Research Tutorials
- CREDO Info Lit and Critical Thinking Modules This link opens in a new windowTired of having trouble finding sources and wishing to improve your research skills? The Credo Instruct modules offer a full course of tutorials and videos that help you learn everything you need to know to become a better researcher, from how to get started to the mechanics of searching to citations. To access this resource, you need to connect while on-campus.
No Full Text?
Only have the citation? You can use EasySearch or the Journal Finder to see if we have the article in a different database. If we do not, we can still order it for you through Interlibrary Loan.
EasySearch
- EasySearch
EasySearch is the UMU Library's Discovery Service, which combines all of our resources (books, articles, and more) into one giant database. If you don't know where to go or are searching for a niche topic, use EasySearch to get started.
Databases
- Film & Television Literature Index w/Full Text This link opens in a new windowFilm & Television Literature Index™ with Full Text is the definitive online tool for film and television research. Subject coverage includes film & television theory, preservation & restoration, screenwriting, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews. The database provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for more than 380 publications (and selected coverage of 300), as well as full text for more than 120 journals, and 100 books. In addition, Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text includes Variety movie reviews from 1914 to the present and over 36,300 images from the MPTV Image Archive.
- Atla Religion Database This link opens in a new windowThis index database is an essential resource for religious and theological studies, providing bibliographic records covering topics such as biblical studies, world religions, church history and religion in social issues. Indexed journals are selected for inclusion according to their scholarly merit and scope. This database is produced by Atla, a membership association of collectors and connectors in religion and theology.
- SocINDEX w/ Full Text This link opens in a new windowSocINDEX with Full Text is a robust sociology research database. It provides full-text, peerreviewed sociology journals covering many studies including gender studies, criminal justice, social psychology, racial studies, religion and social work. This can be useful for providing background and context about the historical time period or events depicted in the film.
Search Tips
Sometimes you might have difficulty finding articles about a particular film in a database, especially if it is a large database like EasySearch. Here are some tips to narrow things down more effectively.
- Use quotation marks to search for the title as a phrase. Searching for "Fury Road" instead of Fury Road will cut through a lot of the noise and help you find relevant articles.
- Add a few more details. If you are looking at a film with a short or generic name, such as Constantine, add additional details such as the name of the director or lead actors.
The ability to identify and break down the main concepts of your topic into a search strategy a fundamental skill of the research process. The following is an example of breaking down a topic in EasySearch.
Field searching allows you greater control over your search by choosing where in the record you want to search for those keywords. This can give you greater precision when searching and allow you to apply some context to the search. For example, if the keywords appear in the abstract of the article, it might be more relevant for your needs. Use the drop-down menu to the right of each search box to select a field. See the above image for some examples of the most commonly-used fields.
Limit yourself to changing the field for one or two concepts at the start, as you might otherwise reduce the pool of results too much. If the search does not turn out the way you wish, experiment and try field searching with other keywords.
Databases often have a variety of filters that you can use to narrow down the results. You can apply these filters before the search or at any point afterwards.
Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals: Ensures that you are only seeing peer reviewed journal articles. You likely want this on in most cases.
Full Text: Only display articles that have full text available. While convenient, you may miss great articles that you can still order through Interlibrary Loan.
Year Range: Only show articles that were published in this date range.
Subject: Filter the results by the most common subject headings