You also have access to many free online resources through the Internet Archive. The Internet Archive contains millions of freely available items. Their archiving began in 1996 with a focus on the Internet, and now, they archive many different types of information, including many print items. They continually add materials, and the collection includes many religion and theology texts. To find these items, you will need to search the Internet Archive directly. They will not appear when you use USearch, the library's online search tool.
For more information about how to find, access, and use the Internet Archive, see the information on this page.
The Internet Archive is easily findable online. You can just search for Internet Archive using your favorite search engine. Alternatively, you can use the link below for direct access.
Access to the internet archive is free. You can search without an account; however, you will need an account to fully view and checkout items in copyright. To create an account, use the link below. You will need to provide an email address, screen name, and password. (The email address does not have to be your seminary email address.)
Once you create an account, you can log in to the Internet Archive. To do this, click on Log In in the top right corner of the homepage (https://archive.org).
Now that you have logged in, you can search the archive directly and quickly open items of interest. To learn more about finding and borrowing items, see the Using the Internet Archive box.
To view your account, click on your screen name in the top right. (This requires that you log in first.)
Once you open your account, you can view your loans and favorites. You can also edit your settings, like your log in information or screen name.
On the Internet Archive's homepage (https://archive.org), you can also search archived versions of webpages. To do this, insert the URL into the search box and press Enter.
Archived versions of the website will appear on the next page. You can click on any year to view the calendar for that year. Dates when the website was archived are indicated by blue (great) or green (good) dots. (Orange and red dots indicate issues with capturing the page.) To view a webpage on a particular day, click on a dot, and the webpage will load. (Please note, the archived version may take a while to load and may not load fully. It may also not be fully functional, but the content should be present.)
This can be a great way to find historical information that was once a part of a website. It is also helpful for finding information that may not be discoverable elsewhere.
If you would like to check out a book and read it offline on a separate device like an iPad, Kindle, etc., you can do that. The book must be available to borrow for 14 days though. Once you check it out, you can follow these instructions to download it. Please note, this seems to work best in Firefox.
First, click on the three dots on the left to open a menu with the download option.
Next, click on the Downloadable files options and select the file to download. There may be more than one, so select the appropriate one.
Searching for Items
You can search the Internet Archive using the search box on the middle of the homepage (https://archive.org). Once you enter text, you can select what you what you want to search (e.g., metadata, text, etc.). Metadata is information about an object, like its title, author, date, etc. Text allows you to search the full text of items which can be useful for locating quotes.
Alternatively, you can click the icons above the search bar to search a particular type of media. This will open a full collection that you can further search using the search box and limiters on the left.
You also have the ability to use the Advanced Search feature. You can click the link below the search box to utilize this tool which will allow you to search by title, author, date, etc. You can also use this tool to generate/download results in a certain format. Scroll to the bottom of the advanced page for search tips.
Viewing Items
Once you search for items, you can open up an item by click on its title or the cover image that appears above the title.
The book will open in a preview window on the next page. The preview will likely be limited, unless the book is out of copyright.
Borrowing Items
To fully view items in copyright, you will need to select Borrow above the book preview. (You must have an account and be signed in.) From there, you may need to select the duration of your loan, or you may only be able to borrow the book for one hour. (Please note, the duration is not something that we can change at the Styberg Library; it is set by the Internet Archive directly and based upon availability.)
Once you borrow the book, it is yours for the duration of the loan period. You can now view it fully.
Using the Tools
When reading a book online, you have quite a few options.
Adding a Favorite
Below the viewing window, you can see options to add the item to your favorites or share it. To share it, just click on the box with an arrow icon. To add the item to your favorites, click on the star. Then, you can more easily find and view the item later through your account. To learn more about your account, see the Using Your Account box on this page.
