Film Reviews eResearch Guide - Paul A. Elsner Library @ Mesa Community College

eResearch Guides

Film Reviews
Library Research
and
Resources

Doing Library Research

A good research paper should include information from a variety of sources:

Books

Encyclopedias and other reference works

Magazines and journals

Newspapers

The Internet

While the Internet may provide useful information, it may not be your best source. Examine each of these resources available through the library. If you are doing a report for paper or preparing a persuasive speech about cinema, the following are perfect starting points for your research!

Print Resources
MCC Library Catalog
Use the catalog to identify and locate books and videos by and about authors including:

• Works of literature by the author
• Books of criticism about an author or a specific work
• Biographies of authors
• Encyclopedias about literature
• Adaptations of literary works on video or in plays
• If the title has more than two words, use quotation marks to search for the entire phrase

Search by:
Keyword(s): film reviews
Title: Casablanca

Reference Materials
Materials about the subject Motion Pictures are assigned call #’s PN1933 through PN1998. To find dictionaries, directories and encyclopedias on cinema, browse the Reference shelves in the above call number range. In addition, video recordings are found in PN1992.93-95. Below is a sampling of titles available at our 2 library locations:

.	A World History of Film REF PN1993.5.A1 S555 2002 MCC & RM	.	Film Encyclopedia REF PN1993.45 .K34 2001 MCC
	Film Review Index REF PN1995 .F466 1986 MCC		Leonard Maltin’s Movie & Video Guide REF PN1992.8.F5 M3 MCC & RM
	Magill’s Cinema Annual REF PN1995 .M252 MCC		Magill’s Survey of Cinema REF PN 1993.45 M32 MCC
	Movie Awards REF PN1993.92 .O53 2001 MCC & RM		The Motion Picture Guide REF PN1993 .M4334 MCC

The Oxford Guide to Film Studies
PN1995 .O93 1998
MCC

Electronic Resources

Expanded Academic ASAP
Use this general interest database to search through over 7 million articles from magazines and scholarly journals. Combine title or author information with terms like Movie Review or Reviews.

Sample search results:
• Casablanca and review
43 results

Masterfile Premier
Articles from over 3,600 publications! To locate reviews of movies try this: Type the author’s name, the word AND & the term reviews. You can also type the title followed by the word film.

Ethnic NewsWatch
A collection of full text resources from small multi-ethnic presses, including Native American, African-American and Latino publications. Offers coverage of films by minority directors and discussion of themes in ethnic cinema. Articles from a diverse point of view about movies like:

     Deliver us from Eva (Oakland Post)
     Monsoon Wedding (India Abroad)
     Smoke Signals (Lakota Times)

National Newspapers
Online access to the top five newspapers in the United States including: The Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the L.A. Times in full text since 1999 to the present. Excellent resource for reviews of limited film releases and foreign films. Search using keywords such as movie titles or director’s name and the term Motion Pictures.

Internet Sites

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences http://www.oscars.org/	American Film Institute http://www.afi.com/
Internet Movie Database http://www.imdb.com/	Movie Review Query Engine http://www.mrqe.com/
Michael Medved Show http://www.michaelmedved.com	Roger Ebert Movie Reviews http://www.suntimes.com/index/ebert.html
UCLA Arts Library http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/arts/websites/wwwmov.htm

Accessing Library Resources
From Home
If you have a computer with Internet access, you can make use of the library's databases from the convenience of your own home. Simply set your Internet browser to the library's main web page (shown below) and follow the links.

Follow these steps:
1. Go to http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/library/.

2. To search for magazines or journals, click on
"Electronic Resources." At the top of the Electronic Resources page, click the "Off-Campus Access" link.

3. Make a selection of one of the databases listed.

4. Log on with your MCC e-mail user name and password.

Film resources are in the “General” and “Newspaper” sections.

All of the databases listed may be accessed from your home or school computer.

All Research Guides are available online at:
http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/library/researchguides.html

480 461 7680 (Circulation) 480 461 7682 (Reference) 480 461 7194 (Technical Support)
1833 West Southern Avenue, Mesa, AZ 85202 USA