Finding Information for

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Finding Information for Film Studies
330 by Denis Lacroix Romance Languages and Film
Studies Librarian
November 4, 2008
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Session Outline

• Understanding the Research Process
• Finding guides and library services
• Finding resources using the library catalogue
• Finding Articles in Periodicals using Databases
• RefWorks
• This slide show is downloadable
  athttp//www.library.ualberta.ca/subject/film/in
  dex.cfm

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The Research Question
Film Indexes Online
Film Literature Index
Academic Search Complete
What is the importance of culture in Quebec
documentaries?
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The Research Process

• Recognise an information need
• Define the problem
• limit, label, hypothesize
• Choose a search system
• books, electronic and print indexes, Web
  resources
• Formulate a query depending on the search system
• semantic mapping and action mapping
• Execute the search
• Examine, assess, and save the results
• Extract information
• Reflect, write, reiterate, stop

Saving might involve using RefWorks
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Finding Basic Research Tools
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Useful Reference Resources

• General facts, dates, terms
• International index to film periodicals PN
  1993 A1 I62 Ruth Ref. Aux. (2nd floor)
• The Motion picture guide - PN 1993 M918 Ruth.
  Ref.
• The complete film dictionary PN 1993.45 K82
  1997 Ruth. Ref.
• The international film industry a historical
  dict. PN 1993.45 S632 1989 Ruth. Ref.
• Encyclopedia of film themes, settings and series
  - PN 1997.8 A76 2001 Ruth. Ref.
• Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film v.1 v.4
• People information on directors, actors, etc.
• International dictionary of films and filmmakers
  PN 1993.45 I625 Ruth. Ref.
• Filmmaker's dictionary PN 1993.45 S56 2000
  Ruth. Ref.
• The new biographical dictionary of film - PN
  1998 A2 T48 2004 Ruth. Ref
• Film Theory terminology
• The film studies dictionary - PN 1993.45 B49
  2001 Ruth. Ref.
• Film study an analytical bibliography PN 1994
  M268 v.1-v.4 Ruth Ref.
• Dictionnaire du film tous les termes de la
  technique, de l'industrie, de l'histoire et de
  la culture cinématographiques TR 847 R69 1999
  BSJ Ref.

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• Genre terms, people, films particular to one
  genre
• Major film periodicals for media research PN
  1993 A12 M35 1915-1970 (micro.)
• Film Daily yearbook of motion pictures PN
  1993.3 F482 1918-1969 (microfilm)
• The Macmillan film bibliography PN 1993.5 A1
  Z9 R34 1982 v.1-2 Ruth. Ref.
• Index to critical film reviews PN 1995 B78
  1974 v.1-3 Ruth. Ref.
• Film review index PN 1995 Z9 F4878 1986 v.1-2
  Ruth. Ref.
• The complete index to world film since 1895 - PN
  1998 G63 2003 Ruth. Ref.
• The International film index, 1895-1990 PN
  1998 I614 1991 folio Ruth. Ref.
• Diccionario del cine mexicano, 1970-2000 PN
  1993.5 M6 D53 2005 Ruth. Ref.
• Documentary Cinema
• Encyclopedia of the documentary film PN 1995.9
  D6 E53 2006 v.1-3 Ruth. Ref.N.B. Copies of
  National Film Board films are located at the
  Bibliothèque Saint-Jean.

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Finding Basic Research Tools

• Sample Subject Headings search in the Catalogue
• Motion pictures and Dictionaries
• Motion pictures and Encyclopedias
• Documentary Films
• Films documentaires
• Cinéma and Québec (Province)
• Québec (Province) and Conditions social and
  20th century
• Brault, Michel
• Motion pictures and Social Aspects
• Motion pictures and Religious Aspects
• Motion picture industry
• Motion picture producers and directors

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Books vs. Periodical Articles

• Books are a good place to start for
• an author or subject that is well-known and not
  too recent
• Check book bibliographies for references to
  other books and articles
• Use the NEOS Libraries Catalogue to find books

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Finding Books

• By author
• By title
• By subject

• Request or place a hold on a book

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Advanced Searching

• Finding books about a topic using Advanced
  Search
• Divide topic into key concepts, e.g. Quebec AND
  Cinema
• Think of variant or similar terms for concepts
• Use Boolean operators, e.g. and, or
• Use truncation symbols to increase results
  ?
• Limiting your search by format and location in
  advanced search

One key concept per box or field!
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Add variant terms to increase results!
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Increase your results by using variant terms
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Increase your results by reducing the concepts!
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Sample Catalogue Record
If possible, add relevant catalogue subject terms
to your own search.
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Searching Within Ebrary
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Lets Practise

• How many documentary films can you find on
  Salvador Allende?

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Books vs. Periodical Articles

• Periodical articles are a good place to start if
• an author or subject are recent or local
• you are looking for a detailed analysis(e.g.
  essay films)

To find articles, Use periodical databases
Databases are searchable by title, or
Databases are also searchable by subject.
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Whats a Periodical?
1. Film studies/film history journals
2. Journals about movie-making
3. Trade publications
4. Newspapers
5. Popular magazines
The difference between Scholarly and Popular
Information Sourceshttp//www.library.ualberta.c
a/guides/peerreview/index.cfm
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Finding Articles in Periodicals

• The library catalogue cannot be used to find
  articles on your research topic. Instead, you
  need to search databases.
• Databases are all different
• some contain full-text articles,
• some list only citations and abstracts,
• some are interdisciplinary
• others are subject specific
• Use database Help features for searching
  assistance
• Scholarly versus popular journals

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Databases for Film Studies 410

• General Humanities Databases Academic Search
  Complete, Alternative Press Index, Arts and
  Humanities Citation Index, CBCA Complete, CPI.Q.,
  Expanded Academic ASAP, Humanities Abstracts,
  Humanities International Index, IBZ, MLA
  International Bibliography, Omnifile full text,
  Periodicals Index Online, Readers Guide Full
  Text.
• Film Studies Databases Communication and Mass
  Media Complete, Film Indexes Online, Film
  Television Literature Index, IMDb.
• International Cinema Bibliography of Asian
  Studies, ABSEES, EBSEES, Social Sciences and
  Humanities Journals from Russia, HAPI, Prisma,
  CLASE, Francis, Repère, Erudit, CAIRN

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• Historical Topics America history and life,
  Historical Abstracts
• Canadian Topics CBCA Complete, CPI.Q

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Film Television Literature Index

• Searching examples
• Select a Field Quebec AND Subject
  documenta AND To view full-text, click on
  HTML, PDF or
• To save, mail, or print citations
• Click on Add to folder,
• Click on Folder View under Folder has items,
• Click on print, e-mail or save options.
• Send citations to RefWorks

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Save to RefWorks
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Film Indexes Online

• Contains Film Index International, which gives
  full international coverage of films and film
  personalities from over 170 countries. All eras
  of film-making are covered.
• Use this database to find information about
  films, but also bibliographic listings of
  resources relating to the films.
• A person search is also possible from the Film
  Index International database.

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Finding Periodicals in the Library

• Search the NEOS Libraries Catalogue
• Limit by Periodical Title in the drop-down menu
• Click on Starting With
• Click on the Search button
• Or
• Use the Getit Citation Linkerhttp//www.library.
  ualberta.ca/getit/citation/index.cfm
• Input all the article information into the boxes

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Journal is only available in print!
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Is the journal scholarly or peer-reviewed?
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• Journal Titles
• Six percent kept in Rutherford South 2nd floor
• Shelved around the perimeter
• Organized alphabetically by title
• Most other journals located in Rutherford North
  or South
• Interfiled with books by call number
• Available online

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Lets Practise

• Find the online full text of the following
  article
• Toward the Quebec Auteur From Perrault to
  Arcand. By Melnyk, George. Cineaction, 2002
  Issue 57, p16-29, 14p, 18 bw
• Is this periodical Academic or Scholarly?

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Exporting to RefWorks from Gale
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Click here!
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How to Export from Other Databases
Check Tip Sheets if you are unsure about
exporting from a specific database

• Mark the records you wish to export
• View marked records
• Export records from the database to RefWorks
• Click on the RefWorks link in the tool bar, OR
• Click on Save and/or Export

Example from Web of Science
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Exporting from NEOS
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Inter-Library Loans

• When a periodical or a book is not located at the
  University of Alberta Libraries, request the
  items through ILL.
• Click on the link Request an Inter-Library loan
  on the right-hand side of the main library web
  page.
• Click on Request Material from another library
• Input your Library barcode number and pin.
• Fill in the form with as much information as you
  have.
• Check availability of document worldwide using
  the OCLC WorldCat database
• Allow 2 weeks for ILL requests

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Lets Practise

• Use the database Film Television Literature
  Index to find academic articles on the Comic
  Documentary
• Send the first article in the list of results to
  RefWorks

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Reference Services

• http//www.library.ualberta.ca/askus/
• Good luck in your searches!