Hello and Welcome!
We're glad you're here! Rita Soenksen, Dan Gall, Jenay Dougherty, and Cathy Cranston are happy to help you get started this morning! Please feel welcome to ask us questions as we go.
We understand that you're working on an essay assignment which involves comparing /contrasting how a poem or poems and A Tale of Two Cities address a particular theme, such as revenge.
To get started, we're going to use the university's library catalog, InfoHawk+, to find resources - just like you would use Destiny Discover to search your school library. Not every single thing in our collection is cataloged in InfoHawk+ but it is a great place to start!
Search Tips for InfoHawk+
- If you have an author you are interested in, you can start with their name.
- Your search may get too many results. Put quotation marks around phrases. Use the filters on the right side of the screen to narrow your search.
- We have lots of articles and books written about poetry. It can be useful to look at other information in the record, including the title of the publication it is found in and the number of pages (poems are usually short, academic articles not so much!)
- You can exclude things with the filters on the left. Use the check box with the line through it to exclude things, like Reviews.
- When you find something you want to use, InfoHawk+ can generate a citation for the item. Click on the large quotation mark by the record and copy it into a document. Always double check for accuracy!
How to Read an LC Call Number
When you locate a book in InfoHawk+, you'll need to take note of a few things in order to find it in the Library.
Notice:
- this is a BOOK in print/paper form (as opposed to an "ebook" which would be located online)
- it is Available (which means it should be sitting on the shelf as opposed to already checked out by someone else)
- It is located in the Main Library (as opposed to any of our other campus libraries)
- it is in the "Stacks" which is another way to say it is on a bookshelf
- there is a call number that tells you the location in the library
- We use a different system than what you are used to in your high school library - but don't worry, we can help you find what you are looking for or you can ask anyone shelving books for help too!
How to locate a book by its call number
Image source: Howard Community College
When you are looking for a print book in our libraries, always start with the beginning of the call number. Books are arranged alphabetically starting with this. For example, all PR call numbers are together, after PP and before PS, and all P’s come after all combinations of N and before all combinations of Q, like this:
P, PA, PB . . . PP, PR, PS . . . Q, QA, QB
When books have identical letter combinations, look to the number line next. Books are ordered using whole numbers on this part. For example:
PR1 PR206 PR1056 PR6037 PR6209
When the beginning combinations of letters and numbers are identical, next look at the part after the decimal point. Books are first ordered alphabetically and then arranged by decimal number (not whole number.) The following call numbers are in correct order:
PR6037.A47 PR6037.A8 PR6037.A86 PR6037.E222
If there are more letters and numbers that follow, repeat the pattern of looking at the letters alphabetically, and the numbers as a decimal number.
LC Call Number Ranges
PN1301-1333 Literature (General) -- Epic poetry
PN1341-1347 Literature (General) -- Folk poetry
PN1351-1389 Literature (General) -- Lyric poetry
PN6099-6110 Collections of General Literature -- Poetry
PR500-614 English Literature - Poetry
PR521-614 By period
PR1170-1228 Collections of English Literature -- Poetry
PS301-326 American Literature -- Poetry
PS580-619 Collections of American Literature -- Poetry
PS593 By form
PS601-617 By period
PS700-3576 American Literature -- Individual Authors
Main Library Floorplan
1st floor scanning stations (gold arrows)
4th floor call numbers P- PS3515
2nd floor call numbers PS3516 - PZ
UI Land Acknowledgement
The University of Iowa is located on the homelands of the Ojibwe/Anishinaabe (Chippewa), Báxoǰe (Iowa), Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), Omāēqnomenēwak (Menominee), Myaamiaki (Miami), Nutachi (Missouri), Umoⁿhoⁿ (Omaha), Wahzhazhe (Osage), Jiwere (Otoe), Odawaa (Ottawa), Póⁿka (Ponca), Bodéwadmi/Neshnabé (Potawatomi), Meskwaki/Nemahahaki/Sakiwaki (Sac and Fox), Dakota/Lakota/Nakoda (Sioux), Sahnish/Nuxbaaga/Nuweta (Three Affiliated Tribes) and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Nations. The following tribal nations, Umoⁿhoⁿ (Omaha Tribe of Nebraska and Iowa), Póⁿka (Ponca Tribe of Nebraska), Meskwaki (Sac and Fox of the Mississippi in Iowa), and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska) Nations continue to thrive in the State of Iowa and we continue to acknowledge them.
Click here for the Acknowledgement of Land and Sovereignty from the UI Native American Council.