Your Librarian
Ned Potter
BA (Hons), MA, MSc
Academic Liaison Librarian for the department of Theatre, Film and Television.
Email: Ned
Telephone: +44 (0)1904 324518
Appointments: I am very happy to meet with students, either individually or in groups, to talk about Library services and resources. If you would like to meet with me please contact me by email or phone.
I can help you learn to:
- Search effectively in your subject area
- Use print and electronic resources
- Evaluate what you find
- Reference your work correctly
- Use web 2.0 tools to keep up with research in your field
Please let me know:
- How you would like the Library services to be improved
- If you have any suggestions for additions to the Library collection
- If there are any other ways in which I can help you
Interactive Map of the library for TFTV students:
Finding what you need in the library and online:
Theatre
Theatre
Reference Sources | Journals | Databases | Guides | Other resources | Websites
Reference Sources
- ed. Banham, M. The Cambridge guide to theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995
- ed. Bordman, G. The Oxford companion to American theatre. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
- ed. Griffiths, T. The theatre guide. London: A. & C. Black, 2003.
- Kennedy, D. The Oxford encyclopedia of theatre & performance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
- Milling, J. The Cambridge history of British theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
- Rubin, D. The world encyclopedia of contemporary theatre. London: Routledge, 1995-2001.
Journals
- American Theatre
Comprehensive coverage of the dynamic world of theatre both in the United States and abroad. Informs readers about the important and significant work being done in regional productions and about the current theatre scene with coverage of plays and playwrights, funding and people of the stage.
- Contemporary Theatre Review
Analyses what is most passionate and vital in theatre and encompasses a wide variety of theatres, from new playwrights and devisors to theatres of movement, image and other forms of physical expression, from new acting methods to music theatre and multi-media production work. Recognising the plurality of contemporary performance practices, it encourages contributions on physical theatre, opera, dance, design and the increasingly blurred boundaries between the physical and the visual arts.
- Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism
Publishes full-length articles that contribute to the varied conversations in dramatic theory and criticism, explore the relationship between theory and theatre practice, and/or examine recent scholarship.
- Modern Drama
Distinguished by the excellence of its close readings of both canonical and lesser known dramatic texts through a range of methodological perspectives. The journal features refereed articles that enhance our understanding of plays in both formal and historical terms, largely treating literature of the past two centuries from diverse geo-political contexts.
- PAJ: a Journal of Performance Art
Extended coverage of the visual arts (such as video, installations, photography, and multimedia performance), in addition to reviews of new works in theatre, dance, film, and opera. Issues include artists' writings, essays, interviews and dialogues, historical documentation, performance texts and plays, reports on performance abroad, and book reviews.
- Shakespeare Quarterly
Refereed journal committed to publishing articles in the vanguard of Shakespeare studies and brings to light new information on Shakespeare and his age. Performance essays consider significant Shakespeare productions, and book reviews keep readers current with Shakespeare criticism and scholarship.
- TDR: The Drama Review
Focuses on performances in their social, economic, and political contexts. The journal covers dance, theatre, performance art, visual art, popular entertainment, media, sports, rituals, and performance in politics and everyday life.
Useful databases: primary sources
| American Historical Newspapers | Access to: Atlanta Constitution (1868-1939); Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003); Chicago Defender (1905-1975); Chicago Tribune (1849-1986); New York Times (1851-2006); New York Tribune (1841-1922); Washington Post (1877-1993) | Help |
| Early English Books Online (EEBO) | Contains full-text digital facsimile page images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700 - from the first book printed in English by William Caxton, through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare and the tumult of the English Civil War |
Help |
| East London Theatre Archive | Nearly 15,000 images of playbills, programmes, press cuttings, photographs and other materials taken from the collections of various East London theatres and the Victoria & Albert Museum. | |
| Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) | Allows researchers new methods of access to critical information in the fields of history, literature, religion, law, fine arts, science and more. It includes works by authors such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Goethe, Olaudah Equiano, Aphra Behn etc. | Help |
| Nexis UK | A major full text database for global news and business information. It gives access to over 34,000 sources, with more than 12,000 international news sources including UK daily and regional newspapers | Help |
Useful databases: secondary sources
| Arts and Humanities Citation Index (on Web of Knowledge) | A multidisciplinary index covering the journal literature of the arts and humanities. | Help |
| International Index to Performing Arts Full Text | A major database for the performing arts covering a broad range of areas including dance, film, television, drama, theatre, stagecraft, musical theatre, circus performance, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, comedy, broadcast arts and performance art. | Help |
| Literature Online | A searchable, online library of over 300,000 works of English and American poetry, prose and drama. It includes the full text of works such as the Chester Plays, morality plays, Geoffrey Chaucer and William Langland. | Help |
| MLA Bibliography | A database of over 380 full text scholarly journals in the arts, humanities and social sciences | Help |
| Project MUSE | This bibliography contains citations for journal articles, books, book chapters and theses in literature, language, linguistics and folklore. | Help |
Guides and workbooks
| Title | TFTV Treasure Hunt (PDF  , 112kb) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Description | Covers searching the library catalogue for books and e-resources as well as looking a reference dictionaries and library facilities | ||
| Author | Lisa Foggo | Updated | October 2010 |
Other useful library resources
Microfilms
- Nineteenth century English drama
This collection attempts to reproduce every British play written during the 19th century. It includes historical drama, melodrama, comic pantomime, extravaganzas, satiric comedies and burlettas. The collection covers manuscripts, prompt books, acting editions and published plays.
- Three centuries of drama
The collection contains over 5,000 plays. It includes every important play published in the English languagein England from the year 1500 through 1800, and in the United States from 1714 through 1830, together with manuscriptsnever before published. Included are earliest editions available, and also editions valuable for their texts, dating, rarity, inaccessibility to the public, and literary significance in the history of drama. For example, included is the Malone Variorum of Shakespeare's works (1821), as well as many adaptations of Shakespeare's plays presented in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
- A woman's view of drama, 1790-1830: the diaries of Anna Margaretta Larpent in the Huntington LibraryThe diary includes:
- Criticism of many contemporary female dramatists such as Elizabeth Inchbald as well as their male counterparts
- more than 30 years of sustained dramatic criticism
- illustrates the moral values of the age, and shows how political satire was suppressed
- provides a window into the life and reading of an educated society lady from the time of the French Revolution to the Age of Reform
Special Collections and Archives
- Storey Collection
It has two main features, the first of which is the acquisition of as wide an assembly of playscripts, and related secondary material, as possible. The archive's second dimension consists of its rapidly growing manuscript holdings.
Useful websites
There are a number of websites of interest to TFTV students.
Information about referencing in the Harvard style is also available.
Film and TV
Film and TV
Reference sources | Journals | Databases | Guides | Other resources | Websites
Reference sources
- ed. Aitken, I. Encyclopedia of the documentary film. London: Routledge, 2006.
- ed. Angelini, S. The researcher's guide : film, television, radio and related documentation collections in the U.K. London : Wallflower Press, 2006.
- ed. Cawkwell, T. and Smith, J. The world encyclopedia of film. London: Studio Vista, 1972.
- ed. Pearson, R. and Simpson, P. Critical dictionary of film and television theory. London : Routledge, 2001.
- ed. Pendergast, T. and S. International dictionary of films and filmmakers. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000.
Journals
- Camera Obscura
Innovative feminist perspectives on film, television, and visual media. Its debates, essays, interviews, and summary pieces encompass a spectrum of media practices, including avant-garde, alternative, fringe, international, and mainstream.
- Film Comment
Dedicated to reviews and articles relating to films, videos, book reviews and journals.
- Film Quarterly
Scholarly analyses of international cinemas, current blockbusters and Hollywood classics, documentaries, animation, and independent, avant-garde, and experimental film and video. In-depth articles and reviews examine all aspects of film history, film theory, and the impact of film, video, and television on culture, society, and the academy.
- Journal of Film and Video
Focuses on scholarship in the fields of film and video production, history, theory, criticism, and aesthetics. Article features include film and related media, problems of education in these fields, and the function of film and video in society.
- Journal of Popular Film and Television
Uses the methods of popular culture studies to examine commercial film and television, historical and contemporary. Articles discuss networks, genres, series, and audiences, as well as celebrity stars, directors, and studios. Regular features include essays on the social and cultural background of films and television programs, filmographies, bibliographies, and commissioned book and video reviews.
- Sight and Sound
Includes film reviews, features and commentary, film and TV issues, world and classic cinema, and story archives.
Useful databases: technical
| IEEE/IET Electronic Library (IEEE Xplore) | Gives access to all IEEE and IET journals, magazines, transactions and conference proceedings, and all approved and published IEEE standards, excluding drafts. | Help | |
| INSPEC (1969-) | The leading abstract publication for information in physics, electronics, electrical engineering, computer science and information technology. | Help | |
| Science Direct | The world's largest full-text scientific database of journals in the life, physical, medical, technical and social sciences. | Help | |
Useful databases: general
| Arts and Humanities Citation Index (on Web of Knowledge) | A multidisciplinary index covering the journal literature of the arts and humanities. | Help |
| ASSIA | Subject coverage includes social services, health, employment, ethnic studies, education, criminology, and related areas. | Help |
| BBC Listener Research Department 1937-c.1950 | The collection includes all the available weekly audience summaries, together with the weekly then daily listening barometers accompanied by audience reaction reports on particular programmes, special reports on specific themes or issues, and key policy documents. | |
| FIAF International Film Archive | Contains information about collections of paper archives, scripts, press materials, stills, posters, and all other film documentation held in more than 145 of the world's foremost film archives, libraries, and educational institutions in fifty-four countries | Help |
| Film Index International | In-depth indexing of over 121,600 films and biographical information for more than 737,000 personalities. It also includes coverage of international film awards and prizes as well as searchable plot summaries and full cast and crew lists. | Help |
| International Index to Performing Arts Full Text | A major database of the journal literature on the performing arts and covers a broad range of areas including dance, film, television, drama, theatre, stagecraft, musical theatre, circus performance, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, comedy, broadcast arts and performance art | Help |
| Literature Online | A searchable, online library of over 300,000 works of English and American poetry, prose and drama. It includes the full text of works by authors such as the Brontes; Wilkie Collins; Joseph Conrad; Charles Dickens; George Eliot ; George Gissing ; Thomas Hardy; William Makepeace Thackeray. | Help |
| MLA Bibliography | This bibliography contains citations for journal articles, books, book chapters and theses in literature, language, linguistics and folklore. | Help |
| Nexis UK | Gives access to over 34,000 sources, with more than 12,000 international news sources including UK daily and regional newspapers | Help |
| Project MUSE | Full text scholarly journals in the arts, humanities and social sciences | Help |
| Sociological Abstracts | Covers many key areas in sociology. | Help |
Useful databases: media
| Archival Sound Recordings | Contains over 28,000 recordings from the British Library Sound Archive. Recordings can be browsed by collection and a keyword search is also available. Recordings can be downloaded and used for the purposes of teaching, learning and research. |
| British Universities Newsreel Database | 160,000 digitised records of British cinema newsreels, 80,000 digitised production documents, online texts, a Who's Who of British Newsreels and much more, dating back to 1910. |
| Classical Music Library | A database of streamed recordings with more than 50,000 tracks from over 30 labels. The repertoire ranges from vocal and choral music, to chamber, orchestral, solo instrumental, and opera |
| NewsFilm Online | Access to over 3,000 hours of digitised television news and cinema newsreels taken from the ITN/Reuters archive. |
| Screen Online | A website covering the history of British film and television and Britain's social history as revealed by film and television. The site contains video clips from the collections of the British Film Institute National Film and Television Archive, stills, posters and press books and several hours of recorded interviews with film and television personalities. |
Guides
| Title | BSc TFTV Treasure hunt (PDF , 131kb) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Description | Covers searching the library catalogue for books and e-resources as well as looking a reference dictionaries and library facilities | ||
| Author | Lisa Foggo | Updated | October 2010 |
Other useful library resources
Microfilms
- Radio Times
TV and radio listings and guide for over 400 national and local channels, plus film reviews, daily recommendations, downloads, exclusive video, interviews, photo galleries and more
Special Collections
- Storey Collection
It has two main features, the first of which is the acquisition of as wide an assembly of playscripts, and related secondary material, as possible. The archive's second dimension consists of its rapidly growing manuscript holdings.
"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates' loot on Treasure Island..."
Walt Disney
Useful websites
See the Other info tab for websites of interest to TFTV students.
Information about referencing in the Harvard style is also available.
Other info
Other information
Shelfmarks | Websites | Newspapers | Audio visual | Special Collections | Theses
Shelfmarks
The following is a summary of the main subject divisions relevant to TFTV as arranged in the Library. It is not a comprehensive list of all subjects covered.
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Websites
Libraries and Archives | Media History | Portals | Societies | Directories
Libraries and Archives
- bfi national library
Allows online access to the catalogue of one of the world's largest research collections of books on British (and international) cinema, film and television. There is a series of annotated bibliographies on particular topics, based on the Library's collections, that include: Annuals and Directories; Africa: Films and Television; Black Representation in cinema and television; Books about film; Alfred Hitchcock; Horror; Mexican and Chicano cinema; Shakespeare on the screen; Quentin Tarantino; Westerns; Women and film, television and the mass media; Fritz Lang; David Lynch; Free Cinema and Werner Herzog.
- British Library Sound Archive
The site provides detailed information about the archive, which contains sound recordings, ranging from 19th century cylinders, audio cassettes and vinyl records to CD, DVD and minidisc recordings. The archive covers seven main subject areas: classical music; drama and literature; jazz; oral history; popular music; wildlife sound; and world and traditional music. Information is provided about each collection, with a selection of RealAudio clips also available. In addition, the site provides access to the full sound archive online catalogue as well as information and further resources for researchers, covering topics such as record labels and historical sound artefacts.
- COPAC: Combined Academic and National Research Library Catalogue
COPAC provides access to the merged online catalogues of members of the Consortium of Research Libraries (CURL), plus the British Library and the National Library of Scotland. COPAC records represent details of documents dating from c.1100AD to current, in many languages, and across all subject areas. A variety of materials are included, eg. books, reports, printed and recorded music, videos, and electronic materials. Increasing numbers of records include a link to the document full-text where this is made available by another service.
Media History
- Media History Project
A project at the University of Minnesota to promote the study of media history. The site includes several timelines charting advancements in media and communications throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
Portals and free full text archives
- BlinkX.TV Search Engine
BlinkX.TV is a commercial search engine which enables searching for video and television programme clips. It retrieves results from news, sports, entertainment, video radio, podcast, and vlog channels. It is possible to restrict searches to particular channels or dates. The news services are of particular value to social science researchers as materials can be quickly retrieved from major services such as Reuters, CNN, the BBC, Bloomberg, Washington Post and Voice of America. These tend to be English Language and UK or North American based. The emphasis is upon recent news and current affairs. It is possible to use it to locate material relating to political events, elections, international security crises, and economic reports.
- British Pathe
The British Pathe website is described as the world's first digital news archive, and offers a database of the entire 3500 hours of the British Pathe Film Archive, comprising nearly half a million records relating to film footage from newsreels and cinemagazines produced between 1896 and 1970. The site also includes sample colour pictorials, available in RealAudio format. The material covers topics including: British news; sport; nature; entertainment; British culture; and social history. There is an online search function which produces annotated lists of available files. Those wishing to get a general idea of the scope of the archive may find the Lucky Dip function (which previews twenty items selected at random from the collection) useful. Users of the site can preview items for free, license high resolution copies, or purchase still images.
- ITN archive
The ITN archive a moving picture archive containing over 300,000 hours of material with new footage added every day. It includes historic newsreel footage, news agency material, rushes and broadcast news items from 1896 to the present day. It is made up of twenty individual collections including news, entertainment and sport archives. Collections are as follows: Reuters, ITN, British Pathe, Channel 4, Fox News, Granada, Survival, Universal News, FilmFour, British Paramount, E4, Gaumont British, Gaumont Graphic, VISNEWS, Empire News, Airtime Television News, Sam Silver Films, Images of War and Open Media. Stories and images held in the archive can be searched via a central search engine and are arranged into categories such as 'Accidents and disasters' and 'The natural world'. Over 12 million digital images can also be searched via the 'Stills' search engine. Non-commercial users need to register, free of charge.
Societies and Organisations
- Arts Council England
The Arts Council England is the key funding agency for the arts in England, distributing money from the government and the national lottery. In the summer of 2002, after a period of change, a new Council of Arts Council of England was appointed and it set out a manifesto for 2003 to 2006. The website reproduces the Council's manifesto in the 'About us' section (in either PDF or RTF formats) and also provides information about funding opportunities, current projects and research and includes full-text versions of recent press releases and minutes of Arts Council meetings. The 'information and publications' section offers many information sheets on resources, funding and alternative sources of funding in PDF format. Information about funding and the regional arts councils is also available in the 'Funding' and 'My Region' areas of the website respectively.
- British Universities Film & Video Council
The BUFVC "promotes the production, study and use of film and related media in higher education and research." The BUFVC supplies a range of services to member institutions including an information and advisory service, off-air recordings, distribution of printed and film publications, and consultancy. The BUFVC has published a range of databases including: AVANCE, a database of over 25,000 audio-visual materials considered valuable for higher/further education teaching and research; British Universities Newsreel Project which has catalogued British cinema newsreels from 1910 to 1979; Television Index, a selective index of British television programmes; Researcher's Guide Online, an online (and enhanced) version of the printed 'Researcher's Guide to British Film and Television Collections' (to also include radio); the Television and Radio Index for Learning and Teaching (TRILT); HERMES audio-visual materials database; and the Moving Image gateway. Additional services include the Managing Agent and Advisory Service for moving images and sound online (MAAS Media Online), distribution, facilities and consultancy, courses, the Film Archive Forum website and BUFVC Special Collections.
- Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The central UK Government Department responsible for: the arts; architecture, design and the built environment; broadcasting; the creative industries (including film and music); cultural property; education and social policy; our historic heritage; libraries, museums and galleries; the National Lottery; sport and recreation; and tourism. A useful reference source for students and teachers, the website includes press notices, publications, consultations, and results of research. The full-text documents can be viewed in PDF format, with archives going back to 1998. The site also features a list of current events (most of which are being held at museums), and an explanation of the DCMS's policy on a local, regional and international level. Additionally, there are links to other government departments, pertinent NGOs, and other sites of interest.
Directories
- arlis.net
arlis.net is a service, which provides details about art, architecture and design related materials from academic, public, national and special libraries throughout the UK and Ireland. The service consists of the Directory of Resources and the Periodicals Database. The Directory provides information about art, architecture and design libraries, archives and other collections in the UK, including postal and website addresses. The Periodicals Database covers the subjects of fine and applied arts, photography, film and television and offers title, keyword or subject searches for a periodical title or organisation. For each periodical title that the database references, a summary of the issues held by each library is shown. Supported by the Research Support Libraries Programme (RSLP) and the British Library's Co-operation and Partnership Programme, arlis.net is maintained by the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and the Art Libraries Society (ARLIS UK & Ireland).
- Film & television website archive
This website comprises a directory of film and television resources, which forms part of Timelapse.com, a company specialising in time-lapse special effects production. The Film and Television website archive acts as a gateway to resources connected with film and broadcasting, with categories including animation, awards, cinema, film reviews, film studios, production guides and special effects.
- Moving image research register
Produced by the British Film Institute (the BFI), this website contains the Moving Image Research Register, a searchable database of researchers and their research projects. It primarily covers those based at UK universities and colleges, researching topics encompassing cinema, television and other moving image media. Each entry contains information about research interests, current and past work, publications and contact information.
- PALATINE : working together to enhance the student learning experience
PALATINE cover the learning and teaching of dance, drama, music, theatre and performance. Their website provides an extensive database of resources for the performing arts, each of which is given a brief description and review. The website also includes a large number of links to online journals and good-practice guides.
