Doing Reference in the Dark:Doing Reference in the Dark:A Radically Attenuated A Radically Attenuated

Crash Course inCrash Course inFilm & Mass CommunicationsFilm & Mass Communications

BasicsBasics

Film and TV Are:Film and TV Are: • Everywhere and UnavoidableEverywhere and Unavoidable

• Big Business (& Big Business=Big Hype=Questionable Big Business (& Big Business=Big Hype=Questionable Info)Info)

• The Focus of Endless Interdisciplinary Inquiry: (as The Focus of Endless Interdisciplinary Inquiry: (as aesthetic aesthetic form, social/cultural text and form, social/cultural text and artifact, artifact, psycho-sexual psycho-sexual projection, gender construction, etc. projection, gender construction, etc. etc. etc. etc.)etc. etc. etc.)• The Focus of Endless Popular Inquiry, Fixation & FetishThe Focus of Endless Popular Inquiry, Fixation & FetishFilm and TV Film and TV

Reference Resources Are:Reference Resources Are:• A big slug of the web: the bad, the weird, and the useful A big slug of the web: the bad, the weird, and the useful

•Fan sitesFan sites•Studio and other commercial sitesStudio and other commercial sites•Academic sites, including ejournals (in the minority)Academic sites, including ejournals (in the minority)

• A booming part of the pop publishing industry (the bad, A booming part of the pop publishing industry (the bad, the weird, and the useful)the weird, and the useful)

• An increasingly large part of the trade list of academic publishers An increasingly large part of the trade list of academic publishers • Too numerous and varied to cover adequately here Too numerous and varied to cover adequately here

So…How to Spend So…How to Spend Our Time Today?Our Time Today?

Big Box Office Questions…Big Box Office Questions…•Criticism and analysisCriticism and analysis•Reviews Reviews •Credits & other production infoCredits & other production info•TranscriptsTranscripts

"How do I find a review of Blade Runner."The Big Box Office Questions

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/reviewtable4.html a table of basic online and print review/criticism sources with links

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).

(What they usually mean: "How do I find critical analysis of Blade Runner")

"How do I find a review of Blade Runner." (What they usually really mean: "How do I find critical analysis of Blade Runner")

--Faves for citations to critical analysis in historical/cultural context: MLA; Art Abstracts/AA Retrospective; America History & Life

--Also worth scoping out: Periodicals Contents Index (particularly for older titles); SSCI and A&HCI; Essay & Gen Lit Index

--MAGS/NEWS: include both national news magazines/newspaper and (MAGS) central film studies journals, including Cineaste (some full-text), American Film, Film Comment, Film Criticism, Film Quarterly, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Journal of Film and Video, Journal of Popular Film and Television, Literature/Film Quarterly, Sight and Sound, Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Variety.

"How do I find a review of Blade Runner." (What they usually really mean: "How do I find critical analysis of Blade Runner") --Other full-text: PROJECT MUSE includes full-text of articles in Wide Angle; Camera Obscura (feminist film studies). Substantive film studies e-journals with full-text articles: Bright Lights; Senses of Cinema (indexed in MLA) (see http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/FilmRefMenu.html#journal for links to these and others)

--Film Literature Index (FLI) (print) (1973 --): best single source of international film studies literature

--Film Index International (British Film Institute) (library CD-ROM network): Links to selected reviews (with emphasis on Brit stuff) from entries for individual movies.

--FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals (CD-ROM stand-alone in MRC) -- similar in coverage to FLI. 1982-

--Check Pathfinder for separately published monographs, screenplays, etc.

"How do I find a review of "The Matrix.”

The Big Box Office Questions

--Movie Review Query Engine (http://www.mrqe.com/): Includes full-text of R. Ebert (Chicago Sun Times), selected NYT, Washington Post, and others too weird or off-the-wall to mention.

--MAGS/NEWS: see description in 1 above

--ProQuest: picks up pop publications not coveredelsewhere online (e.g. Premiere) (some full-text). Includes some full-text from Variety

--Lexis/Nexis (News/Arts & Sports/Source: Book, Movie, Music & Play Reviews): some-full text (e.g. LA Times, SF Chronicle, Boston Globe, some NYT

--Also worth scoping out: Ethnic Newswatch, Alternative Press Index Online, Women's Resources International (for non-mainstream cultural perspectives)

(What they may mean: "How do I find a short, current [preferably online] review")

"How do I find a review of "The Matrix". The Big Box Office Questions

Magill's Cinema AnnualSynoptic info (including critical reception) supplied by Magill's

editorial staff. Also includes useful boxoffice info, brief list of review

citations.

Film Review Annual Excerpts from reviews from a wide

variety of (mostly) pop sources.

(What they may mean: "How do I find a short, current [preferably online] review")

PRINT (what’s that…!!!???)

"How do I find a review of Gone With the Wind?"

The Big Box Office Questions

--Readers Guide (older volumes: under Motion Pictures -- Reviews, or even earlier: Moving Picture Plays)

--NYT Index or NYT Film Review Index (Main/Ref; MRC) (for early film, see alsoHistorical Newspapers Online -- incl NYT 1851-1922: Hellllllllo D.W. Griffith!)

--New York Times Film Reviews (6 vol. 1913/1968-1995/96) (print) Reproductions of reviews (Main Ref)

-- Film Review Index (Patricia and Stephen Hanson, eds.) (print) 1882-1985. Best retrospective review coverage. (MRC and Main Stacks)

(What they usually mean: "How do I find out about the reception of Gone With the Wind at the time of its release [1939] ")

I'm doing a research paper on the image of the disabled (African Americans, the apocalypse, God, gays and lesbians, alcoholism…etc. etc. etc.) in the movies.

The Big Box Office Questions

--Use Film Index International (on library CD network) or American Film Institute (on library web) to identify movies by theme or genre

--Pathfinder/CDL: [Whatever] in Motion Pictures (watch in particular for topical guides,e.g. Norden, Martin F. The Cinema of Isolation: A History of Physical Disability in the Movies.

--Consult indexes and other resources discussed in 1-2 above. NB: widely varying subject terminology for each index: e.g., disabled, film (MLA); Disabled persons -- Portrayals, depictions, etc. (MAGS); Handicapped in motion pictures (Pathfinder)

I'm doing a research paper on the image of the disabled (African Americans, the apocalypse, God, gays and lesbians, alcoholism…etc. etc. etc.) in the movies.

The Big Box Office Questions

--MRC Videographies / Bibliographies

•Organized topically, by genre, themes, language/Country

I’m writing about a movie and I need to know who starred in it (or directed it, or produced it). I need to know what other movies the director, star, producer made.

The Big Box Office Questions

--American Film Institute (AFI Index) (library web) US film 1893 to 1970 (except 1951 to 1960).

--British Film Institute (BFI) Film Index International (library CD-ROM network) --sound era only --no animation

--The Motion Picture Guide (thru 1999) (CD-ROM and print in MRC)

--Internet Movie Database (web: http://us.imdb.com/): unlike above, info is supplied by users--so be wary

"How do I find a review of a documentary I saw last month on PBS Frontline? or in MRC for my African American Studies Class?

The Big Box Office Questions

--Good luck! Reviews of documentary works (other than stuff by Ken Burns and other big names) are very few far between.

--Try: Media Review Digest (via Library/Indexes); MAGS/NEWS; Film Literature Index (the TV section)

--Spotty coverage in subject literature: use appropriate indexes: for e.g. America History and Life; Anthropological Literature (RLG) (for ethnography)

Big Box Office QuestionsBig Box Office Questions

I'm doing a paper on the network news coverage of [event X]

•Vanderbilt Index: http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/An index to network news with some abstracts

•Lexis/NexisTranscripts: News/Transcripts

•Use MAGS/NEWS (or other general periodical indexes): try topic with subject heading media coverage (e.g. Oklahoma City media coverage)How to do I watch the above?

--You're mainly out of luck unless you fly to Vanderbilt or are willing to pay fairly steep prices for rental of desired materials from the archives.

--Some selected news coverage in MRC (e.g., OJ trial; Rodney King coverage; ABC Nightline programs).

Big Box Office QuestionsBig Box Office Questions

I'm doing a paper on sitcoms. I need reviews of “Frasier” and other current programs.

• Good luck! •Industry info and gossip re specific programs, and network maneuvering is relatively ez to find (“e.g. 'Frasier' exec leaving show” [Variety]):

•ProQuest (includes Variety; Broadcasting & Cable; TV Guide -- some full-text)•MAGS/NEWS•Lexis/Nexis

•Reviews and Analysis more difficult: try above