FYSE 1184 The Journey Within: Get to Know your Library (with a real-life Librarian)
You're not new to libraries, but you *are* new to the Middlebury College Libraries. This 'quiz' will give you the tools you need to find things in the library, cite sources, and find librarians when you need more help.

Photo credit: A copy of the Biblical Psalms, in Greek, dated to around the year 1500, from Middlebury College's Special Collections.

Little red stars * like the one below mark a required question.
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Email *
Please tell me your name! (First and last.) *
Librarians are very nice people.
Every academic department at Middlebury has an assigned librarian. This means that whatever course you’re taking, you have a personal librarian at-the-ready.

Visit the Library at go/library (http://go.middlebury.edu/library) and look for "Ask a Question." You can email, text, or make a real phone call for help.

Even though you'll be meeting me in-person soon, visit go/rebekah (http://go.middlebury.edu/rebekah) so you'll recognize me.
Research Guides
Next to librarians, library research guides are one of the best tools you'll use when doing research for your classes. Research guides are curated by librarians to recommend the best places to start. Guides also have tips for accessing library materials off-campus and citing sources.

To find the library's research guides, start at go/guides (http://go.middlebury.edu).
Find the Library Research Guide affiliated with one of Professor Hatjigeorgiou's two academic departments. Who is the library subject specialist connected to that department? List their name below. (Bonus point if you name both librarians.) *
When is the Davis Family Library open today? (Hint: Visit go/hours) *
Visit Davis Library, and find a map. On which floor will you find Special Collections (LIB 101)? (Hint: the stairwells all have maps nearby.) *
Citation
Citation is a fact of life for every scholar, whether they're an esteemed professor who's written 43 books, or a first-year student. Watch the video below for the most important things to keep in mind when it comes to citation.
"Citation For People Who Hate Citation" (A very short video. Click to view  fullscreen in YouTube.)
How to Find Books, Articles, and Everything Else
Books are at the heart of academic research (especially in the humanities). At Middlebury, there are two primary tools to help you locate books: LibrarySearch and MIDCAT.
LibrarySearch
Find it at go/LibrarySearch (http://go.middlebury.edu/LibrarySearch)

LibrarySearch is our version of Google. It's a search engine that returns all of the materials the library owns (books, newspaper articles, journal articles, DVDs, etc). It's a great place to start your research. Once you have some leads on topics and sources, you may want to search in a specific database instead of LibrarySearch.
MIDCAT
Find it at go/midcat (http://go.middlebury.edu/midcat)

MIDCAT is the library catalog. Use it to find actual items in the library such as books (print and ebooks), and DVD.

MIDCAT is best when you know what you're looking for and can search for a title, author, or subject. If you want something that is sitting on a shelf in the Libraries this semester, use MIDCAT and look for the button "Request" in the record. Your book or DVD will be pulled from the shelf for you. In a day or two you can grab it in the Library's lobby.

On Finding a Book (A short 5-minute video! Click to view fullscreen in YouTube. Wear headphones, this has audio)
Another question: One of the books required for your FYSE is the Dhammapada, the sayings of the Buddha, with a foreword by Ram Dass, published in 1993. Does the Library have a copy of a different English translation of the Dhammapada published after the year 2010? If you find one, copy the Chicago Manual of Style citation below. (Tip: MIDCAT and LibrarySearch provide citations. See if you can find them.) *
Another bookish question: the Geneva Bible was first published in 1560 by British Christians living in Geneva, Switzerland. (Specifically, they were Protestants living in exile from England during the reign of Queen Mary, a Catholic, also known as "Bloody Mary" because of her enthusiasm for burning her enemies at the stake.) Until the Geneva Bible, English language Bibles were translated from Latin. The Geneva Bible was translated from Hebrew and Greek, ancient languages considered to be more authentic. The Geneva Bible was the first "mass-market" Bible — it was small and portable — and it was the first English Bible to assign numbers to chapters and verses (this made it easier to use). William Shakespeare used the Geneva Bible and Pilgrims carried one on the Mayflower to the English Colonies. What is the oldest copy of the Geneva Bible in Middlebury's library collection? Not an e-book, but an actual physical copy. Type its location and call number below. (Spoiler: You will see it when you visit Special Collections.)
Take a #shelfie! Find a book (not an ebook) about the apology of Socrates published in 2019. First, copy the Chicago Manual of Style citation and paste it below.  Then, locate it on the shelf in the library, and take a #shelfie. (What's a #shelfie? A shelfie is a picture of a bookshelf that shows off some books. Your face can be in the photo, but doesn't have to be.) Leave the book where you found it, and email your photo to me before class: rirwin@middlebury.edu *
How to Find Articles
If books represent the established knowledge on a subject, articles are where you'll find the most recent scholarship.

LibrarySearch (http://go.middlebury.edu/LibrarySearch) is your best bet when starting to look for articles.

First, try using one or two keywords in the search bar and click enter. Once you see the list of results, use the filters on the left side of the page to narrow the list. There are other ways to sort at the top of the LibrarySearch page too, like by most relevant, newest or oldest. The "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals" and "Academic Journals" filters on the left are especially helpful.
Interlibrary Loan
When an item you want is not available, Interlibrary Loan (ILL) can help. ILL works with other colleges and libraries to get you materials that aren't accessible at Middlebury.

What can you request? Books, DVDs, music or audiobook CDs. Also items owned by Middlebury that are currently checked out, on reserve, or missing.

You can also request journal or magazine articles, and individual book chapters or introductions. These get scanned and sent by email.

Find Interlibrary Loan at go/ill (http://go.middlebury.edu/ill).


Another question: What does the novel 'Franny and Zooey' written in 1961, have to do with Buddhism? Can you find an academic ("peer reviewed") article that considers this idea? If you find something, find the Chicago citation style and copy it below. *
Another question: Later in the semester, you'll be reading poetry by Emily Dickinson. The image below is a poem written by Emily Dickinson on a scrap of paper (the original is at Harvard University, and the poem is called, "I'm Nobody! Who are you?"). Dickinson's use of punctuation and capitalization was unusual. When her poems were first published in 1886 — four years after her death — they were heavily edited to fit the norms of the time. Can you find a scholarly article considering Dickinson's unconventional use of punctuation? Specifically her use of dashes? If you can, find the Chicago citation and copy it below. *
Captionless Image
Bonus question. The library is over 200 years old and has millions of items. I couldn't possibly have answered all of your questions. Add one question of your own that didn't get answered here. (I'll try to answer it when we meet in class.)
What to Do When You're Not Sure What to Do
Middlebury librarians are here to help you with any aspect of your research, from the smallest details to the biggest existential questions. We help you refine research topics, find sources, and untangle tricky citation challenges.

Contact a Middlebury librarian via email, text, or chat at go/library and go/askus.
That's it.
Hit "Submit" below and I'll see you soon in Special Collections, at the bottom of the main stone staircase in the Library.
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