PRELIMINARIES: Read carefully through the profile of the MLA Bibliography on Dr. Schwartz's Guide to Kennedy Library Research Tools. Be sure you are clear about what it is, when (and why) to use it, its strengths and its limitations. Read information on SFX and its limitations.  (Remember:  the MLA Bibliography is NOT itself a mode of access for secondary sources; however, in some cases, the linking technology of SFX may provide a bridge between an MLA Bibliographic entry and a full-text electronic copy of the item in a database to which the Kennedy Library subscribes.)

NOTE 1:  While you can access this page of instructions and the MLA Bibliography 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, the MLA Bibliography can be accessed using the "Library Resources" tab, from the Research Guide for English (scroll down and click on the "MLA Bibliography" tab), or under "M" 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 the MLA Bibliography by clicking on the links on this page of instructions; from the main Kennedy Library website (select All Article Databases -- view alphabetically, or use the link on the Research Guide for English"); note that you can also link to the library main page through the "Library Services" tab on your My Cal Poly portal.  If you choose to access the MLA Bibliography 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:  because the MLA research assignment culminates in three different reports, you may wish to divide responsibility for the three reports between group members, rather than have one person submit all three reports.

In the MLA Bibliography, do KEYWORD searches on your research topic, using the following search terms (both separately and in combination): 1) the title of the work you are researching (if applicable, try separate searches on the original title, its English translation, variant spellings, and alternate titles if any); 2) the author's name; and/or 3) a more specific topic you are interested in (e.g. a character's name; a specific episode or theme; a genre such as dream vision, sonnet, epic, or romance; specific formal characteristics, e.g. alliterative verse, blank verse, Petrarchan sonnet; etc.) You might also wish to try a SUBJECT search: select "advanced search" at left and scroll down at right to replace "keyword" by "subject." (If these two types of search do not yield adequate results, try a TITLE search using the same search terms; such a search will turn up bibliographic entries for scholarly works whose titles contain the words you have used as search terms.)

In the event that you are researching an author who wrote many works besides the one you are interested in (e.g. Chaucer or Shakespeare) or a topic for which there is voluminous secondary criticism (e.g. Beowulf or Macbeth), note that you can use "OR" or "AND" in your searches and use them intelligently: 

• "OR" will increase the number of hits by providing all hits generated for each of two search terms. "OR" searches are most useful when you are researching a topic where there is not an overwhelming amount of research, an author known primarily for a single work, or a topic which may be represented in more than one way.  For instance, you might wish to look up "Mary Wroth" OR "Pamphilia"; "Wife of Bath's Tale" OR "Wife of Bath" (since a computer is not typically able to recognize the "Bath" and "Bath's" refer to the same person/work).  But if you are researching e.g. a specific play by Shakespeare, an "OR" search on your author and your title is not the best bet, since it will generate a huge number of hits, only a few of which will be on your specific play.
• "AND" will decrease the number of hits by providing a more targetted search; it limits hits to items which have BOTH of the search terms you are searching for.  For example, a search on "Edmund Spenser" AND "Amoretti" will eliminate hits for items which focus exclusively on Spenser's Faerie Queene; "Chaucer" AND "Knight's Tale" will eliminate hits focussing on other works by Chaucer or on the film "The Knight's Tale"; "Shakespeare" AND "Macbeth" will eliminate hits focussing on other works by Shakespeare.
• You should experiment with different combinations of search terms (or add additional search terms) for an increasingly targetted search.  For example, searching under "Chaucer" AND "Canterbury Tales" will yield too many hits to be useful.  Instead, try "Chaucer" AND the title of a SPECIFIC Tale; or "Chaucer" AND the name of a SPECIFIC CHARACTER; or "Chaucer" AND a more general TOPIC (e.g. "women," "love," "marriage" etc.), etc. Also remember that if the work is known by more than one title, you should search under both titles (e.g. "Wife of Bath's Prologue" AND "Wife of Bath's Tale" -- or simply search for the "Wife of Bath" without specifying "prologue" or "tale"). 
• Use common sense! The MLA Bibliography indexes secondary works (scholarly criticism) on literary topics.  The "AUTHOR" search field refers to the author of these secondary sources -- the modern scholars who wrote the works that are indexed.  So, be careful not to do an AUTHOR search on the name of an author you are researching.  An "author" search on "Chaucer" will generate a list of secondary works BY scholars who happen to be named Chaucer, rather than secondary works that are ABOUT Chaucer, the medieval poet, or his works. 
• Experiment with different combinations of search terms, and be persistent -- don't settle for the first list of "hits" you come up with.  Keep trying different combinations until you hit paydirt for your individual topic. As you experiment, keep in mind that the best part of the MLA Bibliography is how specific you can make your searches.  Using broader search terms isn't helpful unless there are very few secondary sources on your topic (or if you are searching in a library catalogue like PolyCat or LINK+ that indexes only a small number of keywords, or using a relatively limited database such as NetLibrary). 

Next, pick the best set of results -- the one which generated the most hits on your actual topic -- and LIMIT this list of search results, by "language phrase" to works in English.  Note the total number of hits (it is typically less than the overall number of hits you will have recorded above, since the MLA Bibliography also indexes secondary source material written in languages other than English). Then, LIMIT your search again, this time by document type, and record how many hits there are in each of the following categories:  Journal Article, Book Article, Book, Dissertation Abstract, Book Collection.  Be sure to keep careful NOTES of what you find for your report to the class research archive!

Click on "Add New Thread" to create your report.  If you don't get a message screen after clicking on "Add New Thread," follow the instructions under NOTE 2, above.  Be sure to click on "submit" when you are finished (or to save a report you are working on).  You can edit or add to a report after submission by clicking on it and then on the "modify" tab; again, be sure to click on "submit" to save your work when you are done. Start a separate "thread" for each different report, using the subject line specified in the instructions. Using the "reply" tab creates a new message that is part of the same "thread"; for subsequent reports, start a new "thread" rather than using the "reply" tab.

You can type your report directly into Blackboard, or save it as a Word file and cut and paste it into the Blackboard message field-- but please note that some formatting will be "lost in translation"; you will have to use the formatting tabs in the blackboard toolbar to add underlining to your entry as appropriate. (Formatting tabs are not available using Mozilla Firefox or Netscape; to have access to these tabs, you must access the Archive using Internet Explorer.)

REPORT 1:  your FIRST report to the class research archive should provide a DETAILED AND SPECIFIC account of EACH search you tried in the MLA Bibliography and comment on the sort of results generated by each (as usual, note the number of hits and their apparent usefulness -- NOT a list of the specific titles found!).  There is no prescribed format for your report; you may write up prose paragraphs, use bullet points, or CREATE A TABLE (recommended).  Columns in your table might include: 1) specific type of search (e.g. "keyword," "Subject" or "title"); 2) specific search terms (including "AND" or "OR" as applicable); 3) total number of items generated by each of these searches (NOT a full or partial list of titles); 4) total number of hits when the search is limited by "language phrase" to works in English; 5-9) total number of hits within each document category (Journal Article, Book Article, Book, Dissertation Abstract, Book Collection) when they are sorted by document type; 10) a COMMENT on what you have learned by these experiments with different search categories, search terms, and search limits. Under "comment," you should also note if a significant number of the hits generated do not appear to be primarily about your topic (e.g. if the primary focus is another work by the same title, a later author's use of your work or author, or a different text to which your work is compared in passing).  If you do not include sufficient detail, you will not receive credit for completing this assignment.  The subject line of report should read "MLA search results."

First, you will identify a journal article that is not available in the Kennedy Library's print or electronic (subscription database) collections, and demonstrate that you know how to order it using ILL (Interlibrary Loan).  Then, you will identify an essay in an edited collection (what the MLA Bibliography calls a "book article") that is not available in the Kennedy Library's print or electronic collections, and demonstrate that you know how to order it using LINK+ or ILL, as appropriate.  BUT REMEMBER: while you must demonstrate that you know HOW to order these items, please do not actually PLACE the orders, unless you actually plan to read the items in question! 

NOTE:  because the MLA research assignment culminates in three different reports, you may wish to divide responsibility for the three reports between group members, rather than have one person submit all three reports.

PRINT OUT the MLA BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY for this item, and CIRCLE the title of the JOURNAL in which the article appears (indicated in the MLA Bibliography entry as the document's source).  You will need to submit this print-out, along with print-outs of the Polycat, Serials Solutions, and Citation Linker/"Find It" search screens indicating that the journal is not available in Kennedy Library's print or electronic (subscription database) collections, AND a print out of the FILLED OUT Interlibrary Loan (=ILL) ORDER FORM demonstrating that you know how to use ILL to obtain the item -- but please do NOT actually order the article, unless of course you intend to read it!

NOTE: The MLA bibliographic entry for a given journal article contains links that are supposed to allow you to check whether we have the journal in question at the Kennedy Library, either in print or in electronic format through a subscription database -- but be aware that these notations can be inaccurate or incomplete. If the MLA Bibliography entry states that the item is available at Cal Poly, you can pretty much count on it being there.  But the reverse is not always true!

Theoretically, clicking on the "Search the catalog at Robert E. Kennedy Library" tab SHOULD tell you, beyond a doubt, if the item is available in the Kennedy library collections.  But while Polycat is typically quite accurate concerning holdings in the print or micro-fiche collections, it does not accurately list all full-text journal databases to which the Kennedy Library holds subscriptions. 

Equally theoretically, clicking on the "FIND IT" tab SHOULD tell you if full text of the article in question is available electronically through one of the Kennedy Library's subscription databases.  Because the "FIND IT" tab uses imperfect SFX technology to check some (but not all) of Cal Poly's subscription databases,  these notations may be inaccurate or incomplete.  The full text of a journal article may in fact be available electronically (e.g. through JSTOR), even though clicking on the SFX "FIND IT" tab produces the message "No Full-Text available via FINDIT!" 

SO: before placing an ILL order for a journal article, you should always double-check whether a specific journal is available in Kennedy Library collections using the following three research tools:

1. in Polycat, use the "Journal/ Magazine Titles"search function to search for the title of the JOURNAL which is listed in the MLA Bibliographic entry as the document's "source" (NOT the title of the article itself) to determine whether Kennedy Library has the journal in print. 

NOTE:  if you click on the "Search the catalog at Robert E. Kennedy Library" tab from within an MLA Bibliography entry, an "ISN/STD#" search will be conducted for the ISSN (journal identifying number) listed under "standard number" in the MLA bibliography listing. It is prudent NOT to assume that this search is accurate, since you have no way of knowing whether this ISSN number has been entered into the database correctly.  ALWAYS take the extra 15 seconds necessary to change the Polycat Search Type to "journal title" and search for the journal by the TITLE listed in the MLA Bibliography entry under "document source." 
For your second research report (and/or your Composite Bibliography at the end of the quarter), PRINT OUT the Polycat JOURNAL TITLE Search screen indicating that the journal is not available at Cal Poly; this screen will display the message "No matches found; nearby JOURNAL TITLES are:" near the top of the page, and the message "your entry [journal title you searched for] would be here."   THEN: 
2. search for the same JOURNAL title (NOT the title of the article itself) in Serials Solutions, a database which is supposed to list all journals to which the Kennedy holds an electronic subscription. 

For your second research report (and/or your Composite Bibliography at the end of the quarter), PRINT OUT the Serials Solutions screen indicating that the journal is not available at Cal Poly; this screen will display the messages "0 records retrieved for the search: Title begins with "[journal title you searched for]" and "Sorry, this search returned no results." THEN:
3. enter the JOURNAL title (NOT the title of the article itself)  and publication year (or complete citation information for the article in question) into Citation Linker, which checks another subset of Cal Poly's subscription databases to see if we have electronic access to the journal/article in question. 

For your second research report (and/or your Composite Bibliography at the end of the quarter), PRINT OUT the Citation Linker search screen showing that you have correctly filled in the journal title and year AND PRINT OUT the "Find it" screen indicating that the journal is not available at Cal Poly; this screen will display the messages "Source: [journal title you searched for: date you entered in Citation Linker "year" field] and display the message "No Full-Text available via FINDIT!"

At this point, having done your best to determine whether the article in questions is available at Cal Poly, you can with a clear conscience order the article through the Kennedy Library Interlibrary Loan office. One way to do so is to go directly to the Interlibrary Loan site.  TRY IT by clicking on the link at left and logging on with your library barcode; you would then select the "request an article" screen, fill out all requested information, and click on the "submit" tab at the bottom of the request screen to order the article.  This is the procedure you would follow to place an ILL order using a citation found in a print resource (for instance, in the notes or bibliography at the end of a book or article).

BUT:  when you have found a citation in the MLA Bibliography, there is a much QUICKER and EASIER way to place the ILL order. Go back to the MLA bibliographic entry for the item you have selected and click on the FIND IT key.  The same "results" screen which cheerily announces "No Full-Text available via FINDIT!" provides another link labelled "We'll get it for you -  interlibrary loan (5-10) days."  Clicking on this link will transfer you directly to an Interlibrary Loan journal article order screen -- which the SFX linking technology will have automatically filled out with all the bibliographic information found in the MLA bibliography item screen!  At that point, you would need only click on "submit" at the bottom of the page, and the journal article would be on its way to you.  But again, PLEASE DO *NOT* actually order any ILL items for this class, unless of course you actually intend to read them!! Instead, go ahead and PRINT OUT the correctly filled out ILL order screen to demonstrate that you know how to place an ILL order. 

Bottom line:  "FIND IT" is VERY handy technology which makes placing ILL orders for journal articles found in the MLA Bibliography much easier.  But because SFX technology is not perfect (and the Kennedy Library's financial resources are scarce), you should always doublecheck Polycat, Serials Solutions and Citation Linker prior to placing the ILL order.  Do NOT place an ILL order for a journal article available in the Cal Poly collections, either in printed form or electronically.

Now, you are ready to submit your SECOND RESEARCH REPORT to the class research archive.  Your report should explain how you determined that the journal in question is not available in Cal Poly's Print or electronic (subscription-database) collections by briefly indicating what specific "journal title" you searched for, using which specific search functions in  which specific search tools (you must also turn in hard copy print-outs proving that you went through these steps correctly).  Your report should end with a complete bibliographic citation for the article IN CORRECT MLA BIBLIOGRAPHIC FORMAT (the print-out of the MLA Bibliography entry screen for the article will allow me to check that you have done the bibliographic citation correctly). The subject line of this report should read "ILL journal article." 

HARD COPY CHECK-LIST for Research Report 2: be sure to submit the following print-outs, in this order, stapled together, and labelled on the first page with your research topic, the name of the person responsible for submitting the report, AND the names of all other members of your research group:

• MLA Bibliography listing for the article on your topic which is not available at the Kennedy Library in either the print or electronic (subscription database) collections;
• Polycat Journal Title search screen indicating that the journal in question is not available in Kennedy Library collections;
• Serials Solutions search screen indicating that the journal in question is not available in Kennedy Library collections;
• Citation Linker search screen showing that you have correctly filled in the journal title and year for the item (or complete citation information for the article if you wish);
• FIND IT results page (generated by Citation Linker) indicating that the journal in question is not available in Kennedy Library collections; 
• FILLED OUT ILL ORDER PAGE (but don't actually SUBMIT the ILL order!).

 In Polycat, do TITLE SEARCHES for the title of the "source" book (the edited book collection -- NOT the title of the essay itself) until you can identify ONE source book which is NOT available in the Kennedy Library Collections.  Doublecheck that the book is not available in the Kennedy Library by doing a Polycat AUTHOR search for the EDITOR of the source book collection (NOT the author of the essay itself). 

Once you have determined that the source book is not available in the Kennedy Library, PRINT OUT the MLA Bibliography entry for the "book article" and circle the title and the editor's name for the edited (book) collection (listed in the MLA Bibliography entry under "source").  Then, PRINT OUT the 2 POLYCAT results screens showing that the book is NOT available in the Kennedy Library; these screens will include the notation "No matches found; nearby Titles are" or "No matches found; nearby AUTHORS are". 

NOTE:  Be sure that your print-outs show you have correctly done a title search for the title of the "source," i.e. the book in which the essay appears (not the title of the individual essay) and that you have done an author search for the EDITOR of this source book (not the author of the essay itself).

Next, do the same two searches (title search for title of the source book and/or author search for editor of the source book) to determine if the ecited book collection listed in the MLA Bibliography entry under "Source" is available from LINK+.  If so, PRINT OUT the LINK+ result screen showing that the item is available from one or more LINK+ libraries. Then, click on the "REQUEST THIS ITEM" to access  the LINK+ screen which asks "With which institution are you affiliated?"  Select "Cal Poly SLO" from the pull-down list and click on "submit above information." PRINT OUT the LINK+ order screen listing the title with spaces for you to fill in your name and library barcode.  At this point, you could order the book in question by clicking on the "Submit" key -- but please do NOT actually do so unless you actually intend to read the book in question!  If the book is available through LINK+, you are now ready to submit your third research report to the class archive.

If on the other hand, the book in question is NOT available through LINK+, PRINT OUT the *TWO* LINK+ results screens showing that the book in question is NOT available through LINK+:  a TITLE search on the title of the BOOK COLLECTION listed in the MLA Bibliography Entry under source (NOT the title of the individual essay), AND an AUTHOR search on the EDITOR of the BOOK COLLECTION listed in the MLA Bibliography Entry under source (NOT the author of the individual essay). 

Then, follow the link at right to enter the Interlibrary Loan site and log in at the prompt with your name and library barcode.  Select the "request a book" screen, and fill out all requested information.  PRINT OUT this Book Request Screen for your research report -- but please do NOT click on the "submit" tab at the bottom of the request screen to order the book unless you actually intend to read it!  If your source book iis not available through LINK+, you will turn in FIVE print-outs as part of this report (see the checklist below). 

Now submit to the class research archive a THIRD RESEARCH REPORT giving a complete bibliographic citation IN CORRECT MLA BIBLIOGRAPHIC FORMAT for the "book article" (essay in an edited collection) for which you printed out the MLA Bibliography entry and circled the "source" editor and title.   Explain what specific searches you would do in LINK+ to determine whether the source book was available.  (Remember that the "title" to search for is the title of the BOOK WHICH IS THE SOURCE, NOT the title of the individual essay; similarly, the "author" to look up is the EDITOR OF THE BOOK WHICH IS THE SOURCE, NOT the author of the individual essay.)  Finally, if the book is not available through LINK+, explain how you would order it using ILL.  (What title/author and publication information would you fill out on the ILL Book order screen?)  The subject line of this report should read either "LINK+ Edited Essay" OR "ILL Edited Essay," depending on which mode of access you would use to obtain the item.

NOTE: Remember that LINK+ can be used only to order BOOKS (including the sources in which "book articles" appear), but that it cannot provide journal articles.  Use ILL to order journal articles and any books which are not available at Cal Poly or through LINK+. But keep in mind that books ordered through ILL may not arrive in a timely manner -- or at all! -- so you should always look in LINK+ FIRST, before placing an ILL book order. 

HARD COPY CHECK-LIST for Research Report 3: be sure to submit the following print-outs, in this order, stapled together, and labelled on the first page with your research topic, the name of the person responsible for submitting the report, AND the names of all other members of your research group:

• MLA Bibliography listing for the "book article" on your topic (an essay in an edited book collection) which is not available at the Kennedy Library in either the print or electronic (subscription database) collections, with the TITLE and EDITOR of the SOURCE book (not of the individual essay) circled;
• Polycat TITLE search results for the title of the book listed as the document SOURCE (not the individual essay title), showing that this SOURCE book is not available in Kennedy Library collections;
• Polycat AUTHOR search results for the EDITOR of the book listed as the document SOURCE (not the author of the individual essay) showing that this SOURCE book is not available in Kennedy Library collections.

• LINK+ result screen showing that the item is available from one or more LINK+ libraries;
• LINK+ order screen listing the titleof the SOURCE book, your institution (Cal Poly SLO), and providing space for you to fill in your name and library barcode.

• LINK+ result screen for a TITLE search on the SOURCE book (not the title of the essay) showing that the SOURCE book is NOT available through LINK+;
• LINK+ result screen for an AUTHOR search on the EDITOR of the SOURCE book (not the author of the essay) showing that the SOURCE book is NOT available through LINK+;
• ILL Book Request Screen filled out with the relevant information for the BOOK LISTED UNDER DOCUMENT SOURCE.

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