Library Workshop Manual : Section 3 Locate v. to discover where something is. Locating sources appropriate for academic research requires time and a critical eye. It is also important to evaluate those sources, identifying the best ones for your research. Learning to apply criteria by which you can evaluate both print and electronic information should make it easier for you to choose good sources. The type of research you are doing will determine how closely you examine your sources. You would probably be less critical of information gathered for your own personal interest than for a paper. Academic research requires accurate and documented sources. This section will focus on locating, evaluating, and citing print and electronic sources. After completing this section, you should be able to: locate books in the library using call numbers use the library's online catalog recognize the different parts of a URL

Using the Online Catalog LIUCAT -- Locate It in Print The library's catalog, LIUCAT, can be accessed on the Web from the library homepage or at the following address: http://liucat.liu.edu This is a brief introduction to using LIUCAT. For more in-depth help refer to the online user's guide which accompanies LIUCAT. You can access it by clicking on the Help button at any time during your search. Types of Searches LIUCAT has three different search types that you can use to find the material you want: Basic. This allows you to combine terms. Advanced. This allows you to specify and combine words in different fields and limit by campus, collection, or item type. List A-Z. This displays an alphabetical list of authors, titles, subjects, series, or call numbers. You can scroll to any point in the list and choose the topic you want. These buttons are available at the top of your browser so that you can quickly and easily switch from one type of search to another: Basic Search To do a Basic Search: Click the Basic button. Choose the type of search you want to do from the pull-down menu. Enter your search words and click Basic search allows you to do the following keyword searches: general keyword title keyword author keyword subject keyword series keyword A general keyword search looks for the words you enter in the entire record. It is often a good starting point for your search. The other types of keyword searches look for the words you enter only in the fields specified by the type of search you choose, such as title, author or subject. For example, a title keyword search looks for the words you enter in the title fields only, so if you were to do a title keyword search for the words "internet" and "directory" your results would include the titles: Internet Tollfree National Directory and Directory of Internet Sources for Health Professionals. After the results are displayed, Basic search also allows you to sort results by date, author, or title, and to limit the serach by campus, collection, or media type. Advanced Search To do an Advanced search Click the Advanced button. Use the field modifier (type of keyword search) listed on the left of the search text box and the Boolean operators listed on the right to narrow your searching scope. Click The advantage of an Advanced search over a Basic search is the ability to combine different kinds of keyword searches using the Boolean operators and, or, and not. This allows you to be much more specific in your search strategy. AND: Narrows your search to items that contain both words you enter. OR: Broadens your search to items that contain either word you enter. NOT: Narrows your search to items that contain one word you enter, but not the other. (For more information on using Boolean operators, refer to Combining Ideas -- Boolean Logic in Section 2.) Advanced search allows you combine up to four of the following keyword searches in any combination: general keyword title keyword author keyword subject keyword series keyword Example: If you are looking for dictionaries about chemistry, you could use the following advanced search to narrow your search and retrieve the most relevant records: Do a subject keyword search for "dictionaries" and use the and operator to combine that search with a general keyword search for "chemistry". Limiting You also have the option to limit your search. You can limit by Campus (C.W. Post, Brooklyn, Southampton, Brentwood, Rockland), Collection (Circulation, Reference, Periodicals, Business, IMC, etc.), or by Media Type (books, videos, cds). Sorting You can choose to have your results sorted by date, author, title, or media type (i.e., videorecording, microform, book, etc.). If you don't, the results are automatically sorted in reverse chronological order which means the most recently published items will appear first. After your initial search you will also have the option to re-sort your results. List A-Z Search Use the List A-Z Search option to retrieve various alphabetical listings to browse, such as authors, titles, subjects, and series. This is a good choice if you know the specific author, title, or subject that you wish to find. For example, you can enter "hemingway" to get an alphabetical list of authors whose last names begin with "hemingway." To use the List A-Z Search option Click the Lists A-Z button. Choose the Available List that you want to browse (Title List, Author List, Subject List, Periodical Title List, Library of Congress Call Number List, Series List, ISBN). Enter a word or phrase to browse in the text box. Click LIUCAT displays the List A-Z Summary. Choose the phrase you want. LIUCAT displays the Item Information screen containing the term you chose from the List. Results Screens If there are matches for more than one item, LIUCAT opens the Search Results screen. This is a listing of short entries for all the items retrieved by your search. You can go into the item information for an individual item by clicking on the hyperlink of its title. Item Information If your search finds only one item LIUCAT will take you directly into the item information screen. The item information screen gives the following information about an item: Complete bibliographic details including title, author, publication year, and Library of Congress subject headings Which campuses of LIU own the item Which collection to find the item in (circulation, reference, business, etc.) Call number Whether the book is checked in or checked out The due date if the book is checked out Whether the book is on reserve When you find items that you wish to locate in the library be sure to write the title, author and call number down. You will need the call number to find the item on the shelf. Or you can use the My List feature. My List and Emailing You can add items to My List as you search by clicking on the "Add to my list" button which appears to the right of the item. When you've put all the items you want on your list, click the "My List" button and print the results or use the email option to send the items to a specific email address. You can also email an entire search to a specific address by scrolling to the bottom of the search screen and filling in the appropriate information before clicking "Email items". Be sure to enter a full destination e-mail address (for example, jdoe@wherever.com). History Use the History option on the toolbar if you want to find and rerun a search that has been done before or use the same keywords while changing the search options. If you can't find what you're looking for using LIUCAT, please ask a librarian!

Finding the Books -- Understanding Call Numbers Have you ever wondered how library books are assigned their places on the shelves? Did you know that the call number -- the number placed on the spine of the book -- is a code which provides valuable information about the book? What are call numbers for? Each book in the library has a unique call number. A call number is like an address: it tells us where the book is located in the library. Call numbers appear on the spines of books and in the online catalog: Note that the same call number can be written from top-to-bottom, or left-to-right. The C.W. Post Library, like many academic libraries in the U.S., uses Library of Congress Classification for call numbers. This system uses a combination of letters and numbers to arrange materials by subjects. Reading Call Numbers Read the call numbers line by line: LB 2395 .C65 1991 Read the first line in alphabetical order: A, B, BF, C, D … L, LA, LB, LC, M, ML ... Read the second line as a whole number: 1, 2, 3, 45, 100, 101, 1000, 2000, 2430 ... The third line is a combination of a letter and numbers. Read the letter alphabetically. Read the number as a decimal, e.g. .C65=.65 .C724=.724 (Some call numbers have more than one combination letter-number line.) The fourth line is the year the book was published. Chronological order: 1985, 1987, 1991, 1992 ... Putting Call Numbers in Shelf Order To understand how call numbers are put in order in Library of Congress Classification, look again at each section of the call number.

LA 2301 .M37

LA before LB

LB 2327 .M3

LB 2327 .Y53 1990

2327 before 2328

LB 2328 .B37

.B before .C

LB 2328 .C34

.34 before .55

LB 2328 .C55

LB 2328 .C554

.554 before .63

LB 2328 .C63 1992

LB 2395 .C65 1987

1987 before 1991

LB 2395 .C65 1991

What does the call number mean? Remember that Library of Congress Classification arranges materials by subjects. The first sections of the call number represent the subject of the book. The letter-and-decimal section of the call number often represents the author's last name. And, as you recall, the last section of a call number is often the date of publication. Example: Title: What You Need to Know About Developing Study Skills, Taking Notes & Tests, Using Dictionaries & Libraries Author: Coman, Marcia J. Call number: LB2395 .C65 1991 The first two lines describe the subject of the book. LB2395=Methods of Study, in Higher Education LB 2395 .C65 1991 The third line often represents the author’s last name: .C65=Coman The last line is the year the book was published. Why is this important to know? Because books are classified by subject, you can often find several helpful books on the same shelf, or nearby. For example, within the same call number LB2395, there are other guides for college study. LB 2395 .C6 1960 A Student Guide to Efficient Study, by Luella Cole LB 2395 .E45 How to Study Better and Get Higher Marks, by Eugene H. Ehrlich LB 2395 .L447 Keys to College Success, by Minnette Lenier LB 2395 .O54 1983 A Successful Student's Handbook, by Rita Phipps In large libraries many items on the same subject will have similar call numbers. It is important to write down the entire call number in order to locate the item on the shelf. Remember that the Library of Congress arranges materials by subject. The first section of the call number represents the subject of the book. The second section represents the author's name and the last section is often the date of publication. The first line of a call number may begin with one, two or three letters. These letters should be read alphabetically. A call number that begins with A is shelved before one that begins with B, C, etc.; and a call number that begins with QE is shelved somewhere between the one that starts with Q and the one that starts with QL. Single letters are filed before double letters. P PN PS Q QA The second line of a call number is made of a number that may have one or more digits. This line is read numerically. A call number with a smaller number in its second line is shelved before one that has a larger number for its second line. QA 50 QA 55 QA 76 QA 76.15 QA 76.73 The third line is the trickiest part of the call number. The letter is shelved alphabetically, and the number following the letter is treated as if it were preceded by a decimal. PN 6231 .E259 PN 6231 .E29 PN 6231 .E4 PN 6231 .E74 PN 6231 .F44 When the top three lines are identical, look to the fourth line. If it contains a letter followed by numbers, items are organized alphabetically by letter, and within each letter by decimal number. Note the number is treated as a decimal number even though there is no visible decimal point. QE 862 .D5 L22 QE 862 .D5 L35 QE 862 .D5 L4571 QE 862 .D5 L461 QE 862 .D5 M3311 QE 862 .D5 M37 The final lines of the call numbers may include dates, volume indicators, issue numbers, copy numbers and other annotations such as supplement or index specifiers. These annotations are read after the call number.

Locate It on the Web Just as every item in the library has its own call number, every image, file, page, or program on the Web has its own individual location. To find these online sources, you need the Web address called a Uniform Resource Locator or URL. The URL identifies the computer, directory, and file where an item is located and the type of protocol needed to read that item. Capitalization, punctuation, and spacing must be exact for a URL to work. Anatomy of a URL You might use the URL to identify information about the source of a Web page. Let's look at some URLs to find out more about the structure and organization of addresses on the Web. http://www.dollarsR_US.com/ http:// The first part of the address indicates what type of protocol you need to view this item. In this case, "http" means hypertext transfer protocol which is the standard protocol of a web page. www The "www" stands for World Wide Web. Many URLs start with these letters. dollarsR_US This part of the address usually contains the name, or abbreviated name, of the organization sponsoring the information. com This is the domain name and indicates what type of organization is sponsoring the site. In this case it is a company. http://sis.liunet.edu/~bob/Paper/Bio.html http:// This indicates that this page uses the Web protocol. Some other protocols are telnet or news. sis This page is on a server, or "host" computer, called "sis". URLs do not have to start with www. liunet This name indicates that this page is coming from Long Island University. edu This domain name means that the sponsoring institution is an educational institution. ~bob The "~" indicates that this is a personal account, probably for someone named Bob. It is always wise to be more critical when evaluating information from a personal site since it is more difficult to determine the reliability of the information. Paper This is the name of the directory in the "bob" account. Bio This is the file name. Capitalization and punctuation are important in URLs. html This is the file extension and indicates the file's format. In this instance the file is HTML or hypertext markup language -- the predominant format found on the Web. Let's take a closer look at some of the parts of the URL: Protocols In the online world, protocols make it possible for different types of computers -- Macintosh, PC, UNIX -- to communicate with each other. They are standards or rules that enable one computer to understand messages sent from another and then act on those messages. They always come before the URL. There are many protocols for communicating on the Internet. Some common ones are: Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) : transmit information on the Web Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) : send and receive electronic mail File Transfer Protocol (FTP) : transfer files between computers Telnet protocol (telnet) : login from a local desktop computer to a remote server and use its resources Without protocols, computers would have no idea what to do with our email messages or how to display a Web page. Groups on the Web The information you find on the Web is as varied as the people who put it there. Groups that publish information on the Web include: Libraries That's right, libraries are major producers and purchasers of quality information on the Web. For example, The Library of Congress puts copies of important historical photographs and documents called "The American Memory Project" on its site. Colleges and Universities Universities put entire classes online as well as provide space for their faculty and students to produce Web pages. Much of the practical information you need to enroll and register for classes can be found on the Web. Government Agencies In order to make information available to more people, federal, state, and local governments are publishing many documents on the Web. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) puts copies of tax forms on the Web. Companies Many companies publish financial documents and press releases on their sites. The Web is also a major marketing tool for many companies to provide information about their products. For example, Nike produces a popular site full of sports information. Do you think the information in a company web site is reliable if they are trying to sell you a product? Organizations Organizations have agendas and opinions that they want you to know about. The American Lung Association educates about the dangers of smoking on its Web page. Do you think some organizations may have a particular bias in the information their websites display? People in foreign countries The Web has global representation. With a computer and a phone connection, anyone can publish on the Web. Domains Top Level Domains Most URLs include the name and type of organization sponsoring the page. The type of organization is identified by a three-letter code called a "top level domain name." Here are some of the most common top level domains you will find. Each indicates something about the nature of the site. .edu educational institution Even though a page comes from an educational institution, it does not mean the institution endorses the views expressed there. Students or faculty members may publish pages in their account on the school's computer. .com commercial entity Many companies advertise and sell products, as well as publish annual reports and other company information for their customers, stockholders, and potential investors on the Web. Much of the quality information you can purchase such as online newspapers or journals have .com names. .gov federal government Government agencies use the Web to publish legislation, census information, weather data, tax forms, and many other documents. .org non-profit organization Non-profit organizations use the Web to promote their causes. These pages are good sources to use when comparing different sides of an issue. .net network provider Network providers administer or provide connection services to the Internet. The .net group is an odd mix of companies, associations, and Internet service providers. Information on these sites can look similar to sites from .com, .org, or even personal pages. Recently the division between these top level domains became blurred. Sometimes non-profit organizations and educational institutions are now found under .com or .net. This makes it more difficult to determine the organization that is publishing the page. The number of top level domain names can be increased. Some new top level domain names recently approved are: .aero aviation industry .biz business .info general use .name individuals Country Codes Sometimes you will see a two-letter country code at the end of the URL instead of the three-letter organization code. The origin of some international sites can be determined by country codes found in the URL. Country codes are also top level domain names. Most URLs in the United States do not use the .us country code. Some other country codes are: .au Australia .cl Chile .br Brazil .de Germany .ca Canada .eg Egypt .ch Switzerland .jp Japan .mx Mexico .nl Netherlands .nz New Zealand .uk United Kingdom File Name Extensions Files on the web can be in many different formats. The extension of a file name can tell you a lot about the file. Most documents on the Web are written in HTML (hypertext markup language). HTML consists of standard text and pictures marked by tags which tell your browser how to display them. So most of the files you find on the Web will have the extensions .html or .htm. However, there are many other types of files out there. The way you can identify the type is by looking at its extension. Some common file name extensions are: .pdf Portable Document Format allows formatted documents (including brochures or other documents containing artwork) to be transferred across the Net so they look the same on any machine .exe Executable a DOS or Windows program or a self-extracting file. If this is an executable (self-extracting) file, then it can usually be launched by double-clicking on the icon on your desktop. These can also carry viruses, so be careful when opening them. .zip Zipped a compressed file. It can be a document, program, graphic, etc. .gif Graphics Interchange Format a common graphics file format on the Internet .jpg Joint Photographic Experts Group another graphics file format .midi Musical Instrument Digital Interface an audio file .mov Movie common format for QuickTime movies .avi Video the standard video format for Windows .swf Shockwave Flash enables web pages to include multimedia objects .wav Wave audio files in the native sound format for Windows Now that you are able to locate information, the next section will cover how you can evaluate the quality of both the print and electronic information you found.