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Commentaries / Works by Book of the Bible: Search for Commentaries/Books

by Steve Jung and Sharon Ralston, rev. S. Ralston 2024

How to Search for Print Books and eBooks

  1. Start at the library home page.
     
  2. Click on the "Books and Media" tab.


  3. In the "Search for ..."  box enter some initial keywords that describe your resource needs, the title of a book you are looking for, or an author you are interested in, and click the red search icon.  Note: When searching by author or title, it can sometimes be more efficient to use the Advanced Search option whereby you can search using the Title and/or Author indexes.
     
  4. Make sure to select the box for  “Retain Filters” on the left so that the system will keep the search settings for additional searches you may run.
     
  5. In the panel on the left, select desired filters to limit or expand the search and its results.  For example, here you can set "Language/Dialect" to limit results to your language of choice or select a particular date range for results.
     
  6. Under "Item Format," check the boxes for "Print Books" and/or "eBook." If you only want to find ebook results, make sure this is the only option selected for format.  



  7. In the list of results, click on the linked title of a promising book to see a full display record for more information about the book. When there are multiple editions/formats of a book at APU, this page will also lead to information about additional access options (ie, eBook access, like in the example below, or to place a request, and/or Library/Shelving/Call Number Location(s) and Availability.   Note: "Request this Item" on a record for an item at APU generates a "hold" or "document delivery" request form.  For items not at APU, you will see "Request from Interlibrary Loan," which generates an ILL form to request ILL to obtain the item from another library for you.

Searching for Commentaries Using the Subject Field Using the Advanced Search

Note: 1. Commentaries are easiest to find when you search using the Advanced Search and search by "Subject" rather than keyword.  Follow the steps below and modify step 6 to:

Change the dropbox from "Any field" to "SUBJECT."  Most commentary Library of Congress subject headings in our Discovery catalog all start "Bible." space "name of book" space and then "Commentaries." 

For example in the search box input:  Bible. Esther Commentaries. 

2. To find a known commentary, such as one listed on a course bibliography, you might use Advanced Search and follow the steps below but modify step 7 to:

 Search by last name of the author AND a word in the title AND the commentary series title such as below -- or swap out the series title and use the word commentaries in this search,

 

How to Search for Print Books and eBooks Using the Advanced Search

  1. Start at the library home page
     
  2. Click on the "Advanced Search" link in the main search box

     
  3. On the right, under "Searching Databases," only check the box for WorldCat.org. Make sure you click on Save Changes. 

     
  4. Skip to below the "Search Index" and "Search Term" boxes and find the "Search Tools" limiters and set or deselect as needed, such as "Item Format" to "Book" or "ebook" and "Language/Dialect" to your language of choice.  Note: The "Book" filter here includes print and eBook but the filter can be refined to one or the other on the results page (step 9).  We also suggest removing the preset "Expand search with related terms." 

     
  5. Under "Held by My Library," at the bottom of the Search Tools, keep the Azusa Pacific University box checked in order to search our holdings.  Broadening the search pool to also include holdings in California Academic Libraries and/or Libraries Worldwide (WorldCat) can be selected here or later when viewing results in your search. Searching Libraries Worldwide will allow for requesting of material that we do not own when you open a record from the search results.
     
  6. Return to the Search boxes at the top of the page:  In the "Search Term” box(es) enter keywords that describe your resource needs.
     
  7. Alternatively, if you know author or title, enter that in the box and then change the dropdown “Search Index” to either “Author” or “Title."
     
  8. Click “Search."
     
  9. Make sure to select the box for “Retain Filters” on the left so that the system will keep the search settings for additional searches you may run.
     
  10. In the list of results, if you haven't limited them already, additional filters can be set on the search results page such as "eBook" or "Publication Date."  

     
  11. Click on the linked title of a promising book to see a full display record for more information about the book. When there are multiple editions/formats of a book at APU, this page will also lead to information about additional access options (ie, eBook access or to place a request), and/or Library/Shelving/Call Number Location(s) and Availability.   Note: "Request this Item" on a record for an item at APU generates a "hold" or "document delivery" request form.  For items not at APU, you will see "Request from Interlibrary Loan," which generates an ILL form to request ILL to obtain the item from another library for you.
     
  13. As mentioned previously, when viewing the results page, the search can also be reset to the filter to broaden the current search to "Libraries Worldwide" (WorldCat) by selecting that box in the left panel.  A "Request from Interlibrary Loan" can be placed from the record, similar to step 11 above.