Film & Media Studies: Books/Catalogs

WorldCat Discovery @UCSB is a way to find books and other materials located in libraries outside the UC System. 

Simple Search

• Single white box
• Huge results list
• Many different types of resources; articles, books and more
• Best when you are NOT looking for particular types of sources, e.g. - popular, scholarly, primary sources, empirical studies, DVD, etc.
• Refine results with options on left margin

Advanced search

• Use for complex searches
• Many more options
• Specify Articles books or more (big results list); Resources in the Library (small results list of mostly books); etc.
• Specify type of resoruce
• Specify one or more fields - author, title, subject, ISBN
• Specify publication year, language,  book
• contains, starts with, exact phrase

Browse Search

• NOT for keyword searching
• Use for known item searches - e.g., titles, authors, subject headings

An online version of the orange Library Locations handout, which tells you what floor, and part of the building (Ocean or Mountain side), the various library locations (Main, Andelson, Government Information, etc) and call numbers are on. 

Library of Congress Classification System

PN1990-PN1992.92 Broadcasting
PN1991-PN1991.9 Radio broadcasts
PN1992-PN1992.92 Television broadcasts
PN1993-PN1999 Motion pictures
TR845-TR899 Cinematography, Motion pictures

Main Library:

PNs = 7th Floor, most are behind elevators

TR = 2nd Floor, Science & Engineering

Media Collection(DVDs):

2nd Floor, Oceanside

UCSB Library uses Library of Congress Subject Headings to describe materials.

(Think standardized hashtags for subjects and topics.)

LCSH is not a perfect system by any means, but Subject Headings can be useful for exploring the library's collections quickly. Always pay attention to the subject terms listed on the records for books you are interested in.

Below are some examples of Subject Headings related to film & media studies that you can use in the UCSB Library Search to help find relevant books, videos, and other materials on film & media topics:​

"motion pictures" (more powerful than searching film, cinema, movies, etc)

"motion picture theaters"

"motion picture audiences"

"silent films"

"sound motion pictures"

"social media" see also: internet, "digital media"

"television broadcasting"

"television programs"

"video games"  see also: "computer games," "electronic games"

"virtual reality"  see also: "augmented reality"

When keyword searching, use keywords that best describe your topic.  The objective is to get a small group of relevant records.  People, places themes, characters, time periods, events, types of information (i.e. ethnography) issues and more can be keywords.  What words or phrases best describe your topic?

Try: And, Or, Not

• And -- "cell phone" AND distraction
• Or -- ("cell phone" OR gps) and distraction
• Not -- (Distraction and children) NOT adolescents

Recommended vocabulary for searching the Library Catalog & Databases:

(hint: use SUBJECT option in the Library Catalog in ADVANCED SEARCH)

television
television broadcasting
television writers
television programs
television soap operas
television broadcasting of news
name of a particular TV Program, Network, Studio, Person, etc.

other commom/helpful subject terms to add on:

"United States" (notice that it's not "America") or try another country like "Great Britain" or Japan

"20th century" or "21st century"

More subject terms to consider: