Transcript Looking for Hitch: A Frenzied Strategy for Research

Third World Cinema:
Some Strategies for Research
Third World Cinema:
Some Strategies for Research
Gary Handman
Director
Media Resources Center
Moffitt Library
Third World Cinema: Some Strategies for Research
Sources for Film Scholarship
and Research
•Reviews
(journals, newspapers)
•Critical/ScholarlyArticles
(journals)
•Books
•Web Sites
•Other online databases
Third World Cinema
Books
•Scholarly/authoritative works
•Pop schlock and fan works
How Do You Tell em’ apart?
• Author’s credentials/affiliations
• Publisher (e.g. BFI, AFI, University
Presses vs pop press)
• Scholarly apparatus and sources: notes,
bibliographies, other documentation
• If they’ve been widely cited by other
scholars
Third World Cinema
REVIEWS
•Current
•Historical
• Study/coverage of Western European film
•
•
Saaraba
(Senegal, 1988)
increases post-1950’s BUT...
3rd World Cinema: opportunities for viewing =
nearly 0 (Cultural bias / box office bias and
other factors)
Prior to the last 10 years: 3rd World cinema
is all but totally ignored by Western press
Third World Cinema
REVIEWS
•Current
•Historical
Found in:
•Popular & fan journals and newspapers
•Film studies & scholarly journals (e.g.
Cineaste; Film Quarterly; Sight &
Sound)
•Web sites
•Fan and enthusiast sites
•Commercial sites (e.g., studio sites,
video distributors)
•Online newspaper/journal articles
(e.g. Ebert/Chicago Sun-Times)
Clando
(Cameroon, 1996)
Third World Cinema
Critical/Scholarly Articles
•Current
•Historical
Found in:
•Film studies & scholarly
journals
•Popular & fan journals and
newspapers (but only
occasionally)
•Web sites (even less
occasionally…except for
academic and commercial
databases)
Third World Cinema
Reviews
Check Out
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/reviewtable4.html
Third World Cinema
Reviews: Current
Use:
•Magazine Index (some
full-text)
•News Index
•ProQuest (some full-text)
•Lexis/Nexis (some fulltext)
•Movie Review Query
Engine (web: full-text)
•Film Review Annual (in MRC)
•Film Literature Index (in MRC)
Third World Cinema
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)
Scholarly/Critical Writing
Use:
•Magazine Index (1988-present)
•Modern Language Assn.
Bibliography (1963-present)
•Film Index International (CDROM)
•Film Literature Index (Print Index
in Media Center) (1977-present)
•Art Abstracts ( & AA
Retrospective) (1920s-present)
•Periodicals Content Index (PCI)
Third World Cinema
Books
Use Pathfinder
Search by
•Title and/or Subject
Keyword
•Director Name (as subject)
•Movie Title (as Title and/or
Subject Keyword
Third World Cinema
The First Pass
Search by:
• Subject Terms/Keywords
In Pathfinder:
•X in Motion Pictures (Women in Motion Pictures)
•Motion Pictures X (Motion Pictures Iran)
•Kiarostami, Abbas
The next pass..
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
How to Begin? Before you click: THINK
Formulate your search in terms of
keyword and key phrases... and synonyms for these:
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 image], as a theme in recent films by Latino and
Chicano filmmakers [directors]
****
Truncation varies from db to db: * # ?
emigra* = emigrant, emigrants, emigrate, emigration
Once You Find a Citation, How Do You Find the Article?
Use Pathfinder!
Or..
•Some indexes provide
holdings info
•Some indexes link to full-text
Third World Cinema
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).
…being driven totally psycho by your research?
Call me:
Gary Handman
643-8566
[email protected]