1) We used the computer in the reading room to utilize IUCAT.
2) We proceeded to type in a few different search options, which produced irrelevant results.
3) We then narrowed our search down to include only materials found at the Lily, as opposed to ALL libraries.
4) We did a key word search of "The Works Progress Administration" and found pertinent materials.
5) We then eliminated search results that weren't relevant (such as a document about Shakespeare)
6) We found a document about the WPA in the 1930s. The document was titled "Homeless, friendless, and penniless: the WPA interviews with former slaves living in Indiana" by Ronald L. Baker. Call Number: E444 .H66 2000. The "note" section says that the document is "from interviews conducted in the 1930s by fieldworkers of the Federal Writers' of the Works Progress Administration."
7) We wrote down the title, author, and call number; handed the slip to the individual at the reference desk. He then sent up for the material.
-Merey Shell, Laura Strodtman, Cara Bushemi
Your group post is insightful because I think it helps us know some of the realities of sifting through online records. Judging by your comments to other posts, it seems as if you're all realizing that currently the best method of organizing and keeping the manuscripts is in hard file. That's the way the "collections" often come in, and thus the way they are described as belonging together. But I also appreciate the detailed notes you gave us in step 6 regarding the context of Baker's text--that helps me to understand a little bit more why you might select that document. What collection is the Baker text a part of--could you tell from the call number or from the electronic record?
ReplyDelete-Dr. Graban