Copyright Advisory Office

The Copyright Advisory Office is a service based at Columbia University to address the relationship between copyright law and the research, teaching, and service activities of the university.

The website provides information on fair use and appropriate uses, permissions, and general information on copyright and libraries.

Interlibrary Loan or Borrow Direct?

The Interlibrary Loan Department has published a useful guide outlining the differences between the two services for requesting materials not currently available from Columbia University Libraries.

Please note that Borrow Direct is primarily for books and music scores. For DVDs and other non-print media, please use Interlibrary Loan.



Link to Interlibrary Loan Request It or Borrow Direct.

Endnote, Refworks, and Zotero at Columbia

This page outlines options for citation management here at Columbia.

How to Cite Media

Thanks to the folks at Media Resources Center, UC Berkeley, for putting together this style sheet on how to cite film, video, and online media.

Link to the guide here.

SoA Workshops

 

Resources for Film Studies and Performing Arts

These one-hour sessions provide an introduction to the vast selection of print, non-print (DVDs, CDs), image and electronic collections for film and performing arts at Columbia.

 

Sessions:

September 18 @ 2pm

September 23 @5:30pm

October 29 @2:30pm

 

All sessions will be held in 306 Butler.

Please RSVP -- nef4@columbia.edu

SoA Research -- Workshop

SoA Research
February 11 or February 18
2 p.m.
306 Butler Library

Do you want to find plays, screenplays, journal articles, images, movies, reviews, or biographies? Would you like to read a screenplay -- online? Are you interested in early cinema history? Do you need to find information about how people dressed in 19th century New York City? Are you looking for a book on design? Would you like to search Google more effectively?

If the answer is yes, please attend one of these informal, two-hour hands-on sessions. We will review a wide range of resources with a special focus on film and performing arts related materials.

Seats are limited -- please RSVP by sending email to nef4@columbia.edu

Welcome SoA Students!

Welcome to the Columbia University Libraries. We are a major research institution which translates into millions of items ranging from books, journals, screenplays, plays, ephemera, databases, newspapers, films, CDs and more.

To make sense of all of this, please sign up for one of the introductory two-hour workshops for researching film and theater resources.

Here is the information.

To register for the Researching Film and Theater Resources & Image Searching, please send RSVP requests to nef4@columbia.edu
These workshops are ONLY for SoA students but seats are limited.

Researching Film and Theater Resources & Image Searching
September 18 (Thursday)
2:00pm
306 Butler Library

Researching Film and Theater Resources & Image Searching
September 26 (Friday)
11:00am
306 Butler Library



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For the Advanced Internet Searching, Photoshop or any of the other general workshops, please go to the following website to complete your registration: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/services/workshops/index.html


Advanced Internet Searching
September 23 (Tuesday)
9:30am
306 Butler

Advanced Internet Searching
September 30 (Tuesday)
3:00pm
306 Butler

Featured Resource

Library Essentials is a collection of short video tutorials on how to complete library research. Tutorials focus on searching for books using our online catalog CLIO, how to more effectively complete a keyword search as well as provide an introduction to a number of invaluable services. The FINDING IMAGES segment may be of special interest.

Locating Film Reviews at Columbia University

Film reviews can be found in a wide range of publications including books, newspapers, popular magazines and the scholarly journal literature. Reviews can vary in length, assessment and style. The work of notable film critics (see picture of Andrew Sarris on the left) past and present can provide a critique as well as an analysis of the film.

You can search for book publications, generally compilations of reviews, in CLIO by entering "motion pictures -- reviews" as your subject search entry.

For reviews published in journals and newspapers, begin by consulting the Film and Television Subject Guide -- Film Review section for recommended sources. Film and Television Literature Index and the International Index to Film Periodicals index the major journals in Film Studies. You can limit your search to film reviews. MRQE is an excellent web resource indexing major nationals, regional and other news sources. Proquest is an excellent resource for the popular journal literature.

For retrospective (generally pre-1970s), check the guide to printed resources --
Motion Pictures, Cinema, and Film.

Set e-link from Google Scholar

If you choose to search for articles using Google Scholar, you can link directly to the full-text, when available, through Columbia University Libraries -- E-Resources using e-link. All you need to do is set the Scholar Preferences for "Columbia University -- e-link @Columbia."

Locating Films at Columbia University

Films held in the Columbia Libraries are primarily VHS, Laserdisc and DVD formats.

Locate films in CLIO by using the following suggested searches:

Title:
Enter the title and select “Title Search”
Use the Quick Limit “Video Recordings”

Author:
You can use the author search for director, producer, screenwriter, actors (generally principal actors)
Note: Quick Limit does not apply to this search

Keyword:
Use keyword if you recall only a part of the title or if you want to pair a director and title
Use the Quick Limit "Video Recordings"
Example: kurosawa samurai dvd

Browse film titles:
A useful search for browsing is subject heading search.
You can browse a listing of all of our feature films, documentary films, foreign language films.

Here are a few subject headings :

• Feature films


• Foreign films


• Documentary films


• Comedy films


• Historical films


• Horror films

For foreign language films:
Subject headings include:

• motion pictures, spanish (or any applicable language)

Or,

• 
  Use the “Pre-Select Limits” option to select a language, e.g., “Spanish”
  Perform a keyword search on the word “films”
  Select the Quick Limit “Video Recordings”
  
  Perform a keyword search for the word "videorecording"
  Narrow your search by adding additional keywords: "videorecording and

Locating Journal and Magazine Articles

An excellent start for locating journal and magazine articles is to use an index or bibliography. Columbia University Libraries subscribe to hundreds of journal indexes that are available online. There are several that concentrate on indexing all of the major publications in the area of film studies.

Link to the Film and Television Guide for a selected list. FIAF and Film and Television Literature Index are the best for completing a comprehensive search of the major journals in film studies. Depending on your topic, you may also search indexes that cover major disciplines such as American history, philosophy, religion, anthropology, etc.

Locating Books in Film Studies at Columbia University

To begin, use CLIO our online catalog. You can search by title, author, subject or keyword. If you know the title or author, this is the most direct method for identifying if we have the book in our collections.

You can search for works on films, genres, history, theory, criticism, directors, producers, and actors.

There are two best methods for searching by topic or subject--keyword and searching by subject heading.

Keyword is a powerful search. Use this to combine multiple topics that you think best describe what you are looking for. Read through "Search Tips" located at the bottom of the CLIO screen for the most effective keyword searches.
Example: cinema attractions
This keyword search will look for the terms cinema and attractions anywhere in the bibliographic record.

Another useful strategy for searching by topic or subject is to use the Library of Congress Subject Headings. This controlled vocabulary needs getting used to but can be very helpful for finding the most works on your topic.

You should know that the recognized subject heading for films is motion pictures. Try entering motion pictures and select subject headings for your search term. Take a look at the long list of entries and subdivisions.


Here are a few examples:
motion pictures -- aesthetics
motion pictures -- africa
motion pictures -- plots, themes
motion pictures -- political aspects
motion pictures -- production and direction


For materials not held at Columbia, you can request books through Interlibrary Loan or BorrowDirect.