Film Studies

Keyword search, the default option in most databases, finds your terms anywhere in the article record (journal title, article title, abstract, etc.). This search is rather broad and may return some irrelevant results, so you want to be as specific as you can about the choice of your keywords.

General Search Terms

• film(s)
• motion picture(s)

Use film genre to be more specific, for example: animation(s), documentary (documentaries)

Combining Your Search Terms

Using multiple terms and combining them with AND will help you find specific articles relevant to your topis

• motion pictures AND Asian American AND audiences
• horror films AND monsters
• documentaries AND Burns AND baseball

Using multiple terms and combining them with OR will help you find sources in which different words could be used to describe the subject of your interest.

movies OR films OR motion pictures

You can combine your search strategies, for example:

(movies OR films OR motion pictures) AND (immigrants OR refugees OR expatriates)

Keyword search tip

To increase the relevance of your results you can specify that your terms should be found in the title or subject. Most databases have drop-down menus for selecting the filed in which you want your term(s) to appear.

In databases items are assigned subject headings as access points to assist users in locating the content. When you do a subject search in a database, only the subject headings are searched for words that match your search terms. Using subject headings ensures that all items about the same topic have consistent subject headings and so they can all be accessed with one search term.

Subject search tips

• Look to see if your database has a list of subjects/thesaurus that you can search or browse to find the subject heading(s) that best match your topic.

• Do a keyword search. Display the record for a relevant article and follow the subject heading(s) attached to it.

You may already have a citation for an article from your professor's recommendation or another  source. This is how you would locate the article.

Method 1

On the UC Libraries page paste your article title in the red search box. If this is an exact title enclose it in quotation marks to avoid irrelevant hits.

If the title is short and/or common, add the author's name and/or journal title.

Summon, our metasearch tool, will return results with links to online full text.

You can also use advanced Summon search.

Method 2

• On the UC Libraries page click the Journals tab in the red search box. Alternatively you can use the search box on the Journals page of this guide. E-Journals advanced search page.
• Type in as much of the journal title as you want.
  (Please note: this search option is for JOURNAL titles, not articles titles)!
• Click "Search." The result will indicate which database/index to search for full text. Check the dates carefully to make sure the year you need is available electronically.

• If an electronic version of the journal title or the desired issues it is not available electronically, you must then search the Library Catalog for a print issue. On the library record screen for the journal title note the location and call number of the journal. Please note that current issues are often found in a different location than bound journals.

Method 3.

• Use the "Citation Linker" form. You need to provide as much information as possible. Go to UC Article Linker FAQ for more information.