New Testament Abstracts and Old Testament Abstracts
NTA and OTA provide abstracts of journal articles, essays, and books. There are no fulltexts available on this database.
Tabs across the top allow Basic or Advanced search
Basic search: Enter a keyword in ‘Find’ box
Advanced search: A Field Codes link appears above the single ‘Find’ box, to assist you to limit your search by using the appropriate code: AU (author), TI (title), SU (subject), etc.
At the bottom of the page, there are other limiters. These are: publication (for series or journal title), publication type (article, essay, book, review), language, and year range.
The green sub-bar below the tabs offers the following links for specific searches:
Scriptures: browses the Scripture index to find articles on a particular verse. Click the checkboxes to select the desired verses.
Indexes: offers a drop-down menu including author, journal title, series, ISBN, among others.
Click the question mark next to the databases for EBSCO help pages.
Saving Searches
You can set up a personal account that you can use to save searches, retrieve and reuse them, and print them as needed.
To save searches:
1. Click the Search History/Alerts link and then click Save Searches/Alerts. The Saved Search/Alerts Screen appears. If you have not signed in to My EBSCOhost, you will be prompted to do so.
2. Enter a Name and Description for the search. (For example, mysearch1)
3. In the Save Search As field, select one of the following:
o Saved Search (Permanent)
o Saved Search (Temporary 24 hours)
o Alert - If you selected Alert, additional fields are available. For more information, see “Saving a Search as an Alert.”
4. To save the search, click Save; otherwise, click Cancel. You are returned to the Search History/Alerts Screen.
You can retrieve your saved searches and alerts and edit and reuse them.
To retrieve searches:
1. From the Search History/Alerts tab, click Retrieve Searches.
2. If you have not already logged into your personal account, you will be prompted to log in. Enter your user name and password; or click Cancel and return to the Search Screen.
3. To retrieve a search from the Saved Searches & Alerts List, click on the Save Search link. If you currently have search history open, you are prompted to save your current search. If you proceed without saving, the retrieved search appears and your current search is cleared.
4. You are returned to the Search Screen. The Search History box now includes all information for the search you retrieved. All search counts are replaced with question marks. When you view the results (by clicking on a link in the Results column), a new search is launched and its results are added to the search history.
Note: The Search History/Alerts tab is always available from Advanced Search.
Search Strategies
Boolean logic defines logical relationships between terms in a search. The Boolean search operators are and, or and not. You can use these operators to create a very broad or very narrow search.
• And combines search terms so that each search result contains all of the terms. For example, travel and Europe finds articles that contain both travel and Europe.
• Or combines search terms so that each search result contains at least one of the terms. For example, college or university finds results that contain either college or university.
• Not excludes terms so that each search result does not contain any of the terms that follow it. For example, television not cable finds results that contain television but not cable.
Note: When executing a search, And takes precedence over Or.
The following table illustrates the operation of Boolean terms:
| And | Or | Not |
Each result
contains all search
terms. | Each result contains at
least one search term. | Results do not
contain the
specified terms. |
The search heart
and lung finds
items that contain
both heart and
lung. | The search heart or lung
finds items that contain
either heart or items
that contain lung.
| The search heart
not lung finds items
that contain heart
but do not contain
lung. |
Using Booleans and Parentheses
To make even better use of Boolean operators, you can use parentheses to nest query terms within other query terms.
You can enclose search terms and their operators in parentheses to specify the order in which they are interpreted. Information within parentheses is read first, then information outside parentheses is read next. For example,
When you enter (mouse OR rat) AND trap, the search engine retrieves results containing the word mouse or the word rat together with the word trap in the fields searched by default.
If there are nested parentheses, the search engine processes the innermost parenthetical expression first, then the next, and so on until the entire query has been interpreted. For example,
((mouse OR rat) AND trap) OR mousetrap
Personal Account
You can set up a personal account to save search results, persistent links to searches, saved searches, search alerts, journal alerts and web pages to your personal folder.
To set up a personal account:
1. From the Sign In Screen, click the I'm a new user link. The Create a New Account Screen appears with Personal Account entered in the Account Type field.
2. Fill in the fields on the Create a New Account Screen. When you have completed the fields, click Continue.
3. If all the information was accepted, a message appears that provides your user name and password. Click OK. You will be automatically logged in as a personal user. You should note the user name and password you created so you can log in at a future session.
When you set up a personal account, we ask for your name, e-mail address, a unique login name, password, and password validation. EBSCO uses this information only to identify you at log in so your searches are not viewed or used by anyone else. We do not share this information. Click on our privacy policy for more information.
If you have forgotten your password, you can submit your user name to retrieve your password.
To reset your password:
1. From the Login Screen, click I forgot my password. A screen appears.
2. Enter your user name and click Continue. You are prompted to answer the question you entered as a password hint.
3. Enter your new password twice.
4. Click Continue. You are automatically logged in as a personal user based on your new password. You should note the new password so you can log in at a future session.
If you have forgotten your user name and password, you can submit information to retrieve your user name and password.
To retrieve your user name and password:
1. From the Login Screen, click I forgot my user name and password. A screen
appears.
2. You are prompted to enter your first name, last name and e-mail address. ClickContinue. The Reset your Password Screen appears with your user name displayed.
3. You are prompted to answer the question you entered as a password hint, enter a
new password twice.
4. Click Continue. You are automatically logged in as a personal user based on your new password. You should note the new password so you can log in at a future session.
Using the Folder
To collect several articles, click the Add icon for each article. To add all items on a page to your folder, click Add (1-10) at the top of the Add column. Result numbers to be added will change as you page through the list of results.
As you add the articles to the folder, you can click the Folder icon and review which items have been added. You can then print, e-mail or save many results all at the same time. If you have signed in via My EBSCOhost, any search results that you collect in your folder will be automatically saved at the end of the session.
Managing Multiple Folders
You can create new folders and sub-folders, rename folders, move items to different folders, and add notes to a folder. You can create as many levels of folders and subfolders as you like. However, only four levels of folders and sub-folders are displayed. Any folders below that will display at level four.
You must be signed in as a personalized user (My EBSCOhost) to use the multiple folders feature.
To create a new folder:
1. Click the Folder icon then click the Create New Folder link.
2. In the Folder Name field, enter a name for the folder; up to 40 characters.
3. Move Folder To – You can select a “level” for the folder.
4. In the Notes field, you can enter information regarding the folder; up to 200 characters.
5. Click Save. You are returned to the Folder area, with your named folder displayed in the left-hand column.
To delete a folder:
1. Click the Folder icon then click on the folder that you want to delete.
2. Click Delete Folder. A confirmation message displays.
3. Select Yes. The folder and its contents are permanently deleted.
Note: the top-level folder (My Folder) can never be deleted.
To rename a folder:
1. Click the Folder icon then click on the named folder that you want to rename.
2. In the Folder Name field, enter the new name for the folder; up to 40 characters.
3. Click Save. You are returned to the Folder area, with your renamed folder displayed in the left-hand column.
To move items to a folder:
1. From within the Folder, mark the check box to the left of the items that you want to move. (For example, articles, images, videos, etc.)
2. From the Move To drop-down list, select the folder to which you want to move the items (the “target” folder). The items will be moved to the target folder.
Select
• All – selects all items of this type in this folder. (For example, all articles, not just those visible on the current page)
• None – clears all checkboxes of this type within this folder.
Delete
• All – removes all items of this type in this folder. (For example, all images, not just those visible on the current page)
• Selected – removes all selected of this type within this folder.
Note: you can also “drag-and-drop” items if the item and the target folder are both
visible.
To move a folder and its contents to another folder:
1. From within the Folder, select the folder that you want to move.
2. From the Move To drop-down list, select the folder to which you want to move the items (the “target” folder). The folder and its contents are moved to the target folder.
Note: you can also “drag-and-drop” folders if the source and target folders are both visible.
