Challenge #7: Worldcat and More FirstSearch Indexes

Part 1

I have had experience using Worldcat to borrow Interlibrary Loan materials when I could not find the material in SDLN Libraries through Aleph.  So, I was aware of some of the opportunities presented in this lesson, but no all of them.

1)  Besides using the default search field of "Keyword," one may also search by Title, Author, Subject, Genre, Material Type, ISBN or any number of other terms.

2)  I chose to search for Blind Your Ponies using the Title Phrase.  Three of the results were books.  Worldwide, there were 459 Libraries which held a copy of Item #1.  The top library in the results list for this book was the Alexander Mitchell Library.

3)  I looked at the full record for Blind Your Ponies, and saw that the Dewey Call Number was 813/.54, which basically means it is American Fiction.  I clicked on the name of the author, Stanley Gordon West, and saw that 12 Books resulted.  Some of these books were the same title, but probably just different versions, such as hardback and paperback.  Then, I clicked on the subject of "basketball coaches -- fiction" with a result of 37 books, 7 internet sources, and 3 sound sources.  I then narrowed the search by choosing "not juvenile" and the number of books dropped to 30. 

Other FirstSearch Indexes

I looked briefly at other databases offered in FirstSearch and the information provided on several of these databases.  For kicks, I looked for Bobby Knight in the World Almanac -- not because I'm a Bobby Knight fan, but my mind was on Basketball Coaches and his was the first that came to mind that I was sure I could spell right.  The first result was a Basketball Hall of Fame Listing which showed what year various players and coaches were added to the Hall of Fame.

Part 2

I conducted a search on South Dakota in OAIster under "Subject Phrase."  I decided to look into a dissertation entitled Dreams and Dust in the Black Hills:  Race, Place, and National Identity in America's Land of Promise.  When I clicked on the link next to Access, I was taken to the University of New Mexico's Lobo Vault.  The link provided basic information on the dissertation, such as the author, the advisor, the committee members, the date, and the type of degree being pursued.  However, I could not read the actual dissertation because when I tried to open it, I was asked to login to the Lobo Vault.