GERMAN R5B: Germanic Peoples in the Early Middle Ages

Doe Reading Room

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:27:10 -0700

UCB Libraries

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 12:44:23 -0700

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

test

This guide has been archived

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 10:17:10 -0800

This course guide was created during a previous semester, and is no longer being actively maintained. Here is a list of current course guides.

Medieval Primary Sources

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:46:03 -0700

Starting points

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:18:14 -0700

The Library of Congress Subject Heading link for Sagas--History and Criticism provides a great list of relevant sources.

Dictionary of Literary Biography, see especially:

Vol. 148: German Writers & Works of the Middle Ages: 800-1170.
Vol. 293: Icelandic Writers.
Vol. 115: Medieval Philosophers.

Language tips (OskiCat)

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:21:42 -0700

Ignore diacritics
- use a instead of á
- use n instead of ñ
- use the transliterated spelling (for non-Roman languages)
Limit results by language (Modify search)
Use alternate spellings for foreign names
- Brennu-Njals vs Njals
- Hrafnkell vs Hrafnkel

Searching Library Catalogs

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:46:58 -0700

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

Proxy server

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:38:24 -0800

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

Where's the PDF?

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:08:27 -0700

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.)

Articles

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:40:41 -0700

See also the complete list of Medieval Studies article databases at Berkeley.

Cite your sources

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:57:16 -0700

Citing Your Sources - a brief online guide to the main citation styles and a brief discussion on what constitutes plagiarism.
The Chicago Manual of Style (UCB-only access)
15th ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2003. Searchable, online version of the Chicago Manual of Style(15th edition).
Many print editions available throughout the UCB Libraries.
Cite Right: A Quick Guide to Citation Styles--MLA, APA, Chicago, the Sciences, Professions, and More (UCB-only access) Charles Lipson. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2006.
Many print editions throughout the libraries.
Columbia Guide to Online Style (UCB-only access)
Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor. 2nd ed. NY: Columbia Univ. Press. 2006.
Many print editions throughout the UCB libraries.
MLA handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th edition. New York : Modern Language Association of America, 2009.
Doe Reference Reference Hall LB2369 .G53 2009
Main Gardner Stacks LB2369 .G53 2009
Many older editions available throughout the UCB libraries.

Be Critical

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:45:25 -0700

Doing good research requires different skills than searching. Searching online encourages ways of thinking that can create false expectations and poor research results. Here are a few tips:

Slow down.
Look at the advanced search page
Iterative searching
- Learn from the search results
- Too many results? Too few?
- Look at citations from good sources
Try
- Various keywords
- Various subjects
- Multiple databases (information silos!)

Critically Analyzing Information Sources (Cornell)

Searching for scholarly sources

choose the right database
limit results to "peer-reviewed" sources

Research Advisory Service

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:09:04 -0700

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.

Your thoughts

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:33:14 -0700

Chat and email reference

chennesy@library.berkeley.edu (Cody Hennesy) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:44:36 -0700

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)