THEATER R1B: Live Theatrical Performance

Library Prize for Undergraduate Research

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:21:54 -0700

The Library Prize for Undergraduate Research recognizes excellence in undergraduate research projects that show evidence of significant inquiry using the library, its resources, and collections and learning about the research and information-gathering process itself.

Beyond the Web

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:02:14 -0700

"It's all free on the Internet, right? Why should I go through the library's website to find sources for my paper?"

The Web is a great source for free, publicly available information. However, the Library pays for thousands of electronic books, journals, and other information resources that are available only to the campus community. Through the Library website, you can access hundreds of different licensed databases containing journal articles, electronic books, maps, images, government and legal information, current and historical newspapers, digitized primary sources, and more.

You access these resources through the Internet, using a browser like Firefox, Chrome or Internet Explorer -- but these databases are not part of the free, public Web. Resources like Lexis-Nexis, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, and ARTstor are "invisible" to Google. You will not see results from most library databases in the results of a Google search.

Want to find out more? Get started exploring the Library's electronic resources, or find out how to get access to licensed resources from off-campus.

Starting Points

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:21:44 -0800

1. Read an introduction to the campus libraries for undergraduates.

2. Set up your computer for off campus access to library databases.

3. Need a map of the campus libraries? Doe and Moffitt floor plans are here.

4. Each library has its own hours and they may change on holidays and between semesters - click on the calendar for each library to view a month at a time.

5. Information about citing your sources and links to guides for frequently used citation styles here.

Using call numbers to find books

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:17:16 -0700

Books and journals are arranged on our shelves according to the Library of Congress (LC) classification system. Each is assigned a unique call number based on its subject matter and other characteristics. Items on the same subject will often be grouped together.

Each call number consists of several elements. For example, consider:

TK
7881.6
M29
1993

The FIRST line, TK, is based on the broad subject of the book. Within Class T for technology, TK represents electrical engineering.

The SECOND line, 7881.6, defines the subject matter more finely. When looking for the book, read this as a whole number with a decimal component. In this example, TK7881.6 represents magnetic recording (a subdivision of TK— electrical engineering).

The THIRD line, M29, usually indicates author, but may also represent a further subject subdivision, geographic area, etc. There may also be a fourth line, formatted the same way. When looking for the book, read the numeric component as if it were preceded by a decimal point. In the example above, the numeric part of M29 should be read as ".29" (and the call number TK7881.6 M29 comes before TK7881.6 M4).

The YEAR of publication, such as 1993, may also be present. These file in chronological order and often indicate successive editions of a book. The call number may also have additional elements, such as volume numbers.

In using a call number to locate a book on the shelf, consider each element in turn before moving on to the next segment.

These call numbers are arranged as they should appear on the shelves. In each case, the element shown in boldface distinguishes the number from the preceding one:

Q
76
K26

QA
17
F75

QA
17.1
C98

TK
3
Z37

TK
29
M49

TK
29
M5
1997

TK
29
M5
2007

Google Books

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:15:19 -0700

Google Books contains millions of scanned books, from libraries and publishers worldwide. You can search the entire text of the books, view previews or "snippets" from books that are still in copyright, and read the full text of out-of-copyright (pre-1923) books. Want to read the entire text of an in-copyright book? Use Google Books' Find in a Library link to locate the book in a UC Berkeley library, or search OskiCat to see if UC Berkeley owns the book.

Why use Google Books?

Library catalogs (like OskiCat) don't search inside books; using a library catalog, you can search only information about the book (title, author, Library of Congress subject headings, etc.). Google Books will let you search inside books, which can be very useful for hard-to-find information. Try it now:

Searching Library Catalogs

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:46:44 -0700

Use OskiCat to locate materials related to your topic, including books, government publications, and audio and video recordings, in the libraries of UC Berkeley. OskiCat will show you the location and availability of the items that we own.

Using OskiCat (but not Melvyl) you can also renew your books online, look up course reserve materials by course number or instructor name, and place holds on items that other library users have already checked out.

Use Melvyl to locate materials related to your topic located at other campuses in the UC system, or worldwide. You can use the Request button to request an item from another library, if we don't own it.

Using Melvyl (but not OskiCat) you can find articles as well as books, easily format a citation for copying into a bibliography, and see images of book covers, when available. Melvyl will also show you the location and availablity of items that we own.

Melvyl has changed as of January 2012, and now includes many more articles. Detailed Melvyl help.

OskiCat Search Terms

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:47:02 -0700

Here are some terms you can use in OskiCat or Melvyl that may help you find books on your topic. Remember, these search engines only let you search brief information about the books - you're not searching in the full text of the books themselves! If you're not getting enough results, try leaving out some search terms, searching for a less specific topic (Southeast Asian Americans instead of Cambodian Americans) using Google Books, or asking a librarian.

All of these terms are Library of Congress subject headings -- which means you'll get the most complete results if you enter them exactly as typed (African Americans, not African American).

Where's the PDF?

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:49:03 -0700

Many article databases contain information about articles (citations or abstracts), not the entire text of the article. Once you've used an article database to find articles on your topic, you may need to use this button: in order to locate and read the full text of the article. The UC-eLinks button appears in nearly all the databases available from the UCB Library website.

UC-eLinks will link you to the online full text of an article if UCB has paid for online access; otherwise, UC-eLinks will help you locate a print copy on the shelf in the library. If UCB doesn't own the article in print or online format, UC-eLinks can also help you order a copy from another library.

For more information, watch this video tutorial (about 4 min.)

You can also set up UC-eLinks to work with Google Scholar. For more information, watch this video tutorial (about 2 min.)

General Article Databases

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:17:25 -0700

Now that you know the types of articles you need, you can choose a database, also known as a periodical index, to find them. Databases are collections of thousands of articles organized by subject. The Libraries have hundreds of databases covering every academic discipline. Some are multi-disciplinary, covering a broad range of subjects and including popular and scholarly sources, and others are subject-specific, and include scholarly and specialized articles. A complete list is available at Find Articles.

The following multi-disciplinary databases are good places to start your research:

Theater, Dance, and Performance

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:54:06 -0700

Citing Live Performances in MLA

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:07:12 -0700

In MLA, a solo performance is cited by the performer’s name, and can include a title or a descriptive word or phrase to identify the format.

Play Performance Format:

[Play author], [Play title]. [Location performed]. [Performance date].

That said, if you want to cite a performance by two or more people, a play production, or other published or recorded work, what you list first will depend largely on the aspect or element of the production you focus on. This is due to the collaborative nature of these tpyes of productions: even if you identify a director or writer, group performances do not carry individual authorship like a written text or image.

See more examples at the Yale College Writing Center Site.

Formatting Citations

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:11:19 -0700

Citing Your Sources - a brief online guide to the main citation styles and a brief discussion on what constitutes plagiarism.
MLA handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th edition. New York : Modern Language Association of America, 2009.
Doe Reference Reference Hall LB2369 .G53 2009
Main Gardner Stacks LB2369 .G53 2009
Many older editions available throughout the UCB libraries.
The Chicago Manual of Style (UCB-only access)
15th ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2003. Searchable, online version of the Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition).
Many print editions available throughout the UCB Libraries.
Cite Right: A Quick Guide to Citation Styles--MLA, APA, Chicago, the Sciences, Professions, and More (UCB-only access) Charles Lipson. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2006.
Many print editions throughout the libraries.
Columbia Guide to Online Style (UCB-only access)
Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor. 2nd ed. NY: Columbia Univ. Press. 2006.
Many print editions throughout the UCB libraries.

How to Avoid Plagiarism

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:21:23 -0700

Plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty, violating the Berkeley Campus Code of Student Conduct. The campus issues a guide to understanding plagiarism, which states:

"Plagiarism means using another's work without giving credit. You must put others' words in quotation marks and cite your source(s). Citation must also be given when using others' ideas, even when those ideas are paraphrased into your own words."

Plagiarism is a serious violation of academic and student conduct rules and is punishable with a failing grade and possibly more severe action.

In order to avoid plagiarism, you must give credit when

You use another person's ideas, opinions, or theories.
You use facts, statistics, graphics, drawings, music, etc., or any other type of information that does not comprise common knowledge.
You use quotations from another person's spoken or written word.
You paraphrase another person's spoken or written word.

This content is part of the Understanding Plagiarism tutorial created by the Indiana University School of Education.

Citation Management Tools

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:29:05 -0800

Citation management tools help you manage your research, collect and cite sources, organize and store your PDFs, and create bibliographies in a variety of citation styles. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, but all are easier than doing it by hand!

Zotero: A free plug-in for the Firefox browser: keeps copies of what you find on the web, permits tagging, notation, full text searching of your library of resources, works with Word, and has a free web backup service. Zotero is also available as a stand-alone application that syncs with Chrome and Safari, or as a bookmarklet for mobile browsers.
- Zotero help from the UCB Libraries
- Zotero help from zotero.org
RefWorks - web-based and free for UC Berkeley users. It allows you to create your own database by importing references and using them for footnotes and bibliographies, then works with Word to help you format references and a bibliography for your paper. Use theRefWorks New User Form to sign up.
- RefWorks help from the UCB Libraries
- RefWorks help from RefWorks
EndNote: Desktop software for managing your references and formatting bibliographies. You can purchase EndNote from the Cal Student Store.

Tip: After creating a bibliography with a citation management tool, it's always good to double check the formatting; sometimes the software doesn't get it quite right.

Research Advisory Service

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:21:53 -0700

Research Advisory Service for Cal Undergraduates

Book a 30-minute appointment with a librarian who will help refine and focus research inquiries, identify useful online and print sources, and develop search strategies for humanities and social sciences topics (examples of research topics).

This service is for Cal undergraduates only. Graduate students and faculty should contact the library liaison to their department or program for specialized reference consultations.

Ask a Librarian 24/7 Chat

jdorner@library.berkeley.edu (Jennifer Dorner) — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 12:15:53 -0800

You can type your question directly into this chat window to chat with a librarian. Your question may be answered by a reference librarian from Berkeley, from another UC campus, or another academic library elsewhere in the US. We share information about our libraries to make sure you get good answers.

If the librarian can't answer you well enough, your question will be referred to a Berkeley librarian for follow-up.

Have fun chatting!