Comedy, Race & Gender Some Strategies for Research

Comedy, Race & Gender : Some Strategies for Research Gary Handman Director Media Resources Center Moffitt Library Babbalooo, Lucy! I’m so essited! We gonna learn ‘bout library research

1. 1.Describe the types and sources of information available related to film studies and other media research 2. 2.Discuss how to find this stuff in the library, using print and online resources 3. Introduce a group of basic moves and features common to many online catalogs and indexes. 4. Practice using these features in selected databases.

Scholarly/In-depth Pop and fan Historical Industry Writing About Film… Current

Journals, Magazines, NewspapersJournals, Magazines, Newspapers ReviewsReviews Critical/Scholarly ArticlesCritical/Scholarly Articles BooksBooks Web Sites (more about this later…)Web Sites (more about this later…) Other online databasesOther online databases Sources for Film & TV Scholarship and Research

Journal Articles: Reviews? Critical Writing? What’s the Diff? Reviews:   Found in popular periodicals, film periodicals, and (less often) in more scholarly journals   Assessment of aesthetic and content merits of a film   Usually cover current releases, more pop theatrical releases   Tend to be relatively short and relatively superficial (with some exceptions and depending on the publication and who’s doing the writing)

Journal Articles: Reviews? Critical Writing? What’s the Diff? Critical analysis:   Found in books and scholarly or film-related journals   Discuss films in:   broader historical, cultural, political, artistic context and/or   Focus on a specific aspect of a film, film genre, or filmmaker   Tend to be longer, more substantive than reviews (with some exceptions and depending on the publication and who’s doing the writing)   Often include notes, bibliographies, other scholarly apparatus

1950’s1960’s Film Studies Film Scholarship Film Scholarship & Film Criticism Movies = 100+ Years Film Scholarship = 50 years 1895 Brothers Auguste & Louis Lumiere stage 1st public film screening, Paris William Dickson (Edison labs) invents The Kinetoscope1889 Writing about film = fan and industry perspectives until 1950’s/60’s

Found in: Popular & fan journals and newspapersPopular & fan journals and newspapers Film studies & scholarly journalsFilm studies & scholarly journals Web sitesWeb sites Fan and enthusiast sitesFan and enthusiast sites Commercial sites (e.g., studio sites, video distributors)Commercial sites (e.g., studio sites, video distributors) Academic sitesAcademic sites REVIEWS CurrentCurrent Historical (older)Historical (older)

Found in: Film studies & scholarly journals in other disciplines—eg:Film studies & scholarly journals in other disciplines—eg: Language & LitLanguage & Lit Women’s studiesWomen’s studies Gay/Lesbian studiesGay/Lesbian studies Area studies…etc.Area studies…etc. Web sites (even less occasionally…except for academic and commercial databases)Web sites (even less occasionally…except for academic and commercial databases) Critical/Scholarly Articles CurrentCurrent Historical (scholarly writing about film: 1950’s--Historical (scholarly writing about film: 1950’s--

Scholarly Articles and Reviews Ansen, David. "Boyz N the Hood." (movie reviews) Newsweek v118, n3 (July 15, 1991):56. Reviews Massood, Paula. "Mapping the Hood, The Genealogy of City Space in Boyz-n-the-Hood and Menace-II-Society. "Mapping the Hood, The Genealogy of City Space in Boyz-n-the-Hood and Menace-II-Society. Cinema Journal, 1996 winter, v35 n2: ) Critical/ScholarlyArticles

Books Scholarly/authoritative worksScholarly/authoritative works Pop schlock and fan worksPop 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

Inventory of what the Library owns: Books Books Journals (BUT NOT what’s inside of them!!!!!!) Journals (BUT NOT what’s inside of them!!!!!!) Media Media Manuscripts, documents, maps…etc. etc. etc. etc.) Manuscripts, documents, maps…etc. etc. etc. etc.) …But how do you locate this stuff? Pathfinder Search by: AuthorAuthor TitleTitle Subject (keywords)Subject (keywords)

Articles/Reviews (how do you find this stuff?) Film-related (not many exist) Film-related (not many exist) General news General news Literary and Arts Literary and Arts Other disciplines: e.g. Women’s Studies, American Studies, Ethnic Studies, History…etc. Other disciplines: e.g. Women’s Studies, American Studies, Ethnic Studies, History…etc. Article databases and Print Indexes

Article Databases (how do you know which ones to use?) Jumping Off point for Finding Online Indexes: Jumping Off point for Finding Online Indexes: /filmstudies/index.html /filmstudies/index.html Subject specialty Library Subject specialty Library Web page Web page Example: Doe/Moffitt for Humanities & Social Sciences

Once You Find a Citation, How Do You Find the Journal/Article? Some indexes provide holdings info [UC eLinks]Some indexes provide holdings info [UC eLinks] Some indexes link to full-textSome indexes link to full-text If neither…use Pathfinder to look up the JOURNAL by title

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 and Death in the films of Woody Allen. The representation of gender and masculinity in the films of Jim Jarmusch.

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 [cinema, movie*] of Jim Jarmusch. **** Truncation varies from db to db: * # ? emigra* = emigrant, emigrants, emigrate, emigration

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 bananas by your research? Call me: Gary Handman