Reference Sources for Background Information

American Jurisprudence. Clapp Docs KF 8836 A452 (legal encyclopedia)
If you can't find your term, look in the index volumes. Note: make sure you look for the section number in the pocket part in the back of the volume for updated information. Also in Westlaw Campus Research.

Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations. Clapp Ref KF 246 B46 2001.

Black's Law Dictionary. Clapp Ref KF 156 B53 2004.

Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice. 4 vols. Clapp Ref HV 6017 E52 2002

Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment. 2002

Encyclopedia of the American judicial system : studies of the principal institutions and process of law. Clapp Ref KF154 .E53 1987

How to Read a Legal Citation [Cleveland-Marshall College of Law]

International Dictionary of Film and Filmmakers

The Internet Movie Database - Use this to check facts about a film; director, date, etc.

West's Encyclopedia of American Law. An electronic book; legal encyclopedia in lay person's terms

Finding Books

Wellesley College Catalog - Use the Library catalog to find books and other materials (journal titles, NOT journal articles) we have here at Wellesley. Remember to start with "keyword" if you are beginning to research a topic then, when you find something good, see what subject headings are listed. You can click on these subject headings to find more useful items.

• To find criticism of a particular author/director's work, do a subject search under the author/director’s name (last name, first name) and look for the subheading "Criticism and Interpretation"
• To find information on a topic contained in a larger work or when starting to research a topic, use a keyword search, then see what the subject headings are for the item. Note: to search for a phrase, use quotes around the text
• Try subject headings of Justice Administration of and Justice Administration of in Mothion Pictures

WorldCat - Use WorldCat to find books and other materials not at Wellesley. Use the suggestions listed above. If you find a book you want that Wellesley does not own, use the ILL link within WorldCat to request the book.

Finding Scholarly Film Review Articles

For the following databases start with a keyword search and see what the subject terms are for any relevant articles you find. Look for an option to mark records. Try using a few words from the movie title and the director's last name. You can also email records to yourself, or link to Interlibrary Loan from within the database.

FIAF International Index to Film Literature Plus - 1970s-present

Film & Television Literature Index Full Text - 1914-present

Film Literature Index - 1973-2001

Academic Search Complete and Expanded Academic ASAP - general all purpose databases. Index and abstracts from 1980; selected full text from about 1995- . Mix of scholarly and popular.

MLA Bibliography - Use this to find articles about films and directors in all languages, as well as themes in literature from 1963+.

Periodicals Archive Online- full text of articles and book reviews from 1802-1995. Choose Article Search and uncheck the boxes for Book Reviews and Other.

JSTOR - Collection of humanities, social science & natural science journals, from first issues but not latest 5 years

Project Muse - Academic journals in humanities & social sciences; latest 5 years.

Scholarly/peer reviewed film journals Wellesley owns - check for holdings in the Library catalog:

Cinema Journal 1966+
Film Quarterly 1958+
Film Criticism 1976+
Literature Film Quarterly 1973+
Journal of Popular Film 1972-1978, continued by Journal of Popular Film and Television 1972+
Journal of Film and Video - 1983+
Quarterly Review of Film and Video 1989+
Canadian Journal of Film Studies 1990+

To find out if a particular journal is peer reviewed, use Ulrich's Periodicals Directory.

Finding Popular Film Reviews

Reader's Guide Retrospective - 1890-1982

The New Yorker online 2000+, in print 1934-1972 Clapp q AP2 .N6763, in microfilm 1972-2001Clapp first floor between the reserve reading sections

Slate 1996+

The Nation 1865+

National Review 1955+

New Republic 1914+

If you are using a paper index to find a film review, you should know the original year your film was produced. Don't use the year the video came out or a remake was released unless you want a review of the remake. However, the date of an important event around the movie may have been the impetus to write articles about it. Use our guide to film reviews page. Try search terms of : [keywords from film title] and [director's last name].

Film Index Review. Vol. 1:1882-1949; vol. 2:1950-1985. (Clapp Ref Z 5784 M9 F513 1986). Alphabetical by film title.

Finding Film Reviews in Newspapers

LexisNexis Academic News - Full text of film reviews (about 1990+) from newspapers. Try searching either News, General News, Major Papers or News, Arts and Sports News, Book, Movie, Music, and Play Reviews. Put the name of the movie in the keyword search box, add movie to the additional terms box, and limit your search to the year when the film was made.

tips:

• Use the Sources Tab to search in specific newspapers
• Use w/s or w/p to search for your terms within the same sentence or the same paragraph
• Search for various word endings by using ! For example, wiretap! searches for wiretap, wiretaps, wiretapping, wiretapped, etc.
• Use length> to retrieve more extensive news stories
• Use atl to retrieve items where your term is mentioned a number of times
• Use hlead to find your search terms in the headline and the lead paragraph of news stories
• To narrow the results you already have use the "Focus" button at the bottom of the results page.
• The number of words given in the citation gives you an idea of the length of the article.
• You can email yourself citations or the full text of the article. You can also mark records and print or email yourself the list of marked records

Westlaw Campus Research - Full text of film reviews (about 1990+) in newspapers. Check the box that says Publication Type: Newspapers or use the Publications link to search in specific newspapers. Put the name of the movie in the keyword search box, add movie to the additional terms box, and limit your search to the year when the film was made.

tips:

• Put phrases in quotes
• Search for various word endings by using ! For example, wiretap! searches for wiretap, wiretaps, wiretapping, wiretapped, etc.
• Use /s and /p to search for words or phrases in the same sentence or the same paragraph.
• Use /n to search for words or phrases close together. For example, Hillary /2 Clinton.
• Search iin the document title by using TI(). For example, TI(Michael Clayton) searches for either Michael or Clayton in the document title. TI("Michael Clayton") searches for the phrase Michael Clayton in the document title.
• Results are ranked by date, then by publication title. There is no way to re-sort.

New York Times  1851-2003 (PDF) · June 1980 to present (HTML)

Boston Globe 1872-1924 and 1980-present 

Chicago Tribune Historical 1849-1986

Wall Street Journal - 1986+. Text only, no images.

Washington Post 1877-1971 (PDF) and 1977-present (HTML)

Los Angeles Times - 1985+ . Text only, no images.

Legal Research

Finding Law Review Articles

LexisNexis Academic Legal Research - full text of law review articles 1980s+.

tips:

• The Terms and Connectors search allows you to search specific sources or specific portions of the document
• Use w/s or w/p to search for your terms within the same sentence or the same paragraph
• Search for various word endings by using ! For example, wiretap! searches for wiretap, wiretaps, wiretapping, wiretapped, etc.
• To narrow the results you already have use the "Focus" button at the bottom of the results page.
• The number of words given in the citation gives you an idea of the length of the article.
• You can email yourself citations or the full text of the article. You can also mark records and print or email yourself the list of marked records.

 Additional Suggestions for LexisNexis Academic:

The LexisNexis Academic Help feature is very good. Once in the Legal Research section click on the "Help" button at the top. Scroll down under "Conducting Research" to the legal link. You will find a glossary of legal terms, tips for finding information on a subject, tips on reading case citations. There is also a link to how to cite information retrieved from LexisNexis Academic. Clicking on the "Tips" button in the upper right of the search page will give you some suggestions for constructing good searches.

Westlaw Campus Research - court cases and law review articles

tips:

• Make sure you click on the Law Tab at the top
• Use the Publications List on the left to look for specific sources
• Put phrases in quotes
• Search for various word endings by using ! For example, wiretap! searches for wiretap, wiretaps, wiretapping, wiretapped, etc.
• Use /s and /p to search for words or phrases in the same sentence or the same paragraph.
• Use /n to search for words or phrases close together. For example, Hillary /2 Clinton.
• Search iin the document title by using TI(). For example, TI(Michael Clayton) searches for either Michael or Clayton in the document title. TI("Michael Clayton") searches for the phrase Michael Clayton in the document title.
• Results are ranked by date, then by publication title. There is no way to re-sort.

Citing Your Sources

How to Cite your Information

Remember: if you find the full text online, you must cite the online source. Look for information within our Wellesley databases, or electronic books, on how to cite what you find.

MLA handbook for writers of research papers. Clapp Ref LB 2369 .G53 2003

Writers' Workshop MLA Style Handbook [University of Illinois]

Frequently Asked Questions about MLA Style

MLA Formatting and Style Guide [Purdue University]

Prince's Bieber Dictionary of Legal Citations. 6th ed. Clapp Ref KF 246 P73 2001
Detailed examples for citing from specific law journals and U.S. and state statutes, and how to understand legal citations.

Visit the Cinema and Media Studies Resources page

Visit the Legal Studies Research Resources page

Return to the main Writing page.

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