| Communities Resolving Our Problems: the basic idea | ||
| [SUP: Sharing Problems] | [THINK: Guidance] | [LEAP: Solving Problems] |
| Communities Resolving Our Problems: the basic idea | ||
| [SUP: Sharing Problems] | [THINK: Guidance] | [LEAP: Solving Problems] |
If you were constructing a unit plan or other curriculum material for your K-12 classroom and wanted to select from a comprehensive set of books of juvenile literature for the topic(s) of your unit, the Library of Congress catalog will provide the data for you. As of January, 1998, LOCIS (Library of Congress Information System) showed 53,979 books published since 1975 in the subject of juvenile literature. This web page will show you how to retrieve that set and search and display information within this set of books.
Further, read completely through the directions on this web page before actually beginning to follow its links. If you have trouble translating this text into screen action, see the digital video clip series which plays narrated movies of actual screen search activities.
1 Library of Congress Catalog
The LOC divides its collections into three locations or databases by date. For this example will will search for records after 1975. From the next screen select:
3 BOOKS cataloged since 1975 LOC3
. The cursor will be awaiting your next command at the bottom of the screen.
Telnet has its own command to capture everything that goes by in your display window and save it to a file on your disk automatically. Find Session in telnet's menu bar and select from this menu the command at the bottom, Capture Session to File. This can be turned on and off as needed during a search. Then when your search session is over and you quit Telnet, you can open up this file, edit and delete, and/or copy all or some of it to another file for further editing or printing.
The b stands for browse. The -- two hypen marks require it to search the subject field for the words juvenile literature.
The computer will reply with several rows of data. For example:
B05 Juvenile literatur.e//(SUBJ=1)
B06+Juvenile literature//(SUBJ=49,837)
B07 Juvenile literature--Bibliography//(SUBJ=1)
Look for a row with a large number and the phrase juvenile literature. You want just the largest group of records for now. Select the line number on the left of the screen that matches your search. It may match the number given below:
You type:
At the bottom of the screen it may say:
SET 1 49,837: SLCT LOC3/SUBJ/Juvenile literature
READY FOR NEW COMMAND:
You told it that as a result of your browsing you wanted to make the sixth item in your browsing list, with over 49,000 references, set 1.
You type:
L 1/lng e eng. (Limit set 1 to books in English)
You type:
L 1/yri eg 1989 (Limit Set 1 to books published in 1989 or after)
You type:
find cats
This search created a second set. To see the list of your sets, use the HISTORY command. Now type:
H
You need to eliminate anatomy and other adult books on cats in order to see just the juvenile literature on cats. Use the COMBINE command to combine your set of juvenile literature with the set on cats. You have asked the system to search the records and prepare a new set in which two conditions must be true for all records. That is, this new set of records will hold only books that are about cats and have a subject heading of juvenile literature.
You type:
C 1 and 2
Use the H command to see the results of your combining. Notice how it greatly reduced the number of books in the combined set, eliminating a great deal of non-relevant reading on your part.
***** SEARCH HISTORY ***** SETS 1 - 2 OF 2 SET 1 49,858: SLCT LOC3/SUBJ/Juvenile literature SET 2 3,433: FIND CATS READY FOR NEW COMMAND: c 1 and 2 SET 3 253: COMB 1 AND 2There are other search options you can use to extend the power of the FIND command. See the Quick Search Help file maintained by the LOCIS staff or a summary of notes at the end of this web page.
That is, display set 3. This will bring up a summary of the beginning items on this set. Follow the directions at the bottom of the display screen to see more records. There are also other display options you may wish to use from time to time. (The following command summaries in = symbols are by LOC staff.)
================================================================== = You type: = = page s1 displays brief records in sequential order = = starting at #1 = = page b10 displays bibliographic record #10 in full = = display = = page np displays next page of full or brief displays = = page pp displays previous page of full or brief displays= = page d60 divides a guide record display beginning at = = record 60 =================================================================== = Records displayed in a brief format may also be viewed in a = = full format: = = You type: d full 1 (or appropriate item no.) = = = = In the full format, to advance to the next record: = = You type: n = = = = To return to the brief format: = = You type: d brief 1 (or appropriate item no.) = ================================================================== = To substitute short for long prompts on the bottom of some = = screens: = = You type: ps = = = = To return to long prompts: = = You type: pl = = = = To display the set: = = You type: d = ================================================================== Directions by Library of Congress.
The information inside the equal signs below is taken directly from a LOC Quick Search Help file. There are many ways to control what part of the catalog you search.WORD AND PHRASE SEARCHING: ================================================================== = To search for records with the word cats: = = You type: find cats;f=bo = = = = To search for records with the words cats and space: = = You type: find cats and space;f=bo = = = = You may specify where in the record you want the words to = = be searched by typing before the word or phrase any of 6 = = abbreviations: = = t=title = = p=personal name = = c=corporate/conference name = = s=subject = = se=series = = n=notes = = = = You type: find p cervantes and t ejemplares;f=bo = = = = There is no truncation feature. Type HELP FIND for command = = assistance. = ================================================================== OTHER RESTRICTIONS The Library of Congress catalog system consists of several files. These files contain catalog records created at LC and, in some instances, at selected other institutions participating in cooperative programs. All the files may be searched under the sign-ons LOCB, LOC1, LOC2, LOC3, LOCS, LOCM using the commands on the following pages. The first 7 files (the main bibliographic files) are searched automatically, regardless of search command. Two files (@) are searched automatically with compression key commands, but require file qualification for word command searches. Two files (*) can only be searched alone and not in combination with any other files. Some files (#) always require the file qualification technique described in the following pages, regardless of search command. Any file may be searched singly or in appropriate combinations (except * files). A search may be restricted ("qualified") to a particular file or files by following directions on the next two pages. HELP screens exist for all commands. Only records belonging to each LOC sign-on are stored in sets for further manipulation. NAME LC CATALOG FILES: DESCRIPTION ================================================================== = BO Books & some microforms (also LOCB, LOC1, LOC2, LOC3) = = SE Serials cataloged nationally; = = some may not be in LC (also LOCS) = = MA Maps and other cartographic materials (also LOCM) = = MU Recorded sound materials: music and spoken word = = AV Selected visual materials: films, photos, posters, = = drawings, etc. = = CF Microcomputer programs and data files = = AP Records in the cataloging process = = NA @ Authorized LC forms of names used on catalog records = = SU @ Authorized LC forms of subject terms used on catalog = = records = = PREM * Older, unedited catalog records (books, serials, maps,= = av, music) = = SR * Serials (journals, magazines, periodicals, etc.) = = received by LC = = GB # Reference materials for some LC reading rooms; also = = HLAS = = NE # Selected Near East language materials in LC and other = = libraries = = MSS # Catalog records for LC manuscripts collections = = NUC # Other libraries holding books not held by LC, 1982- = = RAL Other libraries holding books also held by LC (nral = = command only) = ================================================================== QUALIFYING (RESTRICTING) TO A PARTICULAR FILE: ================================================================== = You may specify one or more of these files. Type ;f= = = and the file names, at the end of the search. See previous = = screen for file names. = = find cats;f=bo (searches only books) = = find bombay society;f=sr (searches only SR) = = find elvis presley;f=mu,bo (searches music and books files) = ================================================================== Directions by Library of Congress.