Cinema Without Borders: Some Strategies for Research

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Cinema Without BordersSome Strategies for
Research
Gary Handman Director Media Resources
Center Moffitt Library
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Cinema Without Borders Some Strategies for
Research
Sources for Film Scholarship and Research

• Reviews
• (journals, newspapers)
• Critical/ScholarlyArticles (journals)
• Books
• Web Sites
• Other online databases

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Cinema Without Borders

• Books
• Scholarly/authoritative works
• Pop schlock and fan works

• How Do You Tell em apart?
• Authors credentials/affiliations
• Publisher (e.g. BFI, AFI, University Presses
  vs pop press)
• Scholarly apparatus and sources notes,
  bibliographies, other documentation
• If theyve been widely cited by other scholars

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Cinema Without Borders

• REVIEWS
• Current
• Historical

• Found in
• Popular fan journals and newspapers
• Film studies scholarly journals
• Web sites
• Fan and enthusiast sites
• Commercial sites (e.g., studio sites, video
  distributors)
• Academic sites

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Cinema Without Borders
Critical/Scholarly Articles

• Current
• Historical

• Found in
• Film studies scholarly journals
• Popular fan journals and newspapers (but
  only occasionally)
• Web sites (even less occasionallyexcept for
  academic and commercial databases)

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Reviews Current
Cinema Without Borders

• Use
• Magazine Index (some full-text)
• News Index
• ProQuest (some full-text)
• Lexis/Nexis
• Movie Review Query Engine (web full-text)
• Film Review Annual

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Cinema Without Borders
Reviews Historical

• Use
• Readers Guide
• NY Times Index (or NYT Film Reviews 1913-68) (in
  MRC)
• Film Review Index, 1882-1985 (in MRC)
• Film Index International (CDROM in Main/Moffitt
  Only)

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Scholarly/Critical Writing

• Use
• Magazine Index (1988-present)
• Modern Language Assn. Bibliography (1963-present)
• Film Index International (CD-ROM) Film Literature
  Index (Print Index in Media Center)
  (1977-present)
• Art Abstracts ( AA Retrospective)
  (1920s-present)
• Periodicals Content Index (PCI)

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Cinema Without Borders
Books
Use Pathfinder

• Search by
• Title and/or Subject Keyword
• Director Name (as subject)
• Movie Title (as Title and/or
• Subject Keyword

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How to Begin? Before you click THINK

• Formulate your search in terms of
• KEY WORDS and SYNOMYMS
• --Looks for words anywhere in record title,
  subject, abstract and full-text (if avail)
• PHRASES
• --Looks for words in the exact order entered

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How to Begin? Before you click THINK
Formulate your search in terms of keyword and
key phrases The representation of gender sex
and masculinity masculin, male, men in the
films cinema, movie of John Woo. Border
crossing immigat, emigrat, and identity
role, self, as a theme in recent films by
Latino and Chicano filmmakers Truncation
varies from db to db ? emigra
emigrant, emigrants, emigrate, emigration


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Once You Find a Citation, How Do You Find the
Article?
Yo!Hey man, use Pathfinder!

• Or..
• Some indexes provide holdings info
• Some indexes link to full-text

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Cinema Without Borders
http//www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/FilmBibMenu.html
a growing listing of bibliographies on various
film topics and individual films compiled by MRC
(includes bibs for genres, filmmakers, national
cinemas, and individual film).
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being driven totally psycho by your
research? Call me Gary Handman 643-8566 ghandm
an_at_library.berkeley.edu