PRELIMINARIES: Read carefully through the description of description of LINK+ and its profile on Dr. Schwartz's Guide to Kennedy Library Research Tools.  Be sure you are clear about what it is, what can be borrowed from it, when (and why) to use it, its strengths and its limitations. 

NOTE 1:  While you can access this page of instructions and Link+ directly using any web browser, it may be most efficient to do so from within your course page in Blackboard, where you will be submitting your Research Progress Reports to the class Research Archive (click on "Discussion Board") and where you can access this assignment page, via the External Links section, from both our class home page and the Calendar of Assignments.  Within Blackboard, Link+ can be accessed using the "Library Resources" tab from the main page of the Kennedy Library website (click on "Find," then on "About Link+" and finally on the "Link+" tab itself); from the Research Guide for English (scroll down and click on the "Link+" tab); and also under "L" on the alphabetical list of "Article Databases." 

To access Blackboard, log in at MyCalpoly, go to "Blackboard Access" and select this class. 

If you're not a Blackboard fan, you can also access Link+ by clicking on the links on this page of instructions or on the main Kennedy Library website (click on "Find," then on "About Link+" and finally on the "Link+" tab itself) or through the "Library Services" tab on your My Cal Poly portal (where it is found under "Quick Links).  If you choose to access Link+ outside of Blackboard, you can write up your Research Report using the word-processor of your choice and cut and paste it into the message screen which opens when you click on "Add New Thread" in your Research Report Archive.

NOTE 2: If no report screen appears when you click on "Add New Thread" in your Research Report Archive (within the Discussion Board section of Blackboard), your computer may be set up to block "active content" (e.g. script and ActiveX controls necessary for the Discussion Board to function properly).  Check to see if a security warning about "active content" has appeared on your web browser screen (e.g. "To help protect your security, Internet Explorer has restricted this file from showing active content that could access your computer.  Click here for options. . .").  Click on the provided link and select "Allow blocked content"; at the next prompt ("Allowing active content such as script and ActiveX controls can be useful, but active content might also harm your computer.  Are you sure you want to let this file run active content?"), click on "YES."  When you reenter your archive and click on "Add New Thread," a report screen with editing and formatting tabs should appear. 

NOTE 3:  if your "Add new thread" report screen does not include editing and formatting functions (bold, underlining, etc.), you may have have to change web browsers. These functions are acessible from Internet Explorer, but not e.g. in Mozilla Firefox.

NOTE 4: You will find that LINK+, like Polycat, is not the easiest tool to use for primary research, since there are many relevant secondary sources in the collections of the libraries in the LINK+ consortium that will not show up in the course of these LINK+ searches.  But knowing how to use LINK+ will be invaluable as a mode of access for many relevant secondary sources which you can identify in other ways, e.g. through a reference to the item in another work, or by using the MLA Bibliography (focus of the next research exercise). 

Use LINK+ to do subject, keyword and title searches on your research topic.  Perform these searches using the following search terms:  1) the title of the work you are researching (try separate searches on the original title, English translation, and alternate titles if applicable); 2) the author's name if known; and 3) more general topics that seem applicable (e.g. genre, formal characteristics, themes, etc.) If these terms do not yield satisfactory results, try a word search using the same search terms. HINT: if you come across a promising work on your topic, click on the subject listings (found within the catalogue entry for that work) to look for other works indexed under the same keywords.

Use LINK+ to identify at least one secondary source on your topic which is NOT available at Kennedy Library (check in Polycat -- not just in the list of LINK+ libraries which purportedly have the item -- and do NOT order items available at Cal Poly).  You will complete all steps of the process up to the point of filling out the order screen.  But DO NOT ACTUALLY ORDER THE WORK UNLESS YOU ACTUALLY INTEND TO READ IT!! Instead, you will PRINT OUT the LINK+ item description for the item you have selected, the Polycat screen confirming that the item is not in the Kennedy Library, AND the filled out LINK+ order screen for the item, and submit these THREE PRINT-OUTS (hard copy) along with HARD COPY of the bibligraphic citation for the item in question (also submitted electronically to the class research archive) for your group to get credit for this assignment. 

REMEMBER: a secondary source is a study ABOUT your author, topic or work, NOT an edition or translation of your work. 

The FIRST report should be a DETAILED account of what SPECIFIC types of searches you tried, using what SPECIFIC search terms, and the number of results each search generated.  You should also follow the various SUBJECT LINKS from within the catalogue entries for the most promising works you have identifiied on your topic.  Indicate which specific subject links you followed and which of these subject links are the most helpful in identifying additional works relevant to your topic.  You do not need to list specific titles, but do indicate HOW MANY promising titles you identify through each search.  The subject line of this report should read "Link+ search results."

Once you have identified a promising secondary source on your topic, PRINT OUT THE ITEM ENTRY from LINK+ with bibliographic information on the item in question. You must submit a hard-copy print-out of this screen for your group to get credit for this assignment.

Then, doublecheck IN POLYCAT to verify that the work is not available in Cal Poly's print or electronic collections by doing an author/title search on the item in Polycat.  This step is important because LINK+ may contain multiple entries for a single item, each of which lists only a few of the institutions which have the work in their collections.  Thus, you can't be sure Cal Poly doesn't have an item just because "Cal Poly-SLO" is not on the list of libraries found within a given catalogue entry.  To avoid wasting the Kennedy Library's limited financial resources, please double check for the item in Polycat before placing a LINK+ order.  Once you have doublechecked in Polycat to ensure that we do not have the item in question, PRINT OUT THE POLYCAT SCREEN that states that we do not have the item in question (it may read e.g. "NO MATCHES FOUND; NEARBY TITLES ARE. . ." )  You must submit a hard-copy print-out of this screen for your group to get credit for this assignment.

If Cal Poly does NOT have a copy of the item in question, you would normally proceed to place your Link+ order.  (But please note that you should NOT actually place any LINK+ orders for this class, unless of course you actually intend to read the item in question!)  To order an item from LINK+, from the LINK+ item record, click on "request this item."  Select "Cal Poly SLO" from the list of institutions with which you are affilitated. At the prompt, enter your last name and the bar code on your PolyCard (the same 9-digit number beginning 20150 you type in to access an item on e-reserve).  DO NOT PLACE THE ORDER.  Instead, PRINT OUT THE SCREEN, which you must submit in hard copy for your group to get credit for this assignment.

Prepare a one-page hard-copy print-out with the FULL NAMES of ALL members of your research group (check in the Research Archive if you are unsure of names or spellings) and your class time if there are two sections.  Then give the complete bibliographic citation IN CORRECT MLA BIBLIOGRAPHIC FORMAT for the item you selected and printed out Link+ screens for.  Staple this page together the three required print-outs (the LINK+ item entry; the Polycat screen confirming that the item is not in the Kennedy Library's collections; and the LINK+ Order screen).  You must turn in this four-page packet to me in class for your group to get credit for this assignement.

Compile and submit to the class research archive a second REPORT listing the same complete bibliographic citation IN CORRECT MLA BIBLIOGRAPHIC FORMAT that you submitted as part of the hard-copy packet.  Subject line of report should read "Link+ Item Citation."

NOTE: LINK+ can be used only to order BOOKS; it can't provide journal articles.  You can also use it to locate what the MLA Bibliography calls a "book article,"  an essay published in a BOOK containing an edited collection of essays.
 

Contents of this and linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 1999-2008

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