Topic 4: Questia

Topic 4: Accessing Questia
Purpose: Self-described as the "first online library that provides 24/7 access to the world's largest online collection of books and journal articles in the humanities and social sciences," Questia gives Carroll students access to full text books, and (to a lesser degree) articles. Materials here are available in full text. Beginning in August 2012, Carroll users began accessing the alternatively named Questia School product, which mirrors the content of Questia.

''In September 2019, the company owning Questia (Cengage/Gale) announced the database would be discontinued in 2020. Student will lose access to the database based on their Carroll Term of Renewal beginning with Pascal Term 2020, and continuing through Omega Term 2020, Summer Term 2020, and Alpha Term 2020. The last date Questia will be available on the Carroll account will be by October 15, 2020.''

A replacement Ebook Resource, ProQuest Ebook Central'', is available to all students beginning Pascal Term 2020. ''

''Update: Students interested in Questia after October 2020 are encouraged to contact the vendor directly at the link provided here. No further information about the resource after December 2020 is currently available.''

Update: According to Questia's website on 12/10/2020, "Site Sunset: After 22 years of serving the needs of teachers and students worldwide, Questia is ceasing operations as of Monday, December 21, 2020. New subscriptions are no longer offered."

Information following is for historic purposes only

Trouble with access? Please send comments or questions to me

Here are the basics to access Questia:
 * 1) Carroll students, access the Carroll homepage at http://www.bhcarroll.edu/ using the preferred Firefox browser
 * 2) Choose Student
 * 3) Choose Resources
 * 4) Choose My Courses
 * 5) Give your Login and Password
 * 6) Choose the "Triple Gate"- 3 horizontal bars icon (top right) for the Library
 * 7) Choose Questia
 * 8) Submit username and password (usually your NexLearn login and password, but sent officially by email from Carroll; ask the Librarian for a resend if needed)

Trouble with access? Please send comments or questions to me

Note: Beginning August 2011, the new NexLearn interface prefers the Firefox browser

Learn where to find video versions of the Carroll Tutorials here...

Topic 4A: Searching Questia
Trouble with access? Please send comments or questions to me
 * 1) Type in a search (i.e., Calvinism) and select the Search button
 * 2) Choose an entry to view full text (when available)

Topic 4B: Researching with Questia
Purpose: Go deeper by refining search strategies in Questia; like a "rerun" on TV, "research" means "look again."

Try these 3 strategies: 

Strategy 1: What are you looking for?

In NexLearn, different resources look for different types of information. Separating and combining the right resources will help you target your searching

Strategy 2: What terms describe what you're looking for?

Keep a list of search terms you'v used, and of ones you find while searching. Both "abominable snowman" and "yeti" describe the same thing, but some citations may use both terms, and some only one- or the other! Make separate searches with alternative terms; mix it up to see if you've found all there is to find.

Strategy 3: Learn more about searching

From the Questia login page, scroll down to choose How to use Questia...

In Questia, Scroll down for Frequently Asked Questions, Help, or Video Tutorials

Or, click the ? beside the resource in NexLearn for a tutorial

Questia's official list of what Books and Journals (their title lists)  are offered in Questia 

TIPS:

TIP: Questia includes resources published both before 1923 AND after 1923

Another TIP: If you're looking for Full Text Books and didn't find what you want here, you can also try searching Books.Logos.com (formerly Seminary Library) (see Topic 3) or Google Books (see Topic 7); for non-full text citations, try searching OCLC FirstSearch and select the WorldCat database (see Topic 2), or Google Books (see Topic 7).

Still Another TIP: If you're looking for Full Text Articles and didn't find what you want here, you can also try searching and select the Ebsco databases for ATLA Religion, ATLAS, and Wilson Select Full Text databases (see Topic 2);, If you're looking for Articles and didn't find what you wanted here, you can also try searching OCLC FirstSearch and select the Article First database (see Topic 2).

And Another TIP: Some little-commented on functionality in Questia which show as icons on the right top of the screen when an individual item is being read include:
 * Table of Contents (TOC)
 * Settings (change Fonts and contrast)
 * Search within (for keywords used inside the title being read)
 * Lookup (dictionary for words in text)
 * Print
 * Help (FAQs)
 * Full Screen (hides these and other icons for a cleaner view of the text)

Learn where to find video versions of the Carroll Tutorials here...

Trouble with access? Please send comments or questions to me