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Library Research Guide

Reference and quick lookup


Using the Library catalog and LENS

  • Making LC subject headings work for you:

Motion pictures--Aesthetics
Film criticism--Philosophy
Feminism in motion pictures
Kubrick, Stanley


Finding materials in other libraries using  WorldCat (the shared catalog of library records) and Proquest Dissertations and Theses
 

Locating Film Reviews
Sources of film reviews organized by date


Finding articles in Film Studies

  • Film and Television Literature Index: A core resource for film and television reviews, scholarly and critical analysis of cinema and television, and articles of popular interest. While the database very selectively indexes some journals back to the early 20th century, coverage for most titles begins in the late 1980s or 1990s. A complete list of the jounrnals indexed, with dates of coverage, can be found here.

    RESEARCH TIP:
    Consult the print volumes of Film Literature Index (call # Z5784.M9F48 RR3) for more thorough coverage of the years 1972-2000.
    Consult Retrospective Index to Film Periodicals (call # Z5784.M9B34 RR3) for articles published between 1930 and 1971.

  • International Index to the Performing Arts: Indexes more than 200 scholarly and popular performing arts periodicals, plus a variety of documents such as biographical profiles, conference papers, obituaries, interviews, discographies, reviews and events. Most records feature an abstract, selected records are full text

  • International Index to Film Periodicals (1972-present): A core resource for film criticism, reviews, and interviews, covering 300 of the most important scholarly and popular titles in the literature of film studies.

  • MLA Bibliography (1926-present): Indexes materials on literature, languages, linguistics, film studies, and folklore. Includes journal articles, books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations, and bibliographies. This list describes all of the indexed journal titles. For coverage from 1921-1925 consult the print volumes (call # Z7006.M67 bookstacks).

  • Periodicals Archive Online : An excellent resource for interviews, reviews and older articles on film topics. PAO indexes several cinema journals: Cantrills Filmnotes (1971-present); Cinéaste (1967-present); Cinema Journal (1961-present; full-text 1961-1991); Cinema Papers (1974-present); Film Comment (1962-present); Film Quarterly (1945-present); Film Review (1944-present); Films in Review (1954-present); Frauen und Film(1974-present); Journal of Popular Film and Television (1972-present; full-text 1972-1991); Literature/Film Quarterly (1973-present).

 

Locating Screenplays and Scripts

  • American Film Scripts Online: Provides access to some 135 scripts by 201 writers. The database has been designed to provide access at the scene or character level. It is possible, for example, to find more than 100 criminal characters in the database and view the scenes they appear in. It is equally possible to find all interior scenes in urban settings in the 1950s. These and countless other topics for further research can quickly be identified.

Box Office Statistics

  • Film Daily Yearbook (1918-1969) Trade publication covering the American film industry. Indexing is sparse, but the early statistical information is worth the work. PN1993.3.F48 bookstacks

  • Britfilm.com's Box Office statistics has reports for Europe broken down by country and then by film.

  • Box Office Mojo: Commercial website claims to offer "the most comprehensive box office tracking available online."

Historical and Cultural Context

  • Alternative Press Index Index Archive (1969-1990) and Alternative Press Index (1991- present).  An index to "alternative and radical" periodicals like The Advocate, Cineaste, The Nation, and The Utne Reader; covers "mainstream" American films, foreign films, independent films and documentaries. Search reviews by film title, limit the  to "Film Reviews."
  • America: History and Life (1954-present). Articles and book reviews in North American history.
  • Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) (1971-present). Citations to western-language monographs, articles and book chapters on all subjects pertaining to East, Southeast, and South Asia published worldwide.
  • Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI) Article citations from Latin American periodicals (1970-present).  
  • Historical Abstracts (1967-present)  Articles and book reviews in European history Includes key historical journals from nearly every country, and selective coverage of social science and humanities journals in related fields.
  • Contemporary Women's Issues. Multi-disciplinary and worldwide coverage of gender issues since 1992.
  • MLA Bibliography (1963-present): Indexes materials on literature, languages, linguistics, film studies, and folklore. Includes journal articles, books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations, and bibliographies. This list describes all of the indexed journal titles. For coverage from 1921 on consult the print volumes Z7006.M67 bookstacks.
  • Art Abstracts (1984-present): Subjects indexed include film, video, and television.
  • Art Index Retrospective: Includes some articles in film studies published between 1929 and 1984.

Citing your sources

 

   Commercial and non-subscription websites

Bollywood Movie Database Filmographies, fan reviews, photographs
Internet Movie Database Includes trailers, filmographies, links to discussion lists and fan sites, more.
Italian Cinema Reviews, trailers from La Repubblica
Roger Ebert 1985-present
Women's Studies Film Reviews from the University of Maryland