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Evaluating Web Resources

Writing & Citing

MU Libraries: Your Connection to Knowledge

English 1000 - Documentary Films

Instructor: Virginia Muller

Librarian: Sandy Schiefer

Some research tricks

  • Clarify your questions and the types of information you need to answer them.
  • Think about where types of information are typically published.
  • Use a variety of words: culture, language, history
  • Use truncation to find word variants: geograph* = geography, geographic, etc.
  • Use both broad and narrow terms.
  • Examine records for subject headings or descriptors.
  • Put OR between words to search for more.
  • Put AND between words to narrow your results.
  • Search authors with surname first for more precision.

Finding Books

From the MU Libraries' Gateway, choose the MERLIN Catalog

You can search by using keywords to describe your topic. Use the word "AND" between keywords. Once you have a list of hits, select one that looks on-target, then examine the subject headings for that item. Try clicking on one of the subject headings for that book, to retrieve similar books. Subject heading searches generally pull up more relevant hits than a keyword search.

If you do not find enough books on your topic, change your search to "ALL MERLIN." By doing so you will be checking the library holdings at UMSL, UMKC, UMR, and MU all at once.

Still not enough? Click on the MOBIUS Union Catalog button. This expands your search to about 70 additional libraries in our network.

Most books you find through MERLIN or MOBIUS are requestable online, just click on the "Request Item" link. Books requested through MERLIN or MOBIUS take two to three working days to arrive.

Finding Documentary DVDs in MERLIN

  1. This page http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/showmehow/finddvd.htm will allow you to view DVDs by genre.
  2. Choose Documentary films/television programs from the Browse videos by genre drop down box.
  3. Check the location of each item. The MU ELLIS CURRENT PERIODICALS READING ROOM is located on the first floor west. Take the case to the Circulation Desk to check out the DVD. Some are listed as being at the MU JOURNALISM LIBRARY AUDIO VISUAL COLLECTION. These are at the Journalism Library on the quad; you can also check these out. DVDs that show a location of MU Law Reserve cannot be checked out unless you are a law student.

Other locations for DVDs

Finding Articles

  • Gale Virtual Reference Library Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
  • Academic Search Premier Broad database indexing recent (1984 and later) scholarly journals and some magazines across many subject areas.
  • FIAF FIAF indexes the film and television literature from 300 periodicals.
  • Film Literature Index FLI indexes 150 film and television periodicals from 30 countries cover-to-cover and 200 other periodicals selectively for articles on film and television. The periodicals range from the scholarly to the popular.
  • LexisNexis Academic Newspaper articles and TV transcripts - late 20th Century to present.

If you're looking at results in one of the databases listed above, just click on the article linker button next to the article citation. The article will display if it's available electronically. If there is no online access, you'll be give the opportunity to look for a print copy in the MERLIN Catalog.

If you have an article reference, but are not currently in a database, go to the MU Libraries' Gateway page and click the Find a Specific Article or Journal link on the left hand side of the page. Type in the name of the journal or, if you have the citation, a specific journal article. If electronic coverage is not available, check the MERLIN Catalog to see if we have a print subscription to the journal. MU Libraries does not subscribe to all journal titles. If you find a journal article that you need, but cannot find the article using article linker , fill out a journal article request form. You will need to register the first time you use our interlibrary loan service which is called ILL@MU. Usually you will receive the article electronically via email within a few days of placing your request.

Film Reviews

Citing Sources

Visit the web page on Citing and Writing

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