Tips for Building your Search

Cinema Studies eJournals 

ProQuest Database

• Includes Scholarly Journals, Conference Papers, Newspapers, Trade / Industry Magazines, Magazines, Dissertations & Theses

Explore other Databases 

• Database Platforms:
  • International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) Databases, Project Muse, JSTOR, EBSCO, Google Scholar
• UofT Libraries Subject A-Z lists of resources 

Online Newspaper Databases

Film Indexes 

Choosing your Search Terms

Enter search terms on separate lines e.g., enter title of film on the top line, director's last name below, so as to articulate your search request. Use Boolean Operators to improve your search:

• Quotations marks (search for specific phrases or names)

  • "Science Fiction", "Denis Villeneuve", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"

• AND (narrows your search)

  • robots AND "motion pictures"

  • Paramount AND distribution

• OR (widens your search)

  • film OR movies OR cinema

  • scifi OR "science fiction" OR sci-fi

  • MGM OR "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer"

For more information on using Boolean Operators in LibrarySearch, visit this page: Using Search Operators

FIAF International Film Archives 

Searching Tips for FIAF Databases (IIFP & IITP) in OVID

• LIMITED to 3 users at a time. If you can't access it, return later when one of the 3 seats have opened up to new users.  
• This an OVID database which requires different search strategies so take a look at these search tips:  
  1. Search by one Subject Heading - OVID platform
  2. Search all fields by one Keyword  - OVID platform 
  3. Combine Searches - OVID platform 
  4. Video tutorials for searching in OVID (bit.ly/OVIDhelpvideos)
• To access the resource, use GET IT UTL button on left side of record to access item through UofT Libraries
  • If you don't see a UTL link,  try to find an article by title in LibrarySearch 
  • Not available through UofT Libraries? Submit an Interlibrary Loan Request
• More details about FIAF Databases: 
  • OVID Advanced Search fields/options for FIAF Databases
  • OVID FIAF Database Guide  

ProQuest  

ProQuest is a platform containing over 100 databases. ProQuest contains publications (i.e., newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals, eBook titles, dissertation and theses) in different subjects areas including film. Remember you might find content in a non-film related resource from your time period, (i.e., newspapers, business or tech magazines).

1) Use the Advanced Search Tool  

2) Sort your Results 

• Sort your results (Relevance, Date) 
  • Sort by Date: It may be useful to arrange the results chronologically (oldest first) in order to follow the entire production process of a particular film, from gossip about potential stars to reviews and box-office grosses.

3) Using ProQuest Search Filters

• Narrow your search results using filters on left sidebar:
  • Source Type (e.g., Scholarly Journals, Newspapers, Magazines, Trade Magazines)
  • Publication Title (e.g., Cinema Journal, New York Times, Variety)
  • Document Type (e.g., Reviews - film or books, Feature, Front Page/Cover Story, Article, Literature Review, Interviews, Editorial, or try excluding advertisements)

4) Mark relevant records

If you find interesting articles, be sure to . 

• Go to the results page and click the check box to the left of the article title  
• When you are ready to email the articles to yourself, scroll to the top of the results list and click on Email link (on right side)
• Email the marked records to yourself 

Another option is to create a free ProQuest MyResearch account.

a) Google Scholar 

•  Set up Google Scholar to recognize that you are a UofT Student: https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/linkit/google-scholar

b) Other Popular Databases

The platforms hold collections of eBooks and scholarly journals (in some cases magazines, trade/industry journals and other materials are available). 

• EBSCO

• JSTOR

• Project Muse 

c) Databases by Subject A-Z

Using LibrarySearch to find Newspaper articles and news items

Follow link below and enter your keyword search terms in the search bar.

Search within Newspapers

For more information on searching for Newspaper items in LibrarySearch, visit this page.

NOTE: Newspaper results are excluded form the default LibrarySearch results page.

To see Newspaper results click the 'Newspapers Search' hyperlink listed at the bottom of the Format filter on the left sidebar of results page.