Note: The resources listed on this guide will help you identify items of interest for the study of the African-American cinema. For more general information in the field of film studies, see the Library Guide to Film Studies.
To Find Books
Use the MERLIN Library Catalog and the MOBIUS Union Catalog to find resources relevant to your research. Relevant works can be found using subject headings (Library of Congress) such as:
- Film Adaptations
- Film Criticism
- Film Genres
- Cinematography
- Motion Picture Actors and Actresses
- Motion Pictures
- Motion Picture Music
- Motion Pictures - Reviews
Works relevant to the study of the representation of specific groups or issues in the medium of film can also be found using subject headings such as:
- African Americans in Motion Pictures
- African Americans in the Motion Picture Industry
- Race Relations in Motion Pictures
- Racism in Motion Pictures
To find the location of a book in Miller Nichols Library, see the Location Guide.
To Find Articles
Remote (off-campus) access to databases is available only to UMKC students, faculty, and staff. All other users must access online resources within the Libraries. Begin searching by selecting a database. After selection you will be prompted to provide a UMKC Single Sign-On user name and password OR a 9-digit UMKC ID number followed by the letter k (example: 0123456789k) and last name, as needed.
- Black Studies On Disc. 1600s - present. Accessible only from the computers in the Information Commons on the First Floor of the Miller Nichols Library. Ask for assistance at the Reference Desk.An interdisciplinary index to scholarship relevant to the field of African-American Studies, including African-American history and literature.
- Film Literature Index
Ref Z5784 .M9 F45
Topics covered by this index include film, television and video-related issues drawn from several hundred journals from around the world. There is no electronic counterpart to this database available through the Miller Nichols Library. - Index to Film Periodicals (SilverPlatter) 1972 - present.
Save to del.icio.us Offers indexing of academic and popular film journals. - International Directory of Film and TV Documentation Collections (SilverPlatter) Current edition. Save to del.icio.usContains detailed entries on institutions with film archives. The entries indicate contact and access information, as well as thorough descriptions and enumerations of materials collected. Of particular note is the index to manuscript and special collections.
- International Film Archive (SilverPlatter) 1972 - present. Save to del.icio.usPublished by the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), this collection contains several databases: FIAF Members Publications, Index to Film Periodicals, Index to TV Periodicals, International Directory of Film and TV Documentation Collections, List of Periodicals Indexed, and Treasures from the Film Archives.
- JSTOR 1838 - present. Save to del.icio.us
Full text. Coverage varies by title.
New Additional journals are now available with the addition of these collections: A&S Complement, A&S V, and Business II.Contains fully searchable scanned articles from selected journals in a broad range of disciplines, including African-American studies, art, ecology, economics, education, history, law, literature, music, general science, sociology, and statistics. (To see a complete list of discipines and journal titles, link to the JSTOR browse list.) Covers the full run of journals from the first issue of volume one; however, the most recent three to five years of journals are not generally available. - MLA International Bibliography (Chadwyck-Healey) 1884 - present. Save to del.icio.usAn index to scholarship in literature, linguistics, film, folklore, and cultural
studies. The print version of this bibliography is available in the Miller Nichols
Library and
covers 1921 - 1999. The location and call number are Reference Index Wall Z7006
.M64. See the MLA
Directory of Periodicals for a list of periodicals indexed.
To Find Film Reviews
All call numbers in this guide refer to the UMKC Miller Nichols Library, unless otherwise noted.
| American Film Criticism, from the Beginnings to Citizen Kane: Reviews of Significant Films at the Time They First Appeared | PN1995 .K293 |
| Film Review Annual (1981-) | Ref PN1995 .F463 |
| Film Review Index (2 vols.) | Ref PN1995 .F54 |
| The New York Times Film Reviews | Ref PN1995 .N4 |
| Variety Film Reviews | Ref PN1993 .V36 |
Note: Film reviews can also be found by making use of interdisciplinary databases such as LexisNexis Academic and Academic Search Premier.
University Libraries Photocopying and Printing Services
Reference Sources: Encyclopedias, Bibliographies, Etc.
Reference sources are useful for locating background information, definitions, general descriptions, and basic facts. Use these books to help you select or focus your research topic.
All call numbers in this guide refer to the UMKC Miller Nichols Library, unless otherwise noted. Titles are linked to the corresponding MERLIN Library Catalog record.
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
| Black American Cinema | PN1995.9 .N4 B45 |
| Blacks in American Films and Television: An Encyclopedia | Ref PN1995.9 .N4 B58 |
Bibliographies
| Blacks in American Movies: A Selected Bibliography | Ref Z5784 .M9 P69 |
| Blacks in Film and Television: A Pan-African Bibliography of Films, Filmmakers, and Performers | Ref PN1993.5 .A35 G72 |
Additional Sources
| Black American Cinema | PN1995.9 .N4 B45 |
| Black
Films and Film-Makers: A Comprehensive Anthology from Stereotype to Superhero |
PN1995.9 .N4 B5 | Blackface: Reflections on African Americans and the Movies | PN1995.9 .N4 G46 |
| Black Hollywood: The Negro in Motion Pictures | q PN1995.9 .N4 N8 |
| Black
Images in American Films, 1896-1954: The Interplay Between Civil Rights and Film Culture |
PN1995.9 .N4 N4 |
| Blacks in Black and White: A Source Book on Black Films | PN1995.9 .N4 S2 |
| Framing Blackness: The African American Image in Film | PN1995.9 .N4 G84 |
| From
Sambo to Superspade: The Black Experience in Motion Pictures |
PN1995.9 .N4 L4 |
| Redefining Black Film | PN1995.9 .N4 R45 |
Web Resources
- Black Film Center/Archive
(www.indiana.edu/~bfca/) - Gender,
Race, and Ethnicity in Media (University of Iowa)
(www.uiowa.edu/~commstud/resources/GenderMedia/african_txt.html) - Internet Movie Database
(www.imdb.com)
Use search engines linked on the Internet Search Tools page to identify additional Web resources.
For further assistance, please contact the
Miller Nichols Library Reference Desk at (816) 235-1534.
