Name: Due Date:

Read all instructions first!

Discovery Task 6: Putting It All Together

Part 1: Understanding Call Numbers and Subject Headings

HINT:  Read all the instructions, including the worksheet, before you start the assignment.

 

PROBLEM: This Discovery Task will help you to define the topic for your final research paper and to locate information on that topic.  It requires you to use the UCI Libraries' ANTPAC catalog to locate references to books on your research paper topic.  The assignment will ask you to locate a record for a book and to answer a series of questions about the book based on the record.  You do not have to come to the Library to locate the information you will need to complete the assignment.  However, you will need to come to the Library to check out the book or books you decide will be most helpful to you.

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: This Discovery Task has several important learning objectives.  It will help you begin the process of topic definition by comparing your initial description of your topic with the information available from books in the UCI Libraries.  It will reinforce your understanding of how to use a keyword search strategy to find information.  It will introduce you to Library of Congress Subject Headings and it will enhance your understanding of the use of the Library of Congress call number system.  Finally, it will help you identify one or two scholarly books on your research paper topic.

 

DEFINITIONS:

Call Number: The call number for a book determines its exact location on the shelf within the Library.  It allows library patrons to find materials quickly and efficiently.  Call numbers are also designed to place books on the same subject near each other.  Most research libraries use the Library of Congress (abbreviated LC) call number system which is really a combination of letters and numbers.  Public libraries and some small college libraries use the Dewey Decimal call number system.  Library of Congress call numbers always start with one, two or three letters.  The letters designate the general subject focus of the work.  The numbers that follow designate the specific subject of the work.  Since there can be many books on one subject, other letters and and numbers are added so that each work has a unique call number.  The additional letters and numbers are usually determined by the author of the work and the date of publication.

 

Anatomy of an LC Call number for:

Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism in America by Ellen Schrecker.

Call Number: E743.5 .S37 1998

 

E=American History

    743.5 = United States. Twentieth Century. Un-American Activities.

    .S37 = determined by author's last name

    1998 = date of publication

 

The UCI Libraries HomePage has a Guide to Call Number and Subject Locations at

 www.lib.uci.edu/rrsc/callno.html

 

 

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Library of Congress Subject Headings are standardized words or phrases that are used to describe the subject matter of books.  Subject Headings are useful because they provide a consistent way to describe a subject which takes some of the guesswork out of locating appropriate materials.  The ANTPAC catalog includes subject headings in a field called Subj-lcsh.  This assignment will show you how to use a keyword search to determine the exact subject heading for works on your subject.

 

INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS:

1.  Begin to define your topic.  You must have an idea of what you are looking for before you can start searching.  As you learn more about what is available on your topic, the definition will change.  Write a sentence that describes your topic.

 

Example:  I am interested in learning more about the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

Write a sentence that describes your topic:

 

 

2.  Look at the sentence you just wrote and circle or highlight the two or three most distinctive or unique words in your sentence.  Do not highlight common or ambiguous words.

 

Example: I am interested in learning more about the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

Write the distinctive or unique words from your sentence here:

 

3.  Access the UCI Libraries' ANTPAC catalog at antpac.lib.uci.edu .

 

4.  ANTPAC offers several ways to look for information.  Select a Keyword search to get started.  Enter the word that you decided describe your topic.

 

Enter the number of records your search retrieved:__________________________________

 

5.  Browse the list of titles you found and evaluate your results.  Do these titles seem to be on the subject you had in mind?  Do some of the titles seem better than others for your topic?  Do any of the titles suggest particular aspects of your topic that might be of interest to you?

 


Here is the result from a keyword search on House Committee Un-American Activities:

 

 

6.  Select one title that looks like it will be a good source of information on your topic.  

 

Here is the full record for Record 1 from the example.


As you know from previous Discovery Tasks, this record provides bibliographic (author, title, place of publication, publisher, date of publication) location (library and call number), and content (title, subject headings-Subj-lcsh) information.

 

7.  Print a copy of the record you chose and attach it to this assignment.  The electronic copy of the record that you selected will have some links in it.  We are going to use the call number link to see the books that appear before and after this book on the shelf.  Click on the call number for the book you chose.  This will take you to a list of the call numbers.  The call number for your book will appear in bold in the middle of the list.

 

Write the call number for your book here:________________________________________________________

 

What are the titles and call numbers of the three books that come before your book?  HINT:  Scroll until you see your title which will be in bold.

 

Call number

Title

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are the titles and call numbers of the three books that come after your book?

 

Call Number

Title

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How are these books related to your original title?

 

8.  Select the call number for the book you began with.  This should bring you back to the original record.  Look for the subject headings (Subj-lcsh) that were given to this work.

Write the subject headings for your book here:

 

 

 

 

 

You can see that the subject headings are links.  Click on the subject heading that seems the most closely related to your topic.

 

Record the number of records found with that subject heading_____________________.

 

Browse the list of titles to determine if any of these titles might be useful to you.

 

9.  The end result of all this work is that you will have to come to the library to get the book.  Check the record for  the book you printed and record the following:

 

My book is in the ________________________ Library.

The call number for my book is_____________________________________.

 

 

10.   The call number for the book determines its location.  There is a Guide to Call Number and Subject Locations for the Main and Science Libraries on the UCI Libraries HomePage at:

http://www.lib.uci.edu/libraries/callnos.html

 

According to the Guide to Call Number and Subject Locations, my book will be on the _________ floor

 

of the ________________ Library.

 

 

Discovery Task 6 Part 2: Putting It All Together

 

PROBLEM:  The final discovery task assignment for the Humanities Core Course is to write a research paper on an aspect of the McCarthy Era (1947-1957) in the United States .  The information in research papers is drawn from a variety of sources such as course lectures, books, journal articles, scholarly websites, and subject encyclopedias. Discovery Tasks 1 through 6 introduced you to these types of sources.  You will base your research paper primarily on information from books and scholarly journal articles.

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:  The final part of this Discovery Task will review and reinforce your ability to locate information in scholarly journals.  It will require you 1) to use a periodical index to find articles on a topic, 2) introduce you to the use of America: History and Life to find articles on a topic, and 3) remind you of the availability of scholarly journals in electronic format through JSTOR and Project Muse.

 

INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS:

 

1.  Review your completed Discovery Tasks, particularly Discovery Task 3: Using Periodical Indexes To Find Information About Journal Articles and Discovery Task 4: Using Electronic Journals To Find Information on a Topic.

 

2.  Review the topic definition that you developed while looking for books on your subject.

 

3.  The best source for references to articles on American history is the America: History and Life database.  Follow these instructions to access this source.

A.  Access the UCI Libraries' Homepage by entering the URL: http://www.lib.uci.edu/

B.  Click on Article Databases.

C.  Click on Article Databases by Title.

D.  Select the letter "A".

E.  Click on the link to America: History and Life.  Your screen should look like this:


 

F.  Enter your keywords in the search form and press the search button.

 

4.  Your results will look like this.

 


 

 

5.  Scroll through the list of references and decide which ones will be the most useful for you.  The best clues to the content of the articles are the Title and information from the Full Entry.

 

6.  You will need to record the following information for each article you decide use in your paper.

 

Article Author:  
Article Title:  
Name of Journal:  
Volume Number:  
Issue Number:  
Date of Issue  
Page Numbers:  

 

 

7.  Once you have created your list of references, you will need to determine whether or not the UCI Libraries subscribe to those journals and where they are located in the Library.

 

8.  The ANTPAC catalog is the best place to determine and locate the materials that the UCI Libraries own.  Follow these instructions to locate journals in the UCI Libraries.

 

A.  Select the ANTPAC button from the UCI Libraries Homepage or  type the URL:

            http://antpac.lib.uci.edu/

B.  Select a Title/Journal Title Search.

C.  Type in the name of the JOURNAL you are looking for.  Do not use the title of the article!!

D.  Submit Search.

E.  Use the Limit/Sort to limit the search results to PERIODICALS.

F.  Click on the title to see the full information for the journal.

 


Sample ANTPAC RECORD FOR A JOURNAL with both electronic and print copies.

Explanation of an ANTPAC RECORD FOR A JOURNAL

Title of Journal:  American Quarterly

Where Journal is Published: Baltimore, MD.

Where Journal is located at UCI:  Main Library and via Project Muse (1996-present) and JSTOR (1949-1995)

Location of most recent print copies: Main Library Current Periodicals Room

Call Number for print journal:  AP 2 A3985

URL for Electronic copies:

V.48(1996)- Project Muse. All UC campuses have access except UCSF http://uclibs.org/PID/588

v.1(1949)-47(1995) JSTOR. Restricted to UC campuses http://uclibs.org/PID/886

Bound print volumes owned by the UCI Libraries: 1-51

Years owned by the UCI Libraries in print: 1949-99

Latest issue received: December, 2000, volume 52 issue 4

 

You need the information requested below to locate a journal in the library.  Remember, not all journals are available electronically.  Fill in the form for the print journals you need to locate.

 

Title of Journal:  
Library where journal is located:  
Call Number:  
Does UCI own the volume and issue you need?  
Is the volume in the stacks or the Current Periodicals Room?  

 

 

Remember to record this information for every journal article you are going to look up.

 

 

Author of Article:_____________________________________________________

Title of Article:_______________________________________________________

Title of Journal:_______________________________________________________

Volume Number_________________ Issue Number_____________________

Date of Issue____________________            Beginning Page____________________

Does UCI own the volume/issue that you need?_______________________________

If yes, in which library is the journal located?________________________________

What is the Call Number for the journal?____________________________________

Is the Journal available electronically?

If yes, what is the URL?