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

NOTE 1:  While you can access this page of instructions and the Kennedy Library website 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, Polycat is found under the "Library Resources" tab, both on the main page of the Kennedy Library website and 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 Polycat by clicking on the links on this page of instructions, through the main Kennedy Library website, or through the "Library Services" tab on your Cal Poly portal. In that case, 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.

 The first stop in any research project should be the Kennedy Library.  Yes, even in the electronic age, you should go there IN PERSON!  Once in the library, follow these steps to identify useful secondary sources -- studies ABOUT your author, topic or work.  Keep careful notes of the specific searches you try (keyword? author? title? subject? using what search terms?) and note the specific results generated by each search (no need to list all the titles, but please include the type of search, the search terms used, the number of records generated, and their degree of usefulness).  You will compile this information for your first report to the class Research Archive.

1) First, determine where books on your author are found in the stacks by doing an "author" search on your author (e.g. Chaucer) and by doing "title" searches for the specific work(s) you are researching (note that it may be necessary to search for more than one title, e.g. "Canterbury Tales" AND the title of a specific tale within the collection, e.g. "Franklin's Tale" or "Melibee"). Keep careful notes about every search you attempt: include the specific type of search, the 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 first report to the class Research Archive. Note that most hits generated by an author search will be primary sources -- books that are by your author (e.g. by Chaucet), i.e. editions or translations of your work -- rather than secondary sources -- studies ABOUT the author or work you are researching. 

So . . .  since your task is to find useful secondary sources on your topic, why bother?  Because secondary sources ON a given topic are typically shelved next to editions and translations of the primary works they discuss.  One of the best ways to begin your research is to figure out where primary sources by your author are shelved (note the call numbers) and go BROWSE THE STACKS!  See what looks interesting, and select a few items to check out. (Hint:  smart researchers let the critics they find in the stacks work for them:  consult THEIR bibliographies and look for / order any items that sound promising!)

2) Go back to Polycat and try some "word" and "subject" searches on various combinations of: your author (e.g. "Chaucer"); your title (e.g. "Canterbury Tales" and/or the pilgrim name or specific title you are researching); and/or on a combination of your author or title plus a specific topic you are interested in (e.g. a character name, theme or genre: "Wife of Bath," "marriage," "fabliau," etc.).  Again, for every attempt you make, note the specific type of search, the 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 first report to the Research Archive. Once you have found what look to be helpful secondary sources on your topic, 1) note LOCATION (to see if the book is already on Reserve or checked out to another patron); if it is available, note author, title and call number so that you can retrieve the works from the stacks; AND 2) go into the record for these specific works and check the subject headings they are catalogued under.  Click on the subject links to determine whether the Kennedy Library collection includes other works indexed under the same subject headings; they are fertile grounds in which to look for good resources on your topic.

NOTE: Oddly, it is not generally fruitful to begin your research by doing a subject search, since the precise subject headings under which an item is listed are not always easy to guess.  For instance, suppose you are planning to write a research paper on Shakespeare's Rosalind in As You Like It.  There are 503 (!) subject headings in Polycat that contain the word "Shakespeare"; unless you feel like scrolling through all of them, it can take some time to discover that secondary sources on your topic are catalogued under the subjects " Shakespeare William 1564 1616 Criticism And Interpretation" (288 records, many of which won't be useful); "Shakespeare William 1564 1616 Criticism Textual" (40 records, many of which will not be useful); "Shakespeare William 1564 1616 Comedies" (51 records, only some of which will prove useful"; "Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. As you like it" (5 records, two of which look promising); "Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. As you like it -- Criticism, Textual" (1 record which is clearly a secondary source but may or may not have information on Rosalind).  A subject search on "Shakespeare's heroines" yields nothing; a word search yields one volume containing an essay that may or not be relevant, while a word search on "Shakespeare heroine" yields a DIFFERENT volume contatining a DIFFERENT essay which may or may not be relevant, etc.  Finally, a word search on the phrase "As you like it" including the quotation marks yields 35 records, some of which are irrelevant but several of which are promising resources which I hadn't come across in any of the other searches.

3) Assuming that you have found both the primary works on your topic and some useful secondary sources, try this trick:  use the call numbers found in the previous exercises to help track down useful works which were not there when you browsed in the stacks (e.g. because they are in transit, misshelved, checked out by another patron or on Reserve for a class).  Go back to the Polycat Basic Search screen and use the pull-down menu to select the "search by L. C. call number" function (oddly, searching by call number is not an option from the Advanced Search menu).  Type in the call number of your primary source or of a useful secondary source on your topic and use the "previous record" and "next record" tabs to browse the collection by the Library of Congress call number.  You will in effect be browsing the stacks electronically, finding the Polycat listings for items which would be shelved near your author or text if they were not checked out, missing, on reserve, etc.

• Should you come across an item that you are interested which is checked out to another patron, you may place a hold on that item (recall it) online (use the "request" tab in the Polycat entry and type in your name and barcode at the prompts).  But, in a seminar with a common area of inquiry, be courteous: ask your classmates / professor if they have the book checked out and would be willing to share it before placing a hold.  You can do so verbally in class, by checking reports listed under "Kennedy Library Results" in the class research archive (from which you can email a classmate directly), or by sending a query to the class email alias ("Does anybody have . . . ? Would you mind if I had a look at it?").  For the address of the class email alias, see your course Information sheet, or use the link provided on your class homepage.
• If an item is not checked out (and not on reserve) but you can't find it in the stacks, proceed to the front Circulation Desk and fill out a Search card; library staff will initiate a search for the item and email you when it is located.  Or, if it's officially declared lost, they will authorize you to order it from off campus (which you cannot normally do for items available within our collections).

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 One: "Polycat Search Results."  Provide a specific and detailed account of your search process: what you looked for, where/how you searched, and what you found.  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 tried, be sure to specify the type of search (e.g. keyword, title, subject), the specific search term(s) used (in "quotation marks"), and report how many results each of these searches generated; also comment on how many of these results appear to be useful secondary sources on your topic.  In this report, you do not need to list specific titles.  The subject line of this report should read "Searching Polycat."  Wrap up with a final comment indicating what searches were most helpful to you and how you came across them (i.e., where and how did you find your research Mother Lode?)

Report Two: "Kennedy Library Check-outs."  Provide a list of ALL the works you have checked out so that a classmate wishing to consult the work in question can have the courtesy to ask you about it, rather than recalling it from you. (If desired, you may also provide a separate list noting items that looked interesting, but that you did not check out; in that case, use headings to make clear which books you have checked out and which are still in the stacks).  List items alphabetically by author; provide a complete bibliographic citation in correct MLA format followed by the item's call number.  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; 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 "Kennedy Library results."
 

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