About Research Advisory Tool

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What is the RAT?

Are you having trouble finding relevant material for your research? Are you unsure where to begin? Using the RAT may help! The RAT (Research Advisory Tool) is a citation database of over 2,700 (and growing!) select reference materials available through CUA libraries. It includes reference books, subscription databases, CD-ROMs, and web sites ― all designed to point you to pertinent and interesting resources in performing your research.

Disciplines included in this database are Art and Art History, Biblical Studies, Canon Law, Church History, Classics, Comparative Literature, Drama and Theater, Media Studies, Medieval and Byzantine Studies, Modern Languages, Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Theology.

These sources have been selected for inclusion by subject librarians, who considered the research value of the resource per se, the value of the resource to CUA scholars, students, and staff in particular and the lesser known works that deserve a wider audience. The annotations were written by librarians, staff members, and graduate students.

Technical Specifications

The RAT is built on the Scout Portal Toolkit platform (http://scout.wisc.edu/Projects/SPT/). SPT is open source software that is licensed under the GNU General Public License (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html). SPT was developed by the Internet Scout Project with a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The SPT uses a Linux web server supporting (at minimum) PHP 4.0.6 and MySQL 3.23.29.

Searching the RAT

You can begin using the RAT by searching in the 'Search Resources' box or on the 'Advanced Search' page. If you need some help in deciding where to begin, try 'Browse Resources', where you can find the list of discipline and subject areas covered. The titles under this category are highly selective. Browsing resources will also help you by grouping the sources by format (e.g. dictionaries, encyclopedias, primary/critical editions, research guides, etc.).

Future of the RAT

Another 500 citations in Philosophy, Greek and Latin, and Canon Law, are to be added during 2009. Faculty are invited to link to the database from their home pages and Blackboard accounts. Other features will become available in 2009 as the staff continues to experiment with the Scout Portal Toolkit platform.

History of the Project

The project was conceived in the spring of 2004 to address various problems identified by librarians in assisting CUA patrons locate relevant information.

Staff

Many people have contributed to this project. Senior administrators of CUA Libraries who gave financial and morale support include: Adele Chwalek, Michael McLane, Stephen Connaghan, and Kitty Tynan. Two positions were funded through the Federal Work Study program.

Content Contributors
Kevin Gunn (Project Manager)
Dustin Booher
Jonathan Krause
Nicholas Denysenko
Magdalen Ross
Charles Chukwuani
Taras Zvir
Nathan Mueller
Mollie Crisp

Web Site Designers
Jonathan Smith
Matthew Tan
Steven Stegeman