ENGLISH R1B: On the Road

The library website is your gateway to research at UC Berkeley.

• Library hours and maps 
• Types of resources 
• Over ten million volumes 
• Several dozen libraries

Photo of card catalog index card by dfulmer on Flickr.

Use OskiCat to locate materials on the shelves of the UC Berkeley libraries and also to:

• renew books online
• find course reserves and to
• place holds on items that are checked out.

Use Melvyl to locate materials at other campuses in the UC system, or worldwide, and also to

• request materials from another library if we don't own it
• find articles from some article databases
• easily format a citation for copying into a bibliography
Melvyl will also show you the location and availablity of items that we own.

The following databases are recommended for finding scholarly journal articles related to your course. There are hundreds of other article databases on different topics available on the library website, and you can browse them by different subjects. 

• MLA International Bibliography
  Scholarly articles on literary topics. Use UC-eLinks button to get to the articles themselves.
  
• America: History and Life
  Indexes over 2,000 journals published worldwide on the history of the US and Canada from prehistory to the present. Includes all key English-language historical journals; selected historical journals from major countries, state, and local history journals; and a targeted selection of hundreds of journals in the social sciences and humanities.
  
• Film and Television Literature Index with Full Text
  Indexes 150 scholarly and popular periodicals from 30 countries cover-to-cover and 300 other periodicals selectively for reviews and articles on the topic film and television. Search by keyword, production title and more or browse by some 2000 subject headings.
  
• JSTOR
  Easy to use, full text, multi-disciplinary scholarly article database. Note: the most recent 3-5 years of the journals are usually not available through JSTOR.
  

Once you've used an article database to find articles on your topic, you may need to use this button: in order to locate and read the full text of the article. 

UC-eLinks will link you to the online full text of an article if UCB has paid for online access; otherwise, UC-eLinks will help you locate a print copy on the shelf in the library. If UCB doesn't own the article in print or online format, UC-eLinks can also help you order a copy from another library.

For more information, watch this video tutorial (about 4 min.)

You can also set up UC-eLinks to work with Google Scholar.  For more information, watch this video tutorial (about 2 min.)

To use library databases from off campus you have to set up the proxy server: this changes your browser settings.

• Different browsers [Firefox, Chrome, Safari...] have different instructions- they are all here.
• You can set it up on multiple devices
• You log in with your CalNet ID
• There's an alternative: the VPN

What does it look like?

The research process is part of the composition process. Don't be afraid to let your personal taste and inclinations guide the direction of your research. It's also important, however, to Critically Analyze Information Sources (Cornell). 

• What kinds of sources do you need? If you need scholarly articles, search article databases on the library website. If you need movie times, search Google!
• Slow down. 
  • Is there an advanced search page?
  • Can you limit to peer-reviewed articles?
  • Can you limit by the year published?
  • Can you use any subject terms to get more relevant results?
• Iterative searching
  • Learn from the search results
  • Too many results? Too few?
  • Look at citations from good sources

• MLA handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th edition, in print. 
  • Many older editions are also available throughout the UCB libraries.
• Citing Your Sources. A brief online guide to the main citation styles and a brief discussion on what constitutes plagiarism. 

Fill out this quick survey to finish up the class. thanks!

Go to the research help page to have librarians answer your questions online:

• 24/7 Chat Reference
• Email Reference
• Phone Reference
• Library Liaisons (for in-depth, upper-level research)
• Oh, and there's always the reference desk too!

Research Advisory Service for Cal Undergraduates
You can book a 30-minute appointment with a librarian who will help refine and focus your research, identify useful online and print sources, and develop search strategies for humanities and social sciences topics.

• Comparative Literature
• English and American Literature
• Library Subject Guides
• Library Course Guides