Comedy & Community: Some Strategies for Research

Gary Handman Director Media Resources Center Moffitt Library Babbalooo, Lucy! I’m so essited! We gonna learn about library research

Scholarly Pop Current Historical Fan Writing About Film…

Comedy & Community : Some Strategies for Research Journals,Journals, Magazines, Newspapers ReviewsReviews Critical/ScholarlyArticlesCritical/ScholarlyArticles BooksBooks WebWeb Sites OtherOther online databases Sources for Film & TV Scholarship and Research

Comedy & CommunityBooks Scholarly/authoritativeScholarly/authoritative works PopPop schlock and fan works How Do You Tell em’ apart? Author’s credentials/affiliationsAuthor’s credentials/affiliations Publisher (e.g. BFI, AFI, University Presses vs pop press)Publisher (e.g. BFI, AFI, University Presses vs pop press) Scholarly apparatus and sources: notes, bibliographies, other documentationScholarly apparatus and sources: notes, bibliographies, other documentation If they’ve been widely cited by other scholarsIf they’ve been widely cited by other scholars

Comedy & CommunityFound in: PopularPopular & fan journals and newspapers FilmFilm studies & scholarly journals WebWeb sites FanFan and enthusiast sites CommercialCommercial sites (e.g., studio sites, video distributors) AcademicAcademic sites REVIEWS CurrentCurrent HistoricalHistorical

Comedy & Community Found in: FilmFilm studies & scholarly journals PopularPopular & fan journals and newspapers (but only occasionally) WebWeb sites (even less occasionally…except for academic and commercial databases) Critical/Scholarly Articles CurrentCurrent HistoricalHistorical

Reviews: Current Use: Expanded Academic Index (fair amount of full-text)Expanded Academic Index (fair amount of full-text) News IndexNews Index ProQuest (some full-text)ProQuest (some full-text) Lexis/NexisLexis/Nexis Movie Review Query Engine (web: full-text)Movie Review Query Engine (web: full-text) Film Review AnnualFilm Review Annual Comedy & Community

Reviews: Historical Use: Readers GuideReaders Guide NY Times Index (or NYT Film Reviews ) (in MRC)NY Times Index (or NYT Film Reviews ) (in MRC) Film Review Index, (in MRC)Film Review Index, (in MRC) Film Index International (CDROM in Main/Moffitt Only)Film Index International (CDROM in Main/Moffitt Only)

Scholarly/Critical Writing Use: Expanded Academic Index (1980- present)Expanded Academic Index (1980- present) Modern Language Assn. Bibliography (1963-present)Modern Language Assn. Bibliography (1963-present) Film Index International (CD- ROM in Main and Moffitt)Film Index International (CD- ROM in Main and Moffitt) Film Literature Index (Print Index in Media Center) (1977-present)Film Literature Index (Print Index in Media Center) (1977-present) Art Abstracts ( & AA Retrospective) (1920s-present)Art Abstracts ( & AA Retrospective) (1920s-present) Periodicals Content Index (PCI)Periodicals Content Index (PCI)

Once You Find a Citation, How Do You Find the Article? Yo!…Hey man, use Pathfinder! Pathfinder! Or.. Some indexes provide holdings infoSome indexes provide holdings info Some indexes link to full-textSome indexes link to full-text Satirist Nabs Movie Queen! John Waters takes all of Hollywood hostage in the jolly Cecil B. DeMented. (The Arts/Cinema)(Review) (movie review) Richard Corliss. Time August 14, 2000 v156 i7 p70 View text and retrieval choices (287 words) View text and retrieval choices (287 words)

Comedy & CommunityBooks Use Pathfinder Use Pathfinder Search by Title and/or Subject KeywordTitle and/or Subject Keyword Director Name (as subject)Director Name (as subject) Movie Title (as Title and/orMovie Title (as Title and/or Subject Keyword )

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: Sex [women, love, relationships] and Death [dying, mortality, fate] in the films [cinema, movie*] of Woody Allen. The representation [reflect* portray*] of gender [sex*] and masculinity [masculin*, male, men] in the films films [cinema, movie*] of Jim Jarmusch. **** Truncation varies from db to db: * # ? emigra* = emigrant, emigrants, emigrate, emigration

/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). Comedy & Community

…being driven totally bananas by your research? Call me: Gary Handman