Contact Corliss
- Corliss Lee
- Office Hours: By Appointment
- Contact Info:
510-768-7899
Read an introduction to the campus libraries for undergraduates.
Set up your computer for off campus access to library databases.
Need a map of the campus libraries?
Each library has its own hours. Click on the calendar for each library to view a month at a time.
The UCB Library sponsors the Library Prize for Undergraduate Research. Win $1000 (upper division students) or $750 (lower division students) for your research paper!
Looking for a location in Doe, Main Stacks or Moffitt? Try the floorplans, or ask for assistance!
A large part of the library's collection is stored off campus in an environmentally secure building called the Northern Regional Library Facility [NRLF].
Submit online requests via the REQUEST button in OskiCat to borrow material shelved at NRLF. To receive electronic or paper copies of book chapters or journal articles, submit an online request via the "Request an article from NRLF (photocopy or web delivery)" link that appears in eligible titles in OskiCat. Staff at public service desks of any campus library can assist you with further questions.
EXCEPTION: Materials belonging to Bancroft Library MUST be requested via their online form
Log in to Request with your Calnet ID and fill out the screens. Choose the volume you want, for periodicals:
If UCB does not own the item you need, we will borrow it for you from another library, if possible. We need a specific citation (example, for books - title, author, date of publication, publisher; for articles, title, author, journal/publication title, date, page numbers).
If you are in MELVYL and find the record for an item UCB doesn't own, click on the "Request" button to initiate the request.
If the item isn't owned by another UC, pull down the "Libraries to search" menu in MELVYL to "Libraries Worldwide" and re-try the search. If you find the item, click on the "Request" button to initiate the request.
If you are not using MELVYL, use the online Interlibrary Loan forms to request an item. Track the progress of your request via "My ILL Requests."
Finding Background Information - Cultural Characteristics, Data about Media
Note: You may use Wikipedia as a starting place and a way to find other sources, but do not use it or cite it as a source.
Make sure you know what year the data you find represents. Try to use data from the last 5 years if possible.
BBC Country Profiles - for general information; see also "Media" tab
CIA World Factbook - "Select a country or location" pull down menu
UC Berkeley Library Statistics Databases
The international encyclopedia of communication (reference book)
Example:
Topic: Image of African American women in advertising
potentially relevant disciplines:
African American Studies
Gender and Women's Studies
Ethnic Studies
Media Studies
Psychology
Sociology
Business
etc.
Developing appropriate keywords/search terms is an essential part of research. First, break your topic into components. Develop a list of synonyms and alternative terminology for each component. Think about broader and narrower concepts and word variants. What words can you exclude?
Topic: Image of African American Women in Advertising
image(s) or stereotyp(es)(ing) or depict(ion) or portray(al)...
african american(s) or black(s) or minorit(y)(ies)
women or gender
advertis(e)(ing) or media
Remember to be creative with your terminology! More examples:
people of color and environmental activism*
environmental justice
environmental justice and hazardous waste*
environmental equity
environmental discrimination
environmental racism
environmental injustice
To find books, DVDs, maps, sound recordings, manuscripts, and much more - everything except articles - use a library catalog.
OskiCat = most UC Berkeley libraries
MELVYL = all UC campus libraries, including all UC Berkeley libraries
What's the difference? more details here
For each item make sure you know the name of the physical library, call number, and whether or not it's checked out, library use only, etc.
Call numbers are on the spine of the book; learn how to read them so you can find what you need on the shelves.
Media Resources Center lists of media by subject area
Media Resources Center list of feature films
You can also find non-print media of all types in OskiCat; search by keywords, author, subject, title, etc. and pull down the "Entire Collection" menu to the type of resource you want (maps, films, etc.)
All Media Resources Center materials must be used on-site.
Search an article database to find citations (title, author, title of journal, date, page numbers) for articles on a particular topic. The Library gives you access to over 200 article databases covering different disciplines.
1. Think about which academic disciplines might write about your topic. Examples: literature, film, anthropology, history...
2. Find the appropriate article database by subject (academic discipline or department). Look for "Recommended" databases.
Library home > Articles > Article Databases by Subject
Once you've searched a database to find articles, you may need to use 
to link to a PDF or html file if the full text is not immediately available. Each database is a bit different, but a good rule of thumb is this: when you see the Uc-eLinks icon click on it to view your article access options, which can range from full text to a call number to an Interlibrary Loan request:
For more information, here's a tutorial on using UC-eLinks.
Choose an interdisciplinary articles database; add other databases as appropriate (NOTE: this is not a complete list of all possible databases - just the ones available from this company)
Library home > Articles > General Article Databases > Academic Search Complete
choose databases: includes Communication Abstracts, Film and Television Literature Index, Music Index, RILM Abstracts of Music, Art Source, etc.
1. Search keywords; split topic into concepts; allow for variant word endings
iran* (select a field - optional)
television (select a field - optional)
* = truncation symbol or wildcard; child* = child, childs, children, childish, childhood
2. Narrow search by using official subject terms (aka descriptors):
iran* (subject terms)
television (subject terms)
3. Narrow search by adding another term
iran* (subject terms)
television (subject terms)
policy (select a field - optional)
Find articles about Business:
Library home > Articles > Article databases by subject > Business > Business Source Complete
"latin america" (select a field - optional)
radio (select a field - optional)
"latin america" (subject)
radio (subject)
in the left sidebar, click on the Geography category, then check off latin america
Find Newspapers from all over the World: Access World News:
Library home > Articles > News Article databases > Access World News
Asia
(all text) "hong kong" and "music industry"
too broad? instead of searching the full text, search heading and lead paragraphs:
(headline and lead paragraph): "hong kong" and "music industry"
Citation management tools help you manage your research, collect and cite sources, and create bibliographies in a variety of citation styles. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, but any are easier than doing it by hand!
Zotero: A free plug-in that works exclusively with the Firefox browser: keeps copies of what you find on the web, permits tagging, notation, full text searching of your library of resources, works with Word, and has a free web backup service.
RefWorks - free for UC Berkeley users. It allows you to create your own database by importing references and using them for footnotes and bibliographies. Use the RefWorks New User Form to sign up. Refworks Help is pretty good.
How to link from the Refworks record to a pdf on your hard drive
Exporting from OskiCat to Refworks
EndNote: may be purchased from UC Berkeley's Software Central. The Library's Guide to EndNote. And more Tips from EndNote.
It's always good to double check the formatting -- sometimes the software doesn't get it quite right.
In order to avoid plagiarism, you must give credit when
Recommendations
This content is part of the Understanding Plagiarism tutorial created by the Indiana University School of Education.
If you've never used Zotero before, use the QuickStart Guide to get started.
Change your preferences if you want Zotero to
To use Zotero to find specific articles in our library's databases, set up the Open URL resolver with this link: http://ucelinks.cdlib.org:8888/sfx_local?
An in-depth discussion of the relative virtues of Endnote and Zotero,
The UCB Library Guide to Citing Your Sources discusses why you should cite your sources and links to campus resources about plagiarism. It also includes links to guides for frequently used citation styles. Also:
Google Scholar is an easy way to do interdisciplinary research, and with some settings changes can become even more useful. You may need a Google account to use some of these features.
Open Scholar. Click on scholar preferences [upper right corner]. Under Library Links, enter the word Berkeley. Choose UC Berkeley eLinks and Open WorldCat - Library Search and Save your preferences. UC e-links will now appear in Google Scholar search results.
Do your search in Google Scholar. Look in the green toolbar for the envelope icon, and click it. New items will be sent to your email account as they are found by Google.
Do a Google Scholar search. Click on the "Cited by" link under a citation and select the "Search within articles citing..." checkbox.
You already know that you should evaluate anything you find on the Internet. Here are some reminders of what to look for.
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Research Advisory Service for Cal Undergraduates
Book a 30-minute appointment with a librarian who will help refine and focus research inquiries, identify useful online and print sources, and develop search strategies for humanities and social sciences topics (examples of research topics).
Schedule, view, edit or cancel your appointment online (CalNetID required)
This service is for Cal undergraduates only. Graduate students and faculty should contact the library liaison to their department or program for specialized reference consultations.
Other ways to get help: in person, by e-mail, contacting librarian specialists...
And of course: e-mail Corliss!
