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.

PRACTICUM: Using Link+ to identify and order secondary sources (books) which are not in Cal Poly's collections.

Use Link+ to do subject, keyword and title searches (NOT an author search) on your author (e.g. "Chaucer"); on your title (e.g. "Canterbury Tales" and/or the pilgrim name or specific title you are researching, both with and without quotation marks around it); and/or on a combination or your author and/or title plus a specific topic you are interested in (e.g. Chaucer plus "fabliaux," "love," "women," "marriage" or "satire").  As you did for your Polycat searches, keep detailed notes about the specific searches you attempt -- type of search,  specific search terms used, and the number and sorts of results you obtain for each search combination (are there no hits? are hits useful? off topic? too many to sift through?), as you will need to include these details in your next report to the Research Archive. HINT: As usual, getting the exact wording for subject searches can be tricky.  Try this short cut:  type in the exact subject headings found in the most helpful resources you located using Polycat (or, go back to Polycat, click on the search heading, and then click on "Search Link+" at the top of the Polycat results screen).  Also, develop this Good Researcher habit:  whenever you are in the catalogue entry for a promising-sounding work on your topic, click on its subject listings to see what other works are indexed under the same subject categories.

Before you exit Link+, order at least one secondary source which is NOT available at Kennedy Library (check in Polycat or on the list of LINK+ libraries which have the item, and do NOT order items available at Cal Poly).  REMEMBER: a secondary source is a study ABOUT your author, topic or work, NOT an edition or translation of your work.  You will place other Link+ orders once you start using the MLA Bibliography; for the time being, you are primarily interested in seeing "what's out there" and learning how to place a LINK+ order.
 

Click on "Add New Thread" to create your report.  You should type (or cut and paste) your report directly into the message screen; it cannot be submitted as an attachment.  (If you don't get a message screen after clicking on "Add New Thread," follow the instructions under NOTE 3, 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.

REPORT 1:  your FIRST report to the archive should be a DETAILED account of ALL the specific searches you tried, and the number and type of results generated by each.  There is no prescribed format for your report; you may write up prose paragraphs, use bullet points, or CREATE A TABLE -- for instructions, see the "Tips and Pointers" forum in the class research archive.  Remember that your report is intended both to let me assess the thoroughness of your research and to function as a time-saving "road map" for classmates who may decide to include the text you have researched in their own research papers; you need to provide enough detail to make clear which specific searches are most fruitful.  If you do not include sufficient detail, your report will be useless to classmates -- and you will not receive credit for completing this assignment. For each search you attempt, be sure to specify the TYPE of search, the specific search terms used (put them in "quotation marks"), the number of results each search generated, and how many of these results appear to be useful secondary sources on your topic (you do not need to list specific titles).  The subject line of this report should read "Link+ search results."

REPORT 2:  then, compile and submit a second REPORT to the archive listing ALL items ordered from Link+ (so that classmates consulting your archive can get in touch with you directly, and perhaps avoid having the library place multiple LINK+ orders for the same work).  If you order more than one item, list them alphabetically by author.  Be sure to provide a complete bibliographic citation in correct MLA format for each item (no need to include a call number this time). IMPORTANT: Before you write your bibliographic citations, review the section about "titles of works in the research paper" in the "Mechanics of Writing" chapter of your MLA Handbook. Be sure that all titles are underlined, capitalized, and punctuated as appropriate (including quotation marks around essay titles).  Please remember to use underlining rather than italics for all work submitted in this class. (If there is no underlining tab in your message screen, you may have to access Blackboard using a different web browser; see NOTE 3, above.)  If you are unsure how to do a correct bibliographic citation, follow the appropriate links from Dr. Schwartz's Guide to Research and/or consult your MLA Handbook.  The subject line of this report should read "LINK+ Orders."

NOTE: Link+can be used only to order BOOKS; it does not provide journal articles. You can also use it to order the book collection in which a particular essay was published (the MLA Bibliography calls such essays "book articles"). 

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