
The Wesley Biblical Seminary Library provides academic resources and research support to students and faculty in order to contribute to the overall goals of the curriculum. Through the Library’s electronic databases, students and faculty have access to over 500 journals, over 26,000 e-books, and approximately 2 million academic dissertations and theses.
With over 17,000 volumes in print, the Library provides faculty and students with a wide variety of resources for biblical, theological, and philosophical studies, in addition to key materials supporting spiritual formation and practical ministry. Within the print collection, the Wesley Collection includes over 1,000 rare books, holiness classics, and institutional works. To expand access even more, the Library participates in Reciprocal Borrowing and Interlibrary Loan agreements with other libraries across North America.
The Library offers writing and citation assistance through tutorials, class presentations, and individual research consultations. Students and faculty have access through the Library to RefWorks, a research and citation management tool, to seamlessly integrate and track sources for their writing projects.
WBS students and faculty are not only information consumers but also knowledge builders. To support this two-way flow of information, the Library offers writing and citation assistance through tutorials, class presentations, and individual research consultations. Students and faculty have access through the Library to RefWorks, a research and citation management tool, to seamlessly integrate and track sources for their writing projects.
On campus, students can study in the Reference Room, which is open during the Seminary’s operating business hours and whenever classes are in session. The Study Space beside the stacks offers students a quiet environment for individual or collaborative work. A printer is available for student use.
Search the databases and library catalog below to get started on your research and writing.
Go to the EBSCOhost databases.
Search the EBSCOhost databases for e-journals and e-books. (Contact the library for login credentials.)
Search the ProQuest databases for dissertations, theses, e-journals, and e-books. (Contact the library for login credentials.)
Search the catalog for books kept on campus. Log in to request or renew resources. (Contact the library for login credentials.)
Search JSTOR for full-text journal articles and book chapters. (Contact the library for login credentials.
Search the Theological Research Exchange Network for theological theses and dissertations, including those written by WBS students. Log in to download dissertations. (Contact the library for login credentials.)
Access RefWorks to manage research materials and properly cite sources. (Contact the library for login credentials.)
Writing at the graduate level involves three basic components:
The Library connects you with resources to help with all three.
Grammar
Purdue OWL has a wealth of resources on good writing. See especially the Mechanics, Grammar, and Punctuation sections to review these details.
Grammarly is a great tool for highlighting mistakes in the moment and can be added as a browser extension for free.
Critical Thinking and the Writing Process
Writing Commons is a website that covers aspects of writing such as the writing process, academic writing, proper documentation, and research methods.
Academic Writing, Part I
Academic Writing, Part II
Proper Documentation
Plagiarism is a serious academic offense and has no place in a seminarian’s writing. This article on how to avoid plagiarism and Plagiarism.org are very helpful resources in understanding exactly what plagiarism is and how to write with integrity.
Through the Library, WBS students and faculty have access to RefWorks, a research management tool that will help with proper citations. (Contact the library for login credentials.)
According to the 2019-2020 Student Handbook, WBS accepts APA, MLA, and Chicago/Turabian writing styles for citing sources.
Schedule a research appointment to go deeper in your writing!
WBS participates in the ACL and Atla Reciprocal Borrowing Programs, meaning that WBS students can borrow from libraries across North America. Find an ACL or Atla library near you, and contact WBS for a signed authorization form. Additionally, Worldcat allows you to search for a book in a library by zip code or location. Even if these libraries do not participate in the Reciprocal Borrowing Programs, they may offer on-campus access to their libraries.
As a rule, the library does not collect textbooks. Students are expected to purchase their own. However, supplemental materials such as “Suggested Texts” or books on “For Further Reading/Research” lists are a high priority in building the collection.
Theses written before 2013 are available in the WBS Thesis Collection, a non-circulating print collection housed in the Reference Room. You can read these on campus or request a partial scan to be emailed to you.
Theses and dissertations written after 2013 are available through the Theological Research Exchange Network. Through this database, you can search for documents by school. (Contact the library for login credentials to download theses and dissertations for free.)
Students and faculty who are within driving distance of the seminary can get books through ILL. Contact the library to make an ILL request, specifying tile, author, publication information, and a price cap.
All students and faculty can request articles or book chapters through ILL. Contact the library to make an ILL request, specifying article tile, journal title, volume and issue number (if available), author, publication information, and page numbers (if available).
For physical books, search the online catalog.
For e-books, search our e-book collection, audiobook collection, and Ebook Central. (Contact the library for login credentials.) Additional resources are available on HathiTrust, Internet Archive, and the Open Access Digital Theological Library.
Search for commentaries as you would for any book. Our EBSCOhost EBook Collection and ProQuest Ebook Central are great places to start. You may also submit an information request to the library (with title, author, publication number, and page numbers or biblical reference) to get a scan of a commentary portion. Information requests are processed within 1-2 business days.
Search the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Collection and the Theological Research Exchange Network for over 2 million full-text documents. (Contact the library for login credentials.) Additional dissertations are available on EBSCO Open Dissertations and PQDT Open.
Search for scholarly theological articles in the Atla and ProQuest Religion databases. (Contact the library for login credentials.) Additional resources are available on the Open Access Digital Theological Library.