Outline of this guide: Reference Works Books & Videos Articles

Other useful links: Course Reserves/E-Reserves for this class Film Review Sources RefWorks RefWorks: A Guide Research Log Research Planner Scholarly Articles: How to Identify Them

• Biographical Information
  • American National Biography. Ed. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. 24 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999-2002.
    Reference R 920.073 A512
  • Biography Reference Bank. H.W. Wilson, 2003- .
  • Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1984- .
    Reference R 927.9 C761
  • International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Ed. Tom Pendergast and Sara Pendergast. 4th ed. 4 vols. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000.
    Reference R 791.43 I611 2000
• Film
  • The Complete Film Dictionary. Ira Konigsberg. 2nd ed. New York: Penguin, 1998.
    Reference R 791.43 K82c2
  • Dictionary of Film Terms: The Aesthetic Companion to Film Art. Frank Eugene Beaver. New York: Peter Lang, 2006.
    Reference R 791.43 D386d 2006
  • Encyclopedia of Alfred Hitchcock. Thomas Leitch. New York: Facts on File, 2002.
    Reference R 791.43 H674yL
  • Encyclopedia of Television. Ed. Horace Newcomb. 2nd ed. 4 vols. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2004.
    Reference R 791.45 E56
  • The Film Studies Dictionary. Steve Blandford et al. London: Oxford Univ. Press, 2001.
    Reference R 791.43 B642f
  • Guide to American Cinema, 1965-1995. Daniel Curran. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998.
    Reference R 791.43 C976g
  • Handbook of American Film Genres. Ed. Wes D. Gehring. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1988.
    Reference R 791.43 H236
  • Historical Dictionary of African American Cinema. S. Torriano Berry and Venise Berry. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2007.
    Reference R 791.43 B534h
  • International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Ed. Tom Pendergast and Sara Pendergast. 4th ed. 4 vols. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000.
    Reference R 791.43 I611 2000
  • International Film Guide. New York: A.S. Barnes, 1966-1989.
    Library has 1966 to 1989
    Reference R 791.43 I61
  • The Language of Cinema. Kevin Jackson. New York: Routledge, 1998.
    Reference R 791.43 J13L
  • Literature and Film: An Annotated Bibliography, 1909-1977. Jeffrey Egan Welch. New York: Garland, 1981.
    Reference R 016.791 W439L
  • Literature and Film: An Annotated Bibliography, 1978-1988. Jeffrey Egan Welch. New York: Garland, 1993.
    Reference R 016.791 W439L 1978-88
  • The Motion Picture Guide. Chicago, IL: Cinebooks, 1985-1999.
    Library has: 1988-1999.
    Reference R 791.43 N251m
  • Movies made for Television, 1964-2004. Alvin H. Marill. 5 vols. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2005.
    Reference R 791.45 M336m
  • Multicultural Films: A Reference Guide. Janice R. Welsch and J.Q. Adams. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2005.
    Reference R 791.43 W458m
  • New York Times Encyclopedia of Film. Ed. Gene Brown. 13 vols. New York: Times Books, 1984.
    Reference R 791.43 N532
  • The Oxford Companion to Film. Ed. Liz-Anne Bawden. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1976.
    Reference R 791.43 O98
  • Reference Guide to Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. Michael Burgess and Lisa Bartle. 2nd ed. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2002.
    Reference R 016.8 B995r
  • Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film. Ed. Barry Grant. 4 vols. New York: Schirmer Reference, 2007.
  • Television Program Master Index. Charles V. Dintrone. 2nd ed. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2003.
    Reference R 016.7914 D587t
  • Theatre: Stage to Screen to Television. William Torbert Leonard. 2 vols. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1981.
    Reference R 792.5 L581t
  • Variety International Film Guide. London: Andre Deutsch, 1990-1996.
    Reference R 791.43 V299
• Social Issues & Historical Background
  • Cold War Culture: Media and the Arts, 1945-1990. Richard A. Schwartz. New York: Facts on File, 1998.
    Reference R 973.92 S399c
  • Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History. Ed. Ed. Mary Kupiec Cayton and Peter Williams. 3 vols. New York: Scribner's, 2001.
    Reference R 973.04 E564
  • Gale Virtual Reference Library
    A collection of over 200 scholarly reference books in all subject areas.

• Library Catalog
  Includes information about books, government documents, and journals, magazines, and newspapers in the Library.
  • To locate videos, do a keyword search and limit your search by the format "video materials (VHS/DVD)."
  • To locate works about a person, do a subject search for the person's name (last name first).
  • To locate bibliographies on a person or topic, do a keyword search and add the following: su bibliography.
  • To locate appropriate Library of Congress Subject Headings, start with a keyword search and then browse records.
  Search Syntax:
  • Truncation: use a dollar sign $
  • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
  • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
• ebrary
  A collection of over 38,000 e-books published by over 220 academic, trade, and professional publishers; covers all subject areas. Also includes tools that allow you to create your own virtual bookshelf, bookmark pages, and add and save notes and highlights.
  Note: for full functionality, you need the ebrary Reader. This plugin is on all library and ITS computers, but if you are using your own computer, you can download it from the ebrary home page.
• WorldCat
  Indexes books, periodicals, and other materials held by libraries around the world. Search WorldCat to identify additional books on your topic and then order the books on interlibrary loan.
  Note: It can be helpful to identify relevant Library of Congress Subject Headings in the Library Catalog first; you can then do a subject search in WorldCat to find additional items with these subject headings.
  Search Syntax:
  • Truncation: use an asterisk *
  • Phrase searching: insert a "w" between the words in a phrase (for example, "cold w war")
  • Wildcard: use a question mark ?

• Starting Points
  • Academic Search Premier
    (1975 to present) Indexes popular and scholarly articles in a broad range of subject areas; also includes citations to book reviews and citations to articles in several national newspapers.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
    • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
  • LexisNexis Academic
    (Approx. 1980 to present) Includes the full text of articles from local, national, and international newspapers, magazines, and trade journals as well as articles from law reviews and federal and state cases.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an exclamation point
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
    • Wildcard: use an asterisk *
  • OmniFile Full Text Mega
    (1982 to present) Indexes articles from over 3,000 scholarly and popular periodicals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences; also includes the full text of selected articles from over 1,650 of these periodicals.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
    • Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
  • Westlaw Campus Research
    Includes the full text of news articles and federal and state court cases.
    Note: you will need to accept the terms of the Westlaw "Agreement" before you can search Westlaw Campus Research.
    Search Syntax (for "Terms and Connectors" searches):
    • Truncation: use an exclamation point !
    • Phrase searching: use double quotations marks " "
    • Wildcard: use an asterisk *
• Film
  See also the guide for Film Review Sources.
  • Film & Television Literature Index
    (c. 1937 to present) Indexes articles, film reviews, and book reviews from over 300 film and television periodicals; international in scope..
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
    • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
  • Film Indexes Online
    (1893 to present) Contains both Film Index International (FII) and The American Film Institute Catalog (AFI). Includes full production and cast information for films from over 170 countries as well as plot summaries, production notes, and citations to reviews, criticism, and articles on film and film personalities.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: automatic
  • Humanities Abstracts
    (1907 to present). Indexes articles in over 500 English-language journals in the fields of archaeology, art, classics, communication, film, folklore, history, languages and literatures, music, philosophy, religion, and theatre. Also includes citations for book, theatre, and film reviews as well as interviews, obituaries, and some original creative works. Includes the full text of selected articles from 1995 to the present.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
    • Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
  • MLA International Bibliography
    (1926 to present). Indexes journal articles, books, and doctoral dissertations in the fields of English, American, European, Asian, African, and Latin American linguistics, modern languages and literatures, film studies, and folklore.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
    • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
  • Web of Knowledge
    (c. 1900 to present) A multidisciplinary resource that provides citations to articles in thousands of journals in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotations marks " "
    • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
• Other Databases
  Be sure to consult the library's indexes & databases pages too.
  • Contemporary Women's Issues
    (1992 to present) Indexes popular articles, scholarly articles, books, newsletters, and reports on all aspects of women's studies, including gender, sociology, education, political science, and health.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: automatic
    • Phrase searching: automatic
  • Historical Abstracts & America: History & Life
    (Time period covered: 1450 to present. Publication coverage: 1954 to present). Indexes journal articles, book chapters, doctoral dissertations, and book reviews. (Each database can also be searched separately.)
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
    • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
  • JSTOR
    Includes pdf copies of scholarly articles from a core collection of journals; also includes book reviews. Note: JSTOR does not contain articles from the most recent 3-5 years.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use a plus sign +
    • Phrase searching: automatic
  • Project Muse
    Contains full-text articles from journals published by university and scholarly presses.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks " "
  • Social Sciences Abstracts
    (1907 to present) Indexes journal articles and some book reviews on all social sciences subjects, including history, political science, international relations, law, economics, area studies, gender studies, anthropology, psychology, and sociology.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: unnecessary when using "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: use double quotation marks ""
    • Wildcard: do not use with "All - Smart Search"; otherwise, use a question mark ?
  • Sociological Abstracts
    (1963 to present) indexes journal articles in sociology and related fields, including anthropology, economics, education, philosophy, political science, and social psychology.
    Search Syntax:
    • Truncation: use an asterisk *
    • Phrase searching: automatic
    • Wildcard: use a question mark ?
• Using an article as a jumping-off point