Facts and Background Information Selected print and electronic encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, etc. Books Locate items in the library catalog and other libraries. Articles Use indexes to search for articles in journals, proceedings, etc. Primary Sources Websites Recommended academic, professional, and learned societies sites, and more. Contact a Librarian

Below are a few major, frequently used sources for the study of Film. See also the research guides to English & American Literature and Drama & Dance. Please consult with a reference librarian for directions to many more sources in your topic. Internet resources require a Tufts I.D. number for off-campus access (authorized users statement).

Facts and Background Information     [back to top]

American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States
[PRINT. Tisch Reference PN1998 .A57]

Halliwell's film and video guide
[PRINT. Tisch Reference PN1998 .H433]

International Dictionary of Films & Filmmakers
[PRINT. Tisch Reference PN1997.45 .I54 1984]

Motion Picture Guide
[PRINT. Tisch Reference PN1993.M4334]

Variety Film Reviews
[PRINT. Tisch Reference PN1995.V34 1983]

Find Books     [back to top]

These databases use Library of Congress subject headings:

Library Catalog

Boston Library Consortium Catalogs

Worldcat
Catalog records from thousands of North American libraries.

For more on how to find books, see Database Searching Tips (also available in PDF).

Find Articles     [back to top]

Film Literature Index
The only comprehensive index to the periodical literature of film, television, and video from academic, professional, literary publications, journals of opinion, and popular news sources, from 1973 to the present. Online coverage for 1976-2001. For 1973-1975, and 2002 forward, use the print volumes at Tisch Reference Indexes [HUM] Z5784.M9 F45.

MLA International Bibliography 1963-
An international index to books and journals on the modern languages and
literatures, including linguistics and folklore. Publications from 1921 to 1962 are covered in printed volumes at Tisch Reference Indexes [HUM] Z7006 .M64.

International Index to the Performing Arts
Indexes more than 200 scholarly and popular periodicals in dance, theater, film, and television, from 1998 to the present, with expanding retrospective coverage of some titles. Coverage includes a small selection of film titles.

Variety
[Tisch Micro R348]
Tufts holds this indispensable trade journal from 1990 to the present at Current Periodicals and Microforms. LexisNexis includes electronic text from July 1993, but access to certain freelance articles and other material may not be available.

Electronic journals

Periodicals are listed in the library catalog. Holdings in all formats are unified in one record, and most entries for journals held in electronic format contain a hyperlink to the source; searches in the web-based catalog enable one to follow these links directly. A complete list of electronic journals is on the Tisch homepage under Electronic Journals.

Many humanities/social sciences journals held in digital format are parts of Project Muse or JSTOR. Although these databases include search engines for the journals they contain, the indexes listed above are the most comprehensive and authoritative sources for the literature of the discipline, and frequently link directly to our electronic journals.

For more on how to find articles, see Database Searching Tips (also available in PDF).

Primary Sources     [back to top]

ArchivesUSA
Information about primary source materials from U.S. manuscript repositories, with detailed indexes of manuscript and other special collections.

Websites     [back to top]

Boxoffice Online [1995- ]
The online edition of Boxoffice, featuring film industry news and profiles. Includes keyword and title access to the magazine's film reviews from 1995 to the present, as well as reviews of classic films.

CineMedia

Internet Movie Database
Comprehensive database of over 100,000 films from across the world, with filmographies for professions in the industry, plot summaries, and more.

SCREENsite

Voice of the Shuttle: Media Studies Page

For more on how to find and evaluate websites, see How to Evaluate Web Sources.

Contact a Librarian     [back to top]

Christopher Barbour. Contact for questions about library collections.
Abigail Cross. Contact for reference questions and instruction requests.