How to Access Materials in the Learning Commons
Welcome to the Lapp Learning Commons!
The Learning Commons is a key partner in your education here at CTS. The Lapp Learning Commons has a long tradition and commitment to meeting the instructional and research needs of its constituents.
Students at Chicago Theological Seminary are granted full use privileges of the Learning Commons and its resources.
You can sign into your library account with your CTS Single Sign-On credentials (i.e. CTS email username and password).
When you sign into your account you can do the following:
- Save items to your favorites
- View your search history
- Save search keywords and terms
- Set up e-mail alerts for new items that meet your saved search criteria
- Place digitization requests from within an item record
- Request books to be mailed to your home from within an item record
- Place holds on books
- Renew books you have checked-out
If you are connecting off-campus, some results may also be hidden from your view unless you first sign in.
1. Click "Sign in" in the upper right corner of any OneSearch page.
2. You can also sign-in within an item record:
Accessing Learning Commons Resources Remotely
The Learning Commons offers a robust collection of electronic resources such as ebooks, ejournals and subscription databases. OpenAthens is the means by which we authenticate current students, staff and faculty at CTS and grant access to this content off-campus.
There are two ways in which OpenAthens will grant you access to electronic resources in the Learning Commons.
- Access to content through the Learning Commons website
- Access to content directly from vendor websites e.g. through a Google search
1. Access to Content Through the Learning Commons Website
Users accessing online resources directly from the Learning Commons website will be prompted to sign-in through this login screen:
Please use your CTS email username and password. If your email is FirstName.LastName@ctschicago.edu, then your username would be FirstName.LastName.
If you forgot your username or password, please click on the Forgot Username or Forgot Password link to recover your username or reset your password. Please note that you must have first have configured recovery options under your MyCTS account.
2. Access to Content Directly From Vendor Websites
While searching on Google or Google Scholar, you may be taken to a vendor website that offers OpenAthens authentication and with whom we have subscription (e.g. Project Muse, JSTOR, Oxford University Press, etc.), then follow these steps:
- Find the "Sign in" or "Login" button on the content provider's website
- Select OpenAthens as the sign-in method (if this option is not available, you will not be able to sign-in)
- In the Find your organisation search box, type Chicago Theological Seminary
- Select the sign-in prompt for Chicago Theological Seminary
- You will then be directed to the new login screen pictured above
Keep in mind, that it is possible to be denied access to content on a vendor website. It may be that we have access to the journal, but not for the dates you are looking for.
Starting your search from the Learning Commons website is still the most reliable way to access content.
The Find a Journal tab on the Learning Commons homepage is the best way to determine whether we have access to a specific journal, and the dates for which we have coverage.
Hours of Operation
Fall & Spring Semester
Monday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
J-Term & Summer Hours
Monday, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Friday, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (J-Term)
Circulation Policies
For details about how long you can check-out material, fines, placing holds or recalling books, see the following:
Search Tools in the Lapp Learning Commons
There are a number of different tools you can use to search for materials in the Learning Commons.
Search Everything with OneSearch
This is exactly what it sounds like. CTS subscribes to PrimoVE, a new platform that allows users to search in one place all the content the Learning Commons either owns or subscribes to. You can search for books, articles, streaming media and more across our catalog and all of our databases (e.g. ATLA, EBSCO, JSTOR, Project Muse, etc.). See Search Tips
This is a listing of al the books on the reserve shelf for the current semested in the Learning Commons.
This is an alphabetical listing of all of the databases and web resources that are available in the Learning Commons. Some of these databases will require you to login if you're off-campus but several are open access and do not require a separate login.
If you know which journal you're looking for, this is where you can see if it's available in the Learning Commons collection and the coverage dates.
The research guides are a curated list of books, ebooks, journals and databases for different subject areas. The research guides are great "starting points" if you're not familiar with the particular subject. The research guides also include a number of how-to guides (e.g. how to navigate databases such as EBSCO, ATLA, JSTOR and Project Muse).