type – Limits search results to specific types of sources including Academic Journals, Books, Periodicals, Dissertations/Thesis, Primary Source Documents, Electronic Resources, and eBooks.
We highly recommend searching only digital items that are available in full text or that are available as an eBook or Electronic Resource. To narrow your results to Full Text, find Limit To > Show More > check the box next to "Full Text."
To limit your search results to Academic Journals, eBooks, or Electronic Resources, go to Limit by Source Type> Show More> select Academic Journals, eBooks and Electronic Resources, or Dissertations/Theses.
Citing Digital Resources
If you want to cite a resource in your paper, you can do this from the resource record page. This is the page that appears once you have clicked a resource from the search page.
In the right hand bar, click cite. This will pull up a list of various formats for citing that resource. Copy the Chicago/Turabian citation and paste it into your paper.