Assignment: Searching SIRSI Unicorn (15 points) ASSIGNED: Jan 08DUE: Jan 22

Notes  

• I intend my exercises to be serious learning experiences, not just a search for answers. Consequently, they require creative thought about using the techniques you have learned.
• You are often given imperfect, erroneous information when asked to do a search. There are no intended errors in the questions below, but I have made unintended errors in the past.
• Some questions require more than one step to get an answer. In other words, it may not be obvious.
• Do the type of search ONLY as specified by the header (Search Everything, Title, Author, Complex, etc.) or by the search problem itself.
• All questions are to be searched on the Foothill College Library catalog UNLESS otherwise specified.
• I have no problem with you helping each other think about or develop strategies to solve these problems because:
  • Each person has different ways of understanding and approaching problems.
  • You gain by the insights that others may have.
• On the other hand, I expect each person to answer the questions herself/himself.
• Automatic 10% off if the exercise is late, NO EXCEPTIONS. You, of course, have the options of emailing or mailing your answer sheet to me if you can not attend the class.
  • Email: I must receive the email on the date the assignment is due.
  • Mail: The envelope must be postmarked no later than the date the assignment is due.
• I very much prefer that your answers be typed (this is college, afterall). On the other hand, you can write the answers if you block print very clearly and cleanly.
  • I WILL NOT accept answers written in script.

I WILL take off (miniminally 0.5 points) for a hard-to-read answer sheet.

Format for Your Answer Sheet

Put your name in the upper right-hand corner. Put "Exercise 1: SIRSI" below that. Put the date you turn it in below that

Type your SEARCH STATEMENTS and ANSWERS or neatly print them on lined paper in the same order they are given and in following example format: I will subtract for answers that are difficult to read or incomprehensible. This is college, and clear communication is vital. Provide the required answer: It may be a: Number A word An explanation A search statement (Be sure to show your successful search statement where required), and/or A record (If it is a record, provide the call number and title.) Example: Author search 1. SEARCH STATEMENT: 'snyder, gary' ANSWER: PS3569 .N88 N6 1992 - No nature : new and selected poems 2. A. SEARCH STATEMENT: ANSWER: B. SEARCH STATEMENT: ANSWER: etc.

QUESTIONS: There are 25 questions, each worth 0.6 point.

Comparing Searches

1	A. Do a KEYWORD "Search Everything" search on the 2 words internet and "world wide web" combining the words with "and". How many records do you get as a result of your search?
	B. Do a KEYWORD "Subject Search" on the words internet and "world wide web", combining the words with "and". How many records do you get as a result of your search?
	C. Do an EXACT "Subject Search" on the correct, general LC Subject Heading for the "world wide web". How many records do you get as a result of your search?

Do SEARCH EVERYTHING Searches ONLY

2	A. Do an exact SEARCH EVERYTHING search on the word "internet". What kind of display did you bring up? [For example, 1 record, a list of records, some type of headings, etc.] B. Try the same exact search on the word "internet" in PERIODICAL TITLE SEARCH. What do you bring up? [For example, 1 record (give name), a list of records, some type of headings, etc.]
3	A patron is looking for an essay whose title contains the phrase, "play of pedagogy." What is the correct title of the essay and the call number and title of the book that contains it.
4	Use the DeAnza College Library Catalog (URL: http://www.deanza.fhda.edu/library/ SELECT: Our Library Catalog) for this search. The library has books writen by two different Vietnam war POWs that tell the number of days that they were, respectively, in prisoner-of-war camps? What were those two numbers (Note: The numbers are are both over 2000):
5	A. How many records have cd-rom or cdrom somewhere in their fields? B. How many records have cd-rom or cdrom in the Physical Description Field? C. How many records does a search for the phrase "computer optical disc" occur in the Physical Description Field bring up?
6	A student is looking for a book on the past and future of the ideas or concepts in major religions. She remembers that the title makes it clear that the book is dealing with all the major religions. B. Do a browse search on the same search terms. Does it turn up the same record?

Do AUTHOR Searches ONLY

7	A patron knows that Gregory Bateson and his daughter Mary wrote books, but he wants to see if there are any other Batesons who have written books. Write a single search statement to find records of works in the library ONLY by other Batesons. How many records are returned (Give a number for all, even if a Bateson is not the actual writer.)
8	A. How many records have an 'association' listed as an author? B. Look at the first record. What kind of author is the organization listed as?
9	Why does a search on the author 'King Richard' (no last name) bring up (among other records): VIDEO 1596, King Richard the Second [videorecording] / William Shakespeare.

Do TITLE Searches ONLY

10	A. What is the standard title of the book, Best jobs for the twenty-first century? B. What is the name (according to MARC standards) and number of the field in which you find the title, Best jobs for the twenty-first century?
11	I found 22 records on doing research or studies in sociology. Write and show 1 (one) search statement that finds those 22 records. Note: There may be 1 or 2 more or less records if materials are added or removed subsequent to my original search. [Hints: Remember that this is a TITLE search. You will need to use Booleans and two other search techniques to make this search possible.]
12	A. Does the library have any DBA or SQL books? (You don't have to know what a patron is looking for to find it.) How many DBA and SQL books are there in total? (Remember, you are doing a TITLE search.) B. What is the one book whose title addresses both DBA and SQL?

Do SUBJECT Searches ONLY

NOTE: You may want to check the Library of Congress Subject Headings books when you do these.

13	An art instructor is looking for a catalog of an exhibition of primitivist American art that was held in the early-mid 1970s in Minnesota.
14	A. Do a subject search for books published in the last 6years in German on the history of tennis. Provide the title(s). B. Are any of the results in German?
15	How many records are there where "woman" or "women" and "history" and "literature" appear in the same subject heading?
16	A dentistry student at foothill says a professor told her that the library has a classic book on the use of antibiotic treatments for diseases of the mouth. He believes it was published in 1984. What is the title?

Do a SERIES Search ONLY

17	What series does the Foothill Library have on international sercurity? Give all of their names.

Do a PERIODICAL TITLE Search ONLY

18

A. How many records are there that have either the word "art" or the word "arts" or the word "craft"or the word "crafts" or the word "creative" or the word "photography" in the title? NO title can have two or more of the words in it. Show your search statement. B. In the results of your search, what are the other "types" of materials listed besides "PERIODICAL"?

Do MARC Searches ONLY (You MUST use MARC numbers in all parts of your search statement.)

19	How many books whose subject is either scientists or researchers also have a bibliography? Show your search statement.
20	The publisher McGraw-Hill is known for publishing many books about technology. How many records are there in the Foothill Library that are works specifically published by McGraw-Hill and are focused on any aspect of technology? NOTE: The answer is more than 20.
21	There is only one (1) book that has the phrase SQL server in its title that also includes computer laser optical discs. What is the title?

Do COMPLEX SEARCH Searches ONLY

22	A student is looking for a video she saw in the last few years in the Media Center. It was about the two women who led the early movement to gain women their right to vote in the US. What is the title and call number (or does it have a "call" number).
23	Someone is looking for a magazine on African-American history. He is sure that "history" is in the titleWhat is the title of the magazine?
24	A book in a Jones and Bartlett series of publications focuses on data structures when when programming in C++. What is the title of the item?
25	Sometime before the Korean War, a historian named Smith wrote a book about the role of the United States in world history.

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