Index, abstracts, and full text of articles related to film and television.
What Can I Do With This Database?
You can find articles on topics related to film and television from a wide variety of sources.
Subject coverage includes film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews. Indexing over 270 publications with full text for 70 of those publications, the database is good for finding both general interest and academic references.
Search Strategies:
Using the familiar EBSCOhost platform, this database allows both simple keyword searching of the database, or more powerful interaction with subject headings and other index terms by following the More->Indexes link at the top of the page.
If you are unsure what index term to use, begin with a simple keyword search, using the title of a film, name of a director or concept. Then pay attention to subject headings you find in the full records that appear.
If the full text is not included for a reference, remember to use the Find It button to help you locate a copy of the article.
Primary sources for film and broadcasting, 1880-2000. Collection I covers cinema, film and television. Collection II covers music, radio and the stage.
What Can I Do With This Database?
You can find articles on topics related to film and television from a wide variety of sources.
Subject coverage includes film & television, music, radio, and the stage.
One of the key features of this database is the inclusion of archival issues of Variety, a key entertainment industry trade publication.
Search Strategies:
Using the familiar ProQuest platform, this database allows for simple and advanced keyword searching of the database.
Choose a date range to limit your search to the exact time you wish to study.
Select what type of material you would like to view whether that is an article, and advertisement, or an illustration or cartoon.
The Moving Picture World began publication on March 9, 1907, and appeared weekly until January 7, 1928, when it became Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World. Interestingly, the cover of the first issue of the new magazine featured an advertisement for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, headed "Mergers Make Greatness!"
What Can I Do With This Database?
You can find articles on topics related to the early film industry from one of the key publications of the silent-era.
Subject coverage includes all aspects of the film industry from writing and cinematography to film music and actor bios.
Search Strategies:
Search within the publication by using the search bar at the top of the home page or browse via "View all documents in this collection". Sort by "Oldest" or "Newest" in the drop-down menu provided or view the most Relevant hits.
If you are unsure what keyword to use, begin with a simple search using the title of a film, name of a director, or concept. An example search for "Clara Bow" results in a variety of relevant issues of this publication. Click on an issue and then navigate through the pages by choosing one of the selected page numbers that displays the relevant search term. Search term hits are highlighted within the scan for easy recognition.
Search for books, periodicals, electronic resources and other items in OhioLINK member libraries using the classic catalog interface.
What Can I Do With These Databases?
You can find specific films (VHS or DVD) within the Kelvin Smith Library media collections.
You can find books or chapters of books related to film/TV studies, specific films, genres of film, specific directors or specific actors/actresses.
Search Strategies:
Keyword and Subject Searching: There are subject headings assigned for film genre (example: Film Noir) or topical and geographic content of documentaries (example: Refugees -- Nepal). You can access these via keyword (word) searches or subject searches. In the course of searching, once you have identified standard subject headings (example: Western Films) you can click on the subject heading to perform a more precise search. These subject headings apply to books and actual films.
Directors, actors/actresses, etc.: Usually important individuals associated with a film such as directors, actors/actresses, screenwriters, etc. are cataloged in the course of the cataloging of a film. These individuals are treated as a type of author and films associated with them can be accessed via an author search. If you find few or no entries for a specific person, also try a keyword (word) search on their name(s). This will retrieve items in which their name was not treated as an author, but they are mentioned somewhere in a bibliographic record.
Documents all films produced in the United States from 1892 to 1973. Also includes records for the Institute’s Top Ten Films for the years 2000 to 2007. The Catalog offers authoritative plot summaries and insider production notes, as well as subject and song indexing for each film record.
You can retrieve lists of American films created between 1893 and 1973 by: people associated with the films, film titles, film genre, names of characters in the film and topical/geographical subjects.
You can retrieve detailed plot summaries of a given film and sometimes notes on the creation of the film based on contemporary sources.
Database Description: The AFI Catalog is a filmography of American films created between 1893-1973, with entries for additional years in progress. Staff at the American Film Institute provide detailed plot summaries and extensive topical/geographic subject headings for each film.
Search Strategies:
Select from a list: All of the indexes include a corresponding browse index, "select from a list", which you should use to confirm that your search term or phrase is actually indexed within the database.
Based on index: The "based on" index gives you access to both titles and authors of works which have film adaptations.
An index to books and articles published on modern languages, literature, folklore, and linguistics. Coverage includes literature from all over the world. Folklore is represented by folk literature, music, art, rituals, and belief systems. Linguistics and language materials range from history and theory of linguistics, comparative linguistics, semantics, stylistics, and syntax to translation. Other topics include literary theory and criticism, dramatic arts (film, radio, television, theater), and history of printing and publishing. The MLA Directory of Periodicals and the Association's proprietary thesaurus used to assign descriptors to each record in the bibliography are also included.
What Can I Do With This Database? Find articles, books, chapters of books and dissertations related to film/TV studies, specific films, genres of film, specific directors or specific actors/actresses. OLinks provide links to full text when it is available.
Database Description: The MLA (Modern Language Association) International Bibliography indexes the literature of modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics, 1963-present.
Search Strategies:
Keyword and Subject Searching: This database doesn't include abstracts (best searched by keyword searching), but does include extensive subject indexing. Film titles, persons associated with a given film and genres of film are all treated as subjects and best searched using the "Subjects-All" index.
Finding the Precise Subject Heading: In the Subjects-All index, search on the term or phrase you use (example: Film musical). Once you have a list of records, browse through them and look at the authorized subject headings (example: Musical film). Click on the authorized heading for more precise search results.
Additional Research Databases of Use in Film Studies:
Features more than 15,000 news, business, and legal sources - including U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1790—with personalization features such as Alerts and saved searches and a collaborative workspace with shared folders and annotated documents.
Registration is not required for campus and VPN access, but to take full advantage of personalized features, you must create a profile.
What Can I Do With This Database? Find full text of articles from newspapers and magazines from around the world published in the last decade or so.
Search Strategy: Because Nexis Uni indexes so many sources, the ability to choose which sources (whether they be broad groups or specific sources) can help in reducing the enormous number of records which many searches will retrieve. Under the "Advanced Search" note the tutorials available on the left -- specifically "Selecting Sources".
Subject Specific Research Databases:
Film/TV studies are intrinsically interdisciplinary and articles on film/TV can be found in the literature of many disciplines. Search within the Research Databases of a specific discipline to find articles related to film/TV and that discipline. Example: for those interested in women's studies and film, the database Women's Studies International may be useful.
Covers the core disciplines in Women's Studies to the latest scholarship in feminist research. Nearly 800 essential sources include: journals, newspapers, newsletters, bulletins, books, book chapters, proceedings, reports, theses, dissertations, NGO studies, Web sites and Web documents, and grey literature.
The Media History Digital Library is a non-profit initiative dedicated to digitizing historic books and magazines about film, broadcasting, and recorded sound for broad public access. Materials include issues of Variety, Motion Picture, and Photoplay among many others.
Search for books, periodicals, electronic resources and other items in OhioLINK member libraries using the classic catalog interface.
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