Quick guide to finding film reviews

This post is not an exhaustive guide, but provides a couple of tips and quick strategies to get you out of a jam with a question.

Search tips:  

• A "contemporary" film review is one that was published around the film's release date.
• If you don't know a film's release date, Wikipedia is quick and handy for this task.
• Always put the title of your film in quotes to keep the words together.
• If the film title was also a book, add the word "film" or your keyword search.

Here are two quick strategies using the film "American Graffiti" (released: August 1973) as an example:

Academic Search Complete:

• in the top search box type: "american graffiti"
• in the 2nd search box type: review
• leave it on "Select a field" for largest search
• limit the published date from "1973" to "1974"
• results: 13 
• click on UC-eLinks if no PDF or full text link is present (click here for how-to guide)

Cruzcat, for reviews in print:

• do a title search for "Film Review" (McH Stacks PN1993.F624)
• we have volumes for 1944-1992, so this is good for older films
• look up the title of the film in the index
• patron can photocopy or scan pages

For more film review sources, go to the Film & Digital Media Research Guide, and click on the articles tab, and use the search tips above.

How to use the photocopiers

• Copiers are on the south end of the 2nd floor of McHenry, inside half-wall area
• Color copying is available on 3rd and 4th floor machines for 25 cents per page
• Students pay 8 cents per page for black and white
• Guests pay 15 per page for black and white
• Everyone pays 25 cents per page for color

Student photocopying:

1. Students charging their account pay 8 cents per page for black and white (and 25 cents per page for color, only on 3rd and 4th floors)
2. Touch the screen on the copier (no need to use the kiosk)
3. Username = their CruzID (first part of email address)
4. Password = last 4 digits of their University ID (in the middle between the dashes)
5. Hit OK
6. Click on "charging student account"
7. Hit the "Copy" button to the left of the touchscreen
8. Now patron has access to the control panel
9. When finished, press the "Other Function" button on the left of the touchscreen, then "logout on the touchscreen
10. Important: if student does not logout, someone else can make copies charged to them

Faculty and staff photocopying (or see guest also):

1. Same steps as above but a FOAPAL must be entered to charge
2. Otherwise, use the Guests pass kiosk

Guests/visitors/community/any student not wishing to charge their account (though it will cost students 7 cents more per page this way):

1. Guests pay 15 cents per page for black and white (and 25 cents per page for color, only on 3rd and 4th floors)
2. Follow the instructions on the kiosk to obtain a passcode; only accepts bills, no coins, no charge cards
3. Once code is obtained, touch the copier screen
4. Hit the "Copy" button to the left of the touchscreen
5. Now patron has access to the control panel
6. When finished, press the "Other functions" button on the left of the touchscreen, then "logout on the touchscreen
7. Important: if patron does not logout, someone else can make copies charged to their code

Theater Arts: Finding play production reviews

An assignment this quarter for a Theater Arts class dealt with searching for production reviews and for a modern production of an ancient play (for example, "Medea"). Here are some strategies for dealing with this question (and more comments are welcome!):

• The best thing to show them is the Theater Arts Research Guide (home page > research guides > arts > theater arts)
• On that guide direct them to the International Index to the Performing Arts database. It's right on the front of the guide.
• Once in that database, they can try searching for the name of the play and "production review" and perhaps a geographic location if there were many places the play was produced. This should give them some full-text results they can look through.
• The other thing they may ask for is "Theatre World." Look that up as a title in Cruzcat, choose the first record in the results, and you see that the current volume is in Ref and the previous volumes are upstairs on 4th in the PNs. They'll determine which volume could help them by the year of the production of their play. 
• There are other resources they can try on the Theater Arts Research Guide as well.

Refilling paper in public copiers

The paper is refilled in all of the public copiers (2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors) by our IT staff and students, not the Campus Copier Program. Report copier service problems to the Campus Copier Program by calling 459-5799.