Library Resources

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.

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.

Search the EBSCOhost databases for e-journals and e-books. (Contact the library for login credentials.)

  • Atla Religion Database with Atla Serials: This database combines the premier index to journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in all fields of religion with Atla’s full text collection of 350+ major religion and theology journals. This database is produced by Atla, a membership association of collectors and connectors in religion and theology.
  • eBook Collection: This collection contains full-text e-books curated to complement the WBS curriculum.
  • Audiobook Collection: This collection offers downloadable audiobooks curated to complement the WBS curriculum.

Search the ProQuest databases for dissertations, theses, e-journals, and e-books. (Contact the library for login credentials.)

  • ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global – The Humanities and Social Sciences Collection: This is an extensive and expanding database of over 2 million titles, many of which are available in full text.
  • Religion Database: This database provides full-text access to theologically oriented scholarly journals, trade journals, e-books, and multimedia publications.
  • Ebook Central: This collection contains full-text e-books curated to complement the WBS curriculum.

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.)

Tutorials

The following tutorials will help you access resources that will help you succeed in your academic journey.

Go to the EBSCOhost databases.

  1. Contact the library for username and password.
  2. Bookmark the link in your browser (and save username/password) for faster searching in the future.
  3. Click “EBSCOhost Research databases.”
  4. Choose your databases. (Descriptions will be on the screen.)
  5. Use the search bars to locate books, journal articles, and reviews.
    • If you know what you’re looking for, a basic title search usually works; you may want to add the author’s last name in the next box (with a Boolean AND) to make the search faster.
    • If you have a topic in mind, but no particular book or article, try doing a general search for your topic. Once you see a resource that fits what you want, you can copy and paste its listed subject(s) into the search bar for a more accurate, comprehensive search.
    • The Advanced Search uses Boolean operators (Remember: Wesley AND theology means the search will retrieve results with both Wesley and theology in them; Wesley OR theology will retrieve results about Wesley and results about theology and results about Wesley and theology; and Wesley NOT theology will retrieve only results with the term Wesley that do not include the term theology).
  6. You can use the filters on the left to narrow your search for more accurate results.
  7. By clicking on a search result, you can click through to full-text (when available) to read online, download, or print. You also have options to find similar results, add the resource to a folder, print, email, save, cite, export, and annotate the article/book/record.
  1. Navigate to EBSCOhost, choose “Audiobook Collection” database, and perform a search.
  2. When you have found the book you want to listen to, click “Check Out.” You will need to sign in to your “My EBSCOhost” account (see tutorial below).
  3. Choose the number of days you want your loan to be.
  4. Download the EBSCOhost audiobook app from the App Store or Google Play.
  5. Sign into the app using your “My EBSCOhost” username and password.
  6. Download your loaned book and play on your device.
  1. Sign in to EBSCOhost.
  2. From the top toolbar, on the right, click “Sign in.”
  3. Click “Create a new Account” (next to the Login button).
  4. Fill in the form and click “Save changes.”
  5. Click “Continue.”
  6. You will be signed in. In the future, you can simply click “Sign in” and enter the username and password you created.
  1. Navigate to the ProQuest databases.
  2. Contact the library for login credentials.
  3. Perform a basic or advanced search or browse publications or subjects.
  4. Narrow your search by database (available in the top toolbar) or by source type (right above the search bar).
  5. Treat the basic search like a command-line search by using Boolean operators. Remember that enclosing words in quotation marks will search them as a phrase. For example: the search “John Wesley” AND (theology OR doctrine) will retrieve results containing both John Wesley as a phrase and theology, and it will also retrieve results containing John Wesley and doctrine.
  6. Use the filters on the left to narrow your search for more accurate results.
  7. For full-text results, you can read online, download, cite, share a link, save to a ProQuest or cloud-based folder, or export the record to RefWorks.
  8. For bibliographic records, you can cite, email, print, or export to RefWorks. (These results will help you build a bibliography and can be requested through interlibrary loan.)
  1. Go to TREN.
  2. Use the search options (title, author, school, degree, year, content) to find the dissertation you need.
    • Be as specific as possible, since TREN offers no filters for the search results.
  3. When you find a dissertation you want to read, click “Add to your TREN subscription.”
    • Do not click “Add to Shopping Basket.” 
  4. This will take you to a login page. Contact the library for login credentials.
  5. You can now download the dissertation and begin reading.
    • If the dissertation you want is already part of the WBS subscription, it will be highlighted for you.
  1. Go to RefWorks.
  2. Create an account with your WBS email address.
  3. Add references by…
    • Uploading a document: Upload or drag and drop the entire document that you need to cite. This works well for smaller documents, such as articles and book chapters.
    • Importing references: Import directly from a RefWorks, Mendeley, or RIS file. This is especially helpful if you are reconciling multiple citation management accounts or have this file type downloaded from a database.
    • Creating a new reference: You will enter the information manually, but RefWorks will put it in the right format for you. This is similar to using online citation machines.
  4. Once you have all of your references on the page, click “Create Bibliography” at the top.
  5. Click “Quick cite” to generate both in-text citations and the bibliography for your paper, or click “Create a bibliography” for the bibliography alone. Use the style guide specified in your course syllabus or assignment instructions.
  6. Your citations and bibliography will show up in a pop-up window with a clipboard.
  7. Copy and paste your citations into your paper.