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Screen Studies

The following links are intended to be a starting point for finding resources relating to Screen Studies, as taught at Flinders University.

It includes:

Reference Material

Reference sources are useful in providing background information to a topic, as well as helping to clarify key concepts and words.

The following resources are useful reference resources for Screen Studies:

Ensers' Filmed Books and Plays 1928-1991 (Central Books)

016.7914/B315e

Australian Film: a Bibliography (Central Reference)

016.79143/R375a

Australian Film 1978-1994 (Central Periodicals)

791.405/A9343

New York Times Film Reviews 1913-1972 (Central Reference)

791.4/N534

Variety Film Reviews 1907-1980 (16 vols) (Central Reference)

f791.4/V299

Halliwell's 2004 Film Guide (Central Reference)

791.405/H189

Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia (Central Books)

791.4303/L581

The St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (Central Books)

791.430233/S132

Cinema Studies: the Key Concepts (Central Books)

791.4303/H427k.2

The New Biographical Dictionary of Film (Central Books)

791.4303/T469b.4

Oxford History of World Cinema (Central Books)

791.4309/O98

Encyclopedia of Television (3 vols) (Central Books)

791.4503/E56

Books

The best way to find books on a topic is to do a search on Voyager (the library catalogue). Search either by keyword or subject heading.

Useful subject headings include:

Animated films
Documentary films

Experimental films

Motion picture industry
Motion pictures
Silent films
Television and children
Television broadcasting
Video recordings

Note that these subject headings can be further subdivided by country or region (eg. South Australia, Asia, etc), by type of material (handbooks, case studies, etc) or by more specific aspects (economic aspects, environmental aspects, etc).

Alternatively, browse the shelves at the following call numbers:

791.43 (film)
791.45 (television)

A number of books and readings may have been placed on Reserve and/or eReserve. Use the Course Reserve Search on Voyager to search for your course.

Videos and DVDs

The library holds a number of films on video and/or DVD in its AV collection (located on Level 1 of the library -- Ask at the Information desk for directions).

All videos and DVDs can be borrowed for 7 days unless marked otherwise.

To search for a particular title in either format, use the keyword search on Voyager (the Library Catalogue).Type in a film title, director or other keyword and video?

For example:

breaker morant video?
kubrick video?
documentary video?

For a complete list of all DVDs held by the library (regardless of location, subject or content) click here.

For a complete list of all videos held by the library (regardless of location, subject or content) click here.

For a complete list of DVDs and Videos held at Sturt for Screen Studies students, (tell the Sturt library staff you are screen studies students and you can borrow any of these titles) click here.

Journals

A journal (also known as a periodical, serial or annual) is a publication that appears at regular intervals on an ongoing basis. Each issue has the same title and contains articles written by many different authors. Reading the journal literature is a good way to keep up-to-date in the field.

The library subscribes to a number of print and electronic journals; your lecturer will probably recommend titles that s/he thinks are particularly useful.

Library databases

The best way to find articles in journals is to use one of the many journal indexes available. These are available in electronic format and are commonly referred to as Library databases. There are two types of Library database: citation and full-text.

Citation databases provide enough information to direct you to the full text of the article. They have sophisticated search capabilities, are subject-specific, and usually cover at least 30 years worth of literature. You will retrieve a citation (also known as a reference) for each item.

Full-text databases will take you directly to the full text. While this is convenient, it is important to remember that there is a limited amount of material available in this format.

It is worth using a citation database that is subject-specific to ensure you obtain the maximum possible references, especially when looking for specialised information.

The following table summarises the most useful databases for screen studies-related research. A complete list can be found here.

Resource Discipline Dates Coverage Access Help
APA-FT (via Informit) Social Sciences and Humanities; Australian Full text: 1995- ; Index: 1978-
Newspapers, scholarly journals, conference papers and books. 220+ comprehensively indexed journals
Arts and humanities citation index Multi-disciplinary

Citation;
1987-

1,100+ of the world's leading arts and humanities journals, as well as covering individually selected, relevant items from over 6,800 major science and social science journals.
Expanded Academic ASAP Multi-disciplinary; US bias Full text; varies, from 1980- Scholarly and general interest journals.
3,500 indexed and full-text titles (2,100 are peer-reviewed)
Factiva Multi-disciplinary Full text; varies, from 1998-
Contains all Fairfax and News Ltd newspapers
MLA International Bibliography Languages, literary theory, literature, dramatic arts Citation, 1963 - Journal articles, books, dissertations
ProQuest Multi-disciplinary; US bias Full text; varies, from 1971- Newspapers, magazines and academic journals. 8000+ indexed titles

 

Most library databases index scholarly journals. Many also index magazines, newspapers and trade publications; some may also index conference papers, book chapters, theses and government reports.

It is important to be able to recognise a scholarly journal, i.e. a journal that has been peer-reviewed. Peer review is the process of checking information by other experts

Websites

See the Library's Guide to Internet Research for how to find, evaluate and cite Internet information.

General links

  • All-Movie Guide Covers feature films, documentaries, television. Searchable by title, people, keyword. Also has essays on various film genres
  • Film Sound Design Dedicated to the art and analysis of film sound - articles and links.
  • Greatest Films Introduction Has list of the "100 greatest films" made and also comparative lists. Detailed plot summaries, with film dialogue. Also includes greatest films by year/decade, greatest film star roles, film genres section.
  • The Internet Movie Database Very comprehensive. Allows searching by movie/TV title, cast/crew name, character name. Plot summaries, external reviews, awards.

Film reviews

Australian film links

  • Australian Television Information Archive Features episode guides, cast lists and articles.
  • Encore: incorporating the Australian Film Review The site is a gateway to the Australasian film, television and new media industry with direct links to relevant sites.
  • M/C Media/Culture.org.au Reviews, a journal and an encyclopedia all from the one page. Most screen content under "reviews".
  • National Film and Sound Archive The National Collection of Screen and Sound is available online in a text database listing over 560,000 items. It spans 100 years of Australia's film, television, radio and recorded sound heritage.
  • OzFilm Selected essays, dissertations and reviews of Australian film 1997-2003.
  • Senses of Cinema is an Australian online film journal devoted to the serious and eclectic discussion of cinema.
  • Urban Cinefile "The world of film in Australia - on the internet". Includes up to date reviews of movies, DVDs and videos, as well as interviews and features.

Postgraduates


Please direct all comments to author,
Veronica Ghee
Humanities Liaison Librarian
Flinders University Library.