ENGLISH R1B: Difficult Literature

Doe Reading Room

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:27:10 -0700

Starting off

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 14:56:17 -0700

UCB Libraries

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:10:09 -0700

The library website is your gateway to research at UC Berkeley.

Library hours and maps
Types of resources
Over ten million volumes
Several dozen libraries

Searching Library Catalogs

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:58:28 -0700

Use OskiCat to locate materials on the shelves of the UC Berkeley libraries and also to:

renew books online
find course reserves and to
place holds on items that are checked out.

Use Melvyl to locate materials at other campuses in the UC system, or worldwide, and also to

request materials from another library if we don't own it
find articles from some article databases
easily format a citation for copying into a bibliography

Library catalog history

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 12:21:34 -0700

Photo of card catalog from OSU Archives on Flickr.

Photo of card catalog index card by dfulmer on Flickr.

Getting Material from NRLF

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 10:12:17 -0800

A large part of the library's collection is stored off campus in an environmentally secure building called the Northern Regional Library Facility [NRLF].

Submit online requests via the REQUEST button in OskiCat to borrow material shelved at NRLF. To receive electronic or paper copies of book chapters or journal articles, submit an online request via the "Request an article from NRLF (photocopy or web delivery)" link that appears in eligible titles in OskiCat. Staff at public service desks of any campus library can assist you with further questions.

Oskicat Tips

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 08:57:44 -0800

Search for author's name using the author search: Barnes, Djuna
Search for topics using a keyword search: identity and djuna barnes
Try variant spellings! Dostoevski vs dostoevsky
Use an asterisk as a wildcard: capital* finds capital, capitalism, capitalists, etc.
Limit results by language (Modify search)
You can browse topics using the Subject links.
- Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns), 1888-1965 -- Aesthetics
- Barnes, Djuna -- Criticism and interpretation

Proxy server

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:38:24 -0800

To use library databases from off campus you have to set up the proxy server: this changes your browser settings.

Different browsers [Firefox, Chrome, Safari...] have different instructions- they are all here.
You can set it up on multiple devices
You log in with your CalNet ID
There's an alternative: the VPN

Where's the PDF?

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:58:29 -0700

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.

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.)

Searching OskiCat for Primary Sources

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 09:26:57 -0800

Certain words and phrases (part of the Library of Congress Subject Headings classification system) will find primary sources in library catalogs. You can use these in OskiCat or Melvyl:

-correspondence
-sources
-diaries
-personal narratives
-interviews
-speeches
-documents
-archives
-early works to 1800
-newspapers

Examples:

history victorian britain sources
women 19th century personal narratives

Scholarly Article Databases

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 09:23:35 -0800

There are hundreds of article databases on different topics (such as Literature) available on the library website, and you can browse them by subject.

Primary sources and news

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 09:32:27 -0800

In addition to scholarly journals, the Library subscribes to a number of news and other primary source databases. A few that are focused on 20th century western newspapers are included below.

Cite your sources

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:16:43 -0700

MLA handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th edition, in print.
- Many older editions are also available throughout the UCB libraries.
Chicago Manual of Style (online).
- Also available in print in many different libraries.
Citing Your Sources. A brief online guide to the main citation styles and a brief discussion on what constitutes plagiarism.
Cite Right: A Quick Guide to Citation Styles--MLA, APA, Chicago, the Sciences, Professions, and More (online) Charles Lipson. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2006.
- Many print editions are available throughout the libraries.

Be Critical

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:20:34 -0700

The research process is part of the composition process. Don't be afraid to let your personal taste and inclinations guide the direction of your research. It's also important, however, to Critically Analyze Information Sources (Cornell).

What kinds of sources do you need? If you need scholarly articles, search article databases on the library website. If you need movie times, search Google!
Slow down.
- Is there an advanced search page?
- Can you limit to peer-reviewed articles?
- Can you limit by the year published?
- Can you use any subject terms to get more relevant results?
Iterative searching
- Learn from the search results
- Too many results? Too few?
- Look at citations from good sources

Research process

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 13:51:40 -0700

What does it look like?

Chat and email reference

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:21:15 -0700

Go to the research help page to have librarians answer your questions online:

24/7 Chat Reference
Email Reference
Phone Reference
Library Liaisons (for in-depth, upper-level research)
Oh, and there's always the reference desk too!

A few questions to finish

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:21:40 -0700

Fill out this quick survey to finish up the class. thanks!

Research Advisory Service

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:29:17 -0700

Research Advisory Service for Cal Undergraduates
You can book a 30-minute appointment with a librarian who will help refine and focus your research, identify useful online and print sources, and develop search strategies for humanities and social sciences topics.