Senior Seminar in History - Film History

Reference Sources
(All reference sources are located on Floor 2)

1.  Encyclopedia of American Studies.
 Reference  E 169.1 .E625 2001 

2.  St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture.
 Reference  E 169.1 .S764 2000 

3.  Greenwood Guide to American Popular Culture.
 Reference  E 169.1 .G7555 2002 

4.  Dictionary of Twentieth Century Culture:  American Culture after World War II.
 Reference  E 169.12 .A418 1994  

5.  Encyclopedia of American Social History.  (Volume 3, Part X)
 Reference  HN 57 .E58 1993  

6. Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry.
 Reference  PN 1993.5 .U6 S539 1998

7.  Variety Film Reviews.  (1907-1996)
 Reference  PN 1993 .V36 

8.  New York Times Film Reviews.  (1913-2000)
 Reference  PN 1995 .N4 

9.  American Film Institute Catalog.
 Reference  PN 1998 .A57 

10.  Film Encyclopedia.
 Reference  PN 1993.45 .K34 2005

Online Catalog
To search for books, click on “find books and other materials “on the Milner Library Web Site.
The Online Catalog offers the “Advanced Search” as well as the “Quick Search”
(with any word, title and subject searching).

If you are working from a bibliography, use the "Advanced Search" and type in the author's last name and the title of the book to see if Milner Library has the book you need.  The “Quick Search -- Author” may also be useful for finding any books written by a specific person.

For searching by subject, use the “Advanced Search -- Subject Words” or "Quick Search - Subject".  If you find very few or no books using the subject searches, try the "Advanced Search - Any Words" or the  “Quick Search -- Any Word Anywhere” search.

To find books on a particular person, look under the name of the person
using the “Quick Search -- Subject” or the “Advanced Search -- Subject Words”.

To locate primary sources, look for subject divisions such as Sources, Correspondence, Diaries, Personal narratives, Oral history, etc.
 
The following are examples of subject terms that may be useful for your research:

Motion Picture Industry
Motion Pictures  (subdivisions)
Animated Films
Comedy Films
War Films
African Americans in motion pictures
Women in motion pictures 

The My Account link in the Online Catalog shows items checked out, request information,
fines and fees, and offers online renewal of books.

For materials not available in Milner Library, use the I-Share link to search other libraries.
Use the Request function to have books sent to Milner from other libraries.

To search for books and other materials in libraries worldwide,
use WorldCat  --  available under “find articles on your topic” then "Databases by title".

Databases and Article Indexes
To locate journal articles on your topic, first use an online database.
Milner Library has several databases that provide access to articles in scholarly journals. 
To search any of the online databases, click on "find articles on your topic" on the Milner Library Web Site.
Under "Databases by subject", click on the down arrow to view the list of subject areas.
Scroll down the list until you find History or Film;  click on the subject to view a list of databases.
Under "Databases by title", click on the down arrow to view the list of databases and indexes.
Scroll through the list to find the database you need; click on the title to enter the database and begin searching.
The sources listed below are good places to begin your research.

1.  America History and Life.
The major index to journal articles on United States and Canadian history.

2.  Historical Abstracts.
The major index to journal articles on world history.

3.  Humanities Abstracts.
Covers archaeology, folklore, history, literature, philosophy, religion, etc.

4.  Social Sciences Abstracts.
Covers journals in political science, sociology, anthropology, geography, economics, etc.

5.  JSTOR.
Online full text database of articles from journals in the humanities and social sciences.
Covers earlier years of selected journals, but not the most recent years.

6.  Project Muse.
Provides online full text access to scholarly journals in the humanities and social sciences.
Most current years are covered;  some journals include 5-10 years of earlier issues.

7.  Readers' Guide Abstracts and Readers' Guide Retrospective. 
Available in online from 1890 - present.  Covers popular periodicals.

8.  Dissertations & Theses.
Indexing for dissertations accepted at accredited institutions since 1861.
Includes full text of many dissertations.

9.  International Index to the Performing Arts.
Indexes performing arts journals from 1864 to the present in film, drama,
television, the arts & entertainment industry, magic, dance, & musical theatre.

10.  Film and Television Literature Index.
Indexes 300 publications covering reviews, analysis and topics of popular interest on film and television for recent years.

11.  International Index to Film Periodicals.  (1972-2006)
Reference  Z 5784 .M9 M49  --  Floor 2

12. Black Thought and Culture.
Full text database with interviews, articles, speeches, etc. on African Americans.



Locating Journals
The Find It link is available for each record in most databases.
Click on this link for full text access and to search for a journal in the Online Catalog.

If you have a complete citation for an article, click on “find a known article”.  Type in the journal title, year, volume and starting page; then click on Find It.

To determine if a specific journal is available online through Milner Library, click on the E-Journals link in the left hand column on the library website.   A “Find E-Journal” page will appear.  Type in the name of your journal and click on Go.

 

Primary Sources

Newspapers
Newspapers may be a very useful source for historical material.  Milner Library subscribes to several newspapers from the local area, the state of Illinois, the United States and various other countries.  Some newspapers are kept for many years on microfilm.  The microfilm for most newspapers is located on Floor 2 in the northeast corner. Microfilm of newspapers may also be borrowed from other libraries through InterLibrary Loan.

The following are examples of newspapers held in Milner Library.

1.  New York Times.  1851 - present.
Historical New York Times (Online) (1851-2005)

2.  New York Evening Post.  1821 - 1939.

3.  New York Tribune.  1841 - 1924.

4.  Chicago Tribune.  1845 - present.
Chicago Tribune Online, 1985 - present.
Historical Chicago Tribune (online), 1849-1985.

5.  Chicago Defender.  1921 – present.

6.  Daily Pantagraph (Bloomington)  --  1853 - present.

7.  Illinois State Journal (Springfield)  --  1836 - 1974.

8.  Illinois Register (Springfield)  --  1852-1900.

9.  Christian Science Monitor.  1956 – present.
Christian Science Monitor archive online search at:
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/advancedsearch.html
Includes citations and first paragraph of articles.

10.  St. Louis Post Dispatch.  1874-1980.

11.  Washington Post.  1972 – present.
Washington Post archive online search at:
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/search.html
Includes citations and first paragraph of articles.

12.  HarpWeek
Full text of Harper's Weekly for the years 1857-1912.

Popular Magazines
Popular magazines, such as Time, Newsweek, TV Guide, New Yorker, etc.,
may be good sources of advertisements and articles from a specific time period.

Most popular magazines are indexed in Readers' Guide Abstracts or Readers' Guide Retrospective
Check these databases first to identify articles published on your topic.   Note that magazines from earlier years may be in storage or on microfilm.

American Periodical Series Online, 1741-1900.
Full text of American popular and professional periodicals including over 1,000 titles in all, covering a wide range of subjects.

Autobiographies, Letters, Diaries, Interviews
Material written by a specific individual, such as autobiographies, letters and diaries,
or interviews of an individual may be excellent primary sources.  To determine if Milner Library
has these materials, search in the Online Catalog under the name of the person as an author,
or under a group of people, or under an event.

City Directories
1.  American Directories Through 1860.  --  Microfiche E 154.5 .A5  4th floor
This large set of city directories includes several Illinois cities and towns.
The index to the set is the Bibliography of American Directories through 1860.
Reference Z 5771.S7  Floor 2

2.  United States City Directories, 1861-1881 and 1882-1901.
Microfilm E 154.5 .A52  --  4th floor
These sets include directories for about 80 major cities in the U.S.
Illinois cities included are Chicago, Joliet and Peoria.

3.  Bloomington-Normal City Directory, et. al.
Milner Library has many city directories for Bloomington - Normal. 
Volumes from 1957 to the present are located on 3rd floor at the call number
F 549 .B65. . .  Earlier volumes from 1870-73, 1884, 1891, 1893, 1904-05 and 1907 are located on 6th floor in the Special Collections Area.  

Milner Library has printed directories for a few other cities in Illinois.
Most of these volumes are from the 1960's and are located on 3rd floor in the
F 549 . . .  call number area.


U.S. Government Documents
Milner Library is a depository for U.S. federal documents and has been for over 100 years.  Although the library does not receive all publications of the federal government, many documents are available in paper form or electronically.  The major databases for documents are GPO Monthly Catalog and Congressional Publications and Academic Universe (Lexis-Nexis).  Additional information on government documents is available on the Government Information section of the Milner Library Website.

Local History
In searching for materials such as local ordinances, fire codes, minutes of city council meetings, etc.  search in the Online Catalog under the name of the city or town (e.g. Normal, Ill.).
Milner Library will have some of these materials, but it may be necessary to contact
the local historical society or local city offices to find complete records.

InterLibrary Loan
In addition to the Request function in the Online Catalog, Milner Library also offers InterLibrary Loan services through the ILLIAD system.  A link to InterLibrary Loan is available on the Milner Library web site.
Login in to the ILLIAD system with your ULID and password.  New users will need to establish an account within ILLIAD.
ILLIAD allows for article and book requesting, as well as reviewing past requests and
accessing articles received electronically.

RefWorks
RefWorks is an online service that can assist students in creating reference lists and formatting citations for the bibliographies of research papers. 

Vanette Schwartz,  Social Sciences Librarian
Office:  Milner Library 416
Phone:  309-438-3486;  E-mail: vmschwa@ilstu.edu