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Research Guides

CIN240: Anime!

This guide is supporting a 2025 summer course

TIFF Film Reference Library

Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Film Reference Library 

UTL Archival / Primary Source Collections

"A primary source is a document that was created at the time of the event or subject you've chosen to study, or by people who were observers of, or participants in that event or topic."​ ​

~ E.H. Brown, “Writing about History” UofT Writing Advice​

Primary source materials include Text (film reviews, advertisements, business documents, personal records or diaries, press kits, scripts), Recordings (interviews, radio shows, film footage)  & Objects (images, storyboards, costumes, musical scores) created in that time period. 

Media History Digital Library

The University or Oregon has a video tutorial on how to conduct searches in Media History Digital Library amongst its Film Database Tutorials.

This tutorial provides a great overview on how to search using MHDL's Lantern interface and its Advanced Search option

Screenshot of University of Oregon's Media History Digital Library Video Tutorial

Use the menu on the left hand side to navigate: 

  • Using Media History Digital Library
  • MHDL description and URL
  • Search with keywords
  • Limit results by date
  • Find an advertisement
  • Find production information
  • See the item in the full magazine
  • Limit results to a publication or collection
  • Fan magazines
  • Find publicity

CineFiles (University of California, Berkeley)

Cinefile online database contains scanned images of reviews, press kits, film festival and repertory theater program notes, newspaper articles, and other ephemera.  Some documents are restricted due to copyright and require a free account for access. In the top right corner of the page, a login link will allow you to connect (or set up) your free Cinefile account. Read about CineFiles accounts, our privacy policy, and more.  

Cinefile Search Tips

  • Submit a keywords search using the search toolbar or click on "Advanced Search" 
  • Search filters can be found on the left side of the page, definitely explore "Document Type" to see the range of BAMPFA's digitized materials. 
  • Be sure to limit the date range. Click on Document: publication year and enter the beginning and end date. 

Screenshot of bampfa's cinefiles website highlighting search filters on left side, search field in top middle of page, link to Advanced Search and Login link in the top right corner of the website

 

Search collections based on 'Document: type' and 'Document: publication year'

  • press kits (limited to date range 1924-1968, filtered in chronological order)
  • distributors materials (limited to date range 1924-1968, filtered in chronological order)
  • exhibitor manuals (limited to date range 1920-1968 but more results for 1940s onward, filtered in chronological order)
  • program notes  (limited to date range 1924-1968 but more results for 1950s-1960s, filtered in chronological order)
  • booklet (limited to date range 1924-1968 but more results for 1950s-1960s, filtered in alphabetical order)

 

Internet Archive

Key Links

How to use Internet Archive 

Overview of Internet Archive's layout, search interfaces, and how to navigate content (e.g., digitized magazines, journals, books, audio visuals collections and more) for this assignment. 

Search - A basic guide  

  • Different ways to search 
  • How to sort search results
  • How to search within a collection
  • Use the metadata lists to filter your results by Media Type, Year, Topics

Internet Archive's Tips & Troubleshooting

  • How to narrow your search results by title or using quotation marks and Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) 
  • Search for multiple subjects 

Building powerful, complex search queries 

 

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