The Key to Cutting Edge
Research and Writing

“Information Literacy is the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information.”
– Association of College & Research Libraries
(ACRL).

• Knowing how to decide what information you are looking for.
• Knowing how to locate information sources.
• Knowing how to retrieve information.
• Knowing how to think critically about information.
• Knowing how to use information.

“The systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions
” –
Oxford
Dictionaries Online.

One popular system for research is to enter the library with the intended purpose of spending as little time there as possible, grabbing enough
citations to throw a paper together shortly before it is due.

Research is not a frantic search for
Citations to use in a Bibliography!

At BMATs we want to help you become information literate, but we especially want you to have a high level of theological information
literacy so that you can enjoy a lifetime of theological learning and discovery.

• Papers that Write themselves
• Higher grades
• Confidence
• Critical thinking skills
• Knowledge that lasts
• Excellence in ministry

• Identifying Your Information Need
• Finding Information
• Retrieving Information

Skills:
• Selecting a topic for research
• Defining an assigned topic
• Investigating a topic
• Narrowing/Broadening a topic
• Developing a Research Question

• An expository sermon series on 1 Peter
• How to counsel people in the midst of a crisis
• A topic for a Research Paper
• Up-to-the minute weather information
• The meaning of the root “MSH” in Old South
Arabic

• Your information need is what you need to
know in order to accomplish what you intend
to do.
• You can discover your information need for a research paper by analyzing your assignment,
conferring with your professor, or by asking
your colleagues.

• Analyze your assignment
– Limits: Time period? Books of the Bible? Subject area?
– Product: What kind of paper? Presentation? How many pages? What elements are specified?
• Consider your experience
– Personal Interest: Pick a topic that interests you, not the one that appears to be easy.
– Academic history: It is unwise to submit papers for topics you have already researched.

If your Professor gives you a topic, you still need to define it.
• Analyze the assignment as before.
• Talk to your professor about the extent of the topic.
• Consider the goals and learning outcomes of your class.
• Investigate the topic

• Preliminary searches for information about your topic
– Text book
– General Reference Resources –Dictionaries, encyclopedias.
– Brief Online Search: A search for words and general information about your topic. The best use for Wikipedia
• Gaining a clearer understanding of what your Topic entails
• Narrowing/Broadening a Topic
• Building a Vocabulary of Search terms

Assignment:
“The student is required to write a 10-12 page research paper on a topic of his or her choice. The student’s choice is limited to the intertestamental period, background information on
Jewish society in the first century, the four Gospels, and Acts….”
• The Messiah
– Too Broad! You could study this topic in Old Testament too!
– “Jesus’ fulfillment of
Messianic Prophecies according to the Gospel of
Matthew.”
• Syrophoenecian women of the Gospels
– Too Narrow! I only know of one.
– “Jesus’ treatment of Gentiles in the Gospels.”

Narrow your topic
• Ask questions regarding what you would like to know about a topic.
• Specify the context:
– In a specific book.
– During a specific time period.
– To/for/by a specific person or group.
– Specify an event.
Broaden your topic
• Replace specifics with more general words.
– SyroPhoenician  Gentiles
– Haggai  Minor Prophets
• Trade specific issues for their larger context.
– Decisional regeneration
 Revivalism
• Avoid unnecessary jargon
– “Once-saved-always-saved”

•
•
Topic
The Divinity of Christ in the Gospel of John
Jesus’ treatment of
Gentiles in the Gospels
• How does the Gospel of
John present Jesus
Christ as Divine?
• How does Jesus relate to Gentiles throughout the Gospels?
The Short answer to your Research Question will serve as your Thesis statement!

Skills:
• Understanding the difference between popular and scholarly information.
• Understanding the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources
• Understanding where to find scholarly theological information
• Building a Searchable Vocabulary

• Most Magazines
• Most Internet Sites
• Newspapers
• Christian Living Books
– Max Lucado
• Books with a credentialed Author
– Look for References
• Reference Works
• Websites from reputable colleges and
Universities
• Peer-Reviewed
Scholarly Journals (Print and Electronic)

• Primary Sources are original sources of information, or information sources that one is studying directly.
– Letters, Speeches, memoirs, ancient writings, manuscripts, raw film footage, interviews, The Bible, etc.
• Secondary Sources are sources which interpret and cite primary sources.
– A commentary on the book of Judges, a Systematic Theology text, A history of the Middle Ages.
• Tertiary Sources are sources that gather and annotate secondary sources.
– John Glyn’s Commentary and Reference Survey, Periodical Index,
Electronic Database.

Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Sources
Continued
• A source can be primary or secondary, depending on the topic one is researching.
– Charles Spurgeon’s Commentary on Matthew could be a secondary source to the Gospel of Matthew, but a primary source in a study of Charles Spurgeon.
– Benny Hinn’s books are primary sources if one is studying his theology.
• A secondary source might serve as a tertiary source if it includes a substantial bibliography for further study of a subject.

Bibliography or
Database
Commentary or
Journal Article
RESEARCH SYSTEM
Primary Source: The
Focus of your Research

Where can you Find Scholarly
Theological Information?
• Your Seminary Library
• Other Seminary Libraries via Inter-library Loan
• Online Databases
– ATLA Religion Database via EBSCO
– RIM: Research in Ministry
• Theological information tends to favor monographs over periodical literature, meaning that you will use more books, but don’t neglect journal articles!

Skills:
• Understanding Information Retrieval
• Building a Searchable Vocabulary
• Using a Controlled Vocabulary

• Index
• Google
• Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) – The
Library Catalogue.
• Online Database such as EBSCO

Topic
The Divinity of Christ in the Gospel of John
• Use what you have learned from your investigation of the topic to build your searchable vocabulary.
• Break your topic into facets.
– Divinity
– Christ
– Gospel of John

FACET 1: Jesus
Christ
FACET 2:
Divinity
FACET 3: Gospel of John
Keywords
Related terms

Keywords
FACET 1: Jesus
Christ
Jesus, Christ, Jesus
Christ
FACET 2:
Divinity
Divinity, divine,
God, Father,
Heavenly Father, deity
Related terms Incarnation, Son of
God, Lord
Hypostatic Union, homoiousios, homoousios ,
Kenosis
FACET 3: Gospel of John
John, Gospel of
John, Johannine
Gospel, Fourth
Gospel, John 1:1,
John Chapter 1,
John 8:58
“I AM,” Egoo eimi,
The Word

• Your vocabulary is a list of words that you selected to stand for ideas that you are searching for.
• Example: “Christian
History” or “Church
History”
• A controlled vocabulary is a list of words chosen for a database.
• Example: “Church
History” is the only term that will work.

• Identifying Your Information Need
• Finding Information
• Retrieving Information