Frequently Asked Questions
Only currently enrolled students, faculty, and staff are permitted access to Luther Rice Library databases from off campus. To access these databases, you must authenticate yourself using your student email address and password.
From the Library Website: When you enter a search into the GALILEO Search box on the library homepage or when you select a specific database, you will be prompted with a login screen. You must select the student option before attempting to log in.
From the MyCampus Portal: When logged in to the My Campus Portal, there is a convenient Online Library link near the top of the page that will automatically give you access to the library without an additional login.
If you are experiencing difficulty logging in, make sure that you have entered your student email address (firstname.lastname@student.lutherrice.edu.) and password correctly. If you do not remember your password, click here to reset your password.
1) Current students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Luther Rice College & Seminary are entitled to borrow print books from the library. We also partner with select schools for Reciprocal borrowing by their students. (See #5.)
2) Doctoral students are limited to 35 items checked out at one time, while all other LR students are limited to 25 items. See How Long Can I Keep Library Materials? Below for details.
3) Luther Rice Alumni may check out up to 6 items for a 14 day loan period with one renewal.
4) Most of the items in the general collection can be checked out for 14 days by staff.
5) Through our Reciprocal Borrowing Agreements, students from select schools may borrow up to 4 items at a time for a 2 week period. (Registration must be renewed each semester. A current semester student ID card from the home institution is required for registration and check-out.) See this guide for information on which schools we are partnered with. Our students may borrow from participating schools, as well.
Loan Periods & Late Fees: The following table illustrates loan periods and late fees for the various library materials:
| Type of Material | Loan Period | Renewals | Overdue Fines |
| Circulation Books | 60 Days | 2 (15 days) | $0.20 per day |
| Multimedia | 15 Days (All Students) | 1 (7 days) | $0.50 per day |
| Reserve Books | (On-Campus use only) | No Renewal | N/A |
| Interlibrary Loans | Decided by Lending Library (Oncampus only) | $1.00 per day | |
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Use the online Koha catalog to locate and borrow print books held by Luther Rice Library. Enter your search terms into the search box on the home page, such as a title, an author, or a few keywords regarding your topic. The search engine is looking for records that include ALL of your search terms. So, entering long phrases may limit results too much. You may also choose to run an Advanced Search and choose specific item types or formats and specific date ranges, among other options.
If an item appears in the library catalog, you will find information about the call number (location in the library), number of copies held, and the availability of the item.
The Books by Mail service is available to current students living within the US including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.
When you search for books, the status in the library catalog indicates whether copies are available for loan. If the status says “Available”, the book is available for mail out. Add items to the ‘Cart’ from the results screen. You can add several items at a time to the cart. To send the cart, Click on the ‘Cart’ button in the top left corner, click the drop-down link that shows the number of items in the cart. A new window will open. Enter the library’s email address (library@lutherrice.edu) in the email address box. Be sure to include your full name and current mailing address in the second, larger box. Then click ‘Send.’
View the How to Order Books by Mail video.
You must have a library account set up and must be logged in to Koha to be able to use the cart feature. Your Koha login is the same as your My Campus/Moodle login. If you do not have a Koha library account, please contact the library.
Materials will be sent to you via USPS Media mail.
If you are near campus, please return materials to the Library’s drop box in front of the library, or at the library front desk. If you return materials by mail, please pay the return postage and send them to:
Smith Library
Luther Rice College & Seminary
3038 Evans Mill Road
Lithonia, GA 30038
Using a form of mail that allows you to track a package will help you know the delivery status of your items. Please remember that materials remain your responsibility until they are received and checked in at the circulation desk. To ensure that all books are returned to us in the condition in which they left the library, we ask that when shipping books back to the library please follow the printed mailing guidelines sent in the book package.
Students are not held responsible for items that are lost in shipping. Should the materials be lost in the mail, a receipt showing the time and date of mailing will be considered evidence that the books were indeed returned. It is further recommended that students, via e-mail, notify the library that materials have been sent.
If the library books or articles you need cannot be found in the Luther Rice Library, contact the library with your request. We will determine if we are able to obtain the resource or will direct you to the best options available for you.
- Course textbooks can be purchased through the Luther Rice bookstore Vital Source.
- Many course textbooks can be found online in the Textbooks Available in EBook Format LibGuide. Some of these are available with no access limits; however, some are limited to one or a few simultaneous users. Those with unlimited access are marked in the guide. The others indicate the number of available copies within the record, which can be viewed by clicking on the title link.
- Many course textbooks are available in print at the library reference desk for use in the library. These books are on ‘Course Reserve’ and cannot be checked out.
GALILEO Search is a powerful search tool that enables you to find materials from most of the library databases with a single search. Instead of searching databases individually, you can enter a search term into GALILEO Search and get results which will include eBooks, journal articles, and more from nearly all of the library’s databases.
To access GALILEO Search, simply use the search box on the library’s homepage. Enter your search term(s) in the search box and click on the search button. Click the “All Students Click Here” button and then authenticate yourself with your student email and password. GALILEO Search will display results which will include multiple databases and formats. You may use the filter button at the top or left side to filter down to a specific format (eBook, Academic Journal, etc.), as well as controlling the date range of the results, among other things.
To see a complete list of electronic databases, visit the Databases A to Z page.
If your search does not produce the desired results, try a different search term or try combining keywords. See the Database Searching Tips guide.
You may also contact a librarian for research assistance at (770) 484-1204 (ext. 5756) or email us at library@lutherrice.edu
For help with research, contact the library front desk at (770) 484-1204 ext. 5756 or email your research question to Library@LutherRice.edu.
Also, check out our Research Instruction LibGuide.
Luther Rice typically uses Turabian Style Formating 9th Edition for research papers and other various assignments.
We recommend you obtain A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Ninth Edition: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers 9th edtion. It is very affordable and useful for most every course. It covers every detail of the proper formatting and also information on how to conduct academic research and write research papers.
We have also created a Turabian formatting LibGuide with resources to help students. This guide includes a video tutorial which demonstrates step-by-step how to format Turabian style papers in Microsoft Word.
In the tutorial, you will learn the following:
- How to format your papers in Turabian style using Microsoft Word
- How to set up margins, fonts, indents, and double spacing
- How to create a title page, outline, and bibliography
- How to insert page numbers correctly
- How to use footnotes
- How to access the Turabian LibGuide
You can search most library databases at the same time by utilizing the articles tab on the GALILEO Search box.
Many of these databases are full-text and they cover particular disciplines such as business/leadership (ABI/INFORM Complete & Business Source Complete), religion (ATLA(S) Religion, EBSCO Religion & Philosophy Collection & Theological Journal Library), education (ProQuest Education Journals) and counseling (Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection).
Once you decide on the topic you want to research, think of relevant keyword(s) and synonyms that describe your topic and enter one or more search terms in the search box. GALILEO Search will typically give you sufficient results quickly. Browse the results to locate your documents. You will find PDF or HTML links for full-text articles. Once you have found a good article, take notice of the subjects assigned to it. These subjects are hyperlinks that will take you to other materials on the same subject just by clicking the link to initiate the search by subject.
If you want to search a single database, go directly to the database. If you are not sure where to start, please follow these steps:
The first step is to search the general database(s)/multidisciplinary database(s) such as Academic Search Complete and ProQuest Research Library because these databases cover a wide range of topics.
The second step is to pick subject-specific database(s) that cover your topic from the Databases A to Z list.
If your search does not produce any results, you may have to construct searches combining search terms or you may want to contact a librarian to discuss what you are looking for. Feel free to contact the Library at (770) 484-1204 (ext. 5756) or email us at library@lutherrice.edu.
If there are specific resources you need and cannot locate, contact us and we will do everything possible to get the resource to you through purchasing the resource or requesting copies of articles from other libraries through our ILL service.
For additional help with the research process, visit our Research Instruction Guide or our Database Searching Tips guide.
Scholarly articles are written by scholars or experts in their field of study. They are reviewed by other professionals within that particular field. Most databases have limiters to search for scholarly (peer-reviewed) journals only. Also, if you click on the journal publication link within the article record, you can obtain further information on the journal, which typically includes whether it is peer-reviewed. The record of most database resources can be viewed by clicking the title.
Another important sign to look for is whether the article has cited other resources, such as scholarly articles and books. There will typically be a list of sources at the end of the article citing 15 or more other sources.
This tutorial will explain how to distinguish between scholarly and popular periodicals.
The following resource provides in-depth information on article citation:
Scholarly, or peer-reviewed articles are written by professionals in their field of study and are reviewed by other scholars (or peers) before publication. This process adds to the credibility of the research and helps eliminate bias, inaccuracies, and misinformation. They also often reflect the most current research and information on a given topic.
So they are often required for specific course assignments and contribute to a more robust and academic bibliography (sources used to write your paper).
How do I search for eBooks?
You can use the GALILEO Search box on the library homepage to search for eBooks. After conducting your first search, you will be taken to a results page where you can filter down to eBooks as an Item Type.
In the search box, you can enter the title and author’s last name as keywords or enter the topic you are looking for. You do not need to enter the full title but just the most important words.
Are eBooks downloadable?
EBooks are downloadable when publishers allow the book to be used by multiple users at the same time. See our LibGuide on Getting Started with eBooks for more detailed information.
What is the difference between PDF and EPUB files?
“PDF” opens an exact scan of the book; the page numbers will be the same as the print version. This option is best when you need the page numbers for reference. “EPUB” opens a full copy of the book, but the text will “flow” rather than be limited to exact pages. It will adapt to the size of your mobile device, so this option is particularly good for reading on mobile devices.
Why do I get a message that says the eBook is in use?
There are three types of eBooks in our databases: single-user, three-user, and unlimited-user. Single-user titles can only be accessed by one person at a time per copy. Three-user titles can be accessed by up to three people at a time for one copy. Unlimited-user titles allow an unlimited number of people to access the title at the same time. Most of the titles in the EBSCO, ProQuest and CREDO eBook Collections are unlimited-user.
Can I print an eBook?
You can print a certain number of pages. The exact number of pages varies depending on the database provider and any copyright restrictions from the publisher. Some databases organize the books by chapters in pdf format. You can print these downloaded chapters easily using the down arrows on the Table of Contents (for those eBooks permitting the save/print option).
Luther Rice Doctor of Ministry project records are searchable through the Koha catalog.
View the tutorial on how to conduct a search for these.
To view the electronic copies of these projects (PDF format), email the library with information regarding the title, author, and the date of the project, found within the Koha record. You may send emails to Library@LutherRice.edu.
The password for TREN (Theological Research Exchange Network) documents is now provided on the download page for each document. If you cannot locate it, please Contact the library for assistance.
Choice of which commentaries to use is based upon the purpose of the usage. See our Choosing the Best Bible Commentary video.
Also, check out the Best Commentaries external website for additional information on commentaries.
Don’t miss our Bible Commentaries LibGuide which provides links to most of the commentaries within the library’s eBook collection.
Plagiarism occurs when someone uses the work of another without properly giving credit to the person or group who created the original material. Plagiarism is a serious issue in an academic institution. Always acknowledge your sources by citing them in proper format. This guide page provides more information on plagiarism. Always remember to take good notes along the research process and cite every source you use in your paper–whether you are quoting directly or paraphrasing the information found in the source.