What are Primary Sources?
Primary Sources are immediate, first-hand accounts of a topic, from people who had a direct connection with it. Primary sources related to your assignment can include:
- Newspaper reports, by reporters who viewed a film, and/or who quote people who did.
- Speeches, diaries, letters, and interviews - what the people involved said or wrote.
- Original research about a film or topic.
- Datasets, survey data, such as census or economic statistics, box office numbers, etc.
- Photographs, video, or audio that capture an event.
We do have an entire guide on primary sources if you're interested or want more detail: https://library.seattleu.edu/primary
Finding historical primary documents
- AM Explorer This link opens in a new windowAccess millions of pages of primary source collections across the entire portfolio of Adam Matthew Digital, spanning content from the 15th-21st centuries.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window(1665- present) Excellent source for full text scholarly journal articles, includes a number of Film Studies journals from earlier decades to much more recent.
- Lantern from the Digital Media History ProjectAn excellent free online resource, featuring millions of pages of books and magazines from the histories of film, broadcasting, and recorded sound.
Searching a collection of newspapers or magazines:
- CineFilesA repository of film-related documents hosted by the University of California Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive. Documents range from 1900-2020, use the filter on the left to review 1900-1960.
- Domitor Journals ProjectLinks to digital collections of international periodicals relevant to early cinema studies, maintained by Domitor, the International Society for the Study of Early Cinema, from the beginning of film to 1915.
- GLBTHistory.orgGLBTQ Historical Society Online Resources, resources from 1920s - present.
- Digital Transgender ArchiveTransgender focused primary resources prior to 2000.
- Little ReviewA literature, art and media publication from 1914 — 1922.
- Hoji Shinbun Digital CollectionStanford's Hoover institution's publically available Japanese Diaspora collection, with a number of Japanese-focused newspapers and publications. Some are in English, some in Japanese.
- Ebony Magazine on Google BooksThe majority of Ebony Magazine is held on Google books, and is searchable by keyword. Years are 1950-2000 when the magazine closed.
Searching a single newspaper or magazine:
- New York Times (1923-2015) - Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowFull text of New York Times newspaper from 1923-2015
- New York Times (1851-1922) - Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowFull text of the New York Daily Times (1851 - 1857) and the New York Times newspaper from 1857 to 1922
- Seattle Daily Times This link opens in a new window- Seattle Times (1985-current) - text
-- Seattle Daily Times / Seattle Times (1900-1984)
- The Spectator (SU's Student Newspaper)Link to our digital archives for the Spectator from 1933-2011 (and its predecessor *The Palestra* from 1922-1927).
Streaming Film
- International Federation of Film Archives affiliate linksLinks to free online streaming services used by FIAF affiliates
- Black Film ArchiveA fantastic archive of black films available for streaming.
- Academic Video Online: Premium This link opens in a new windowA multidisciplinary collection of videos that touch on a wide variety of topics and subjects.
- Asian Film ArchiveThis Singapore-based organization seeks to archive information and copies of films from the Asian region. Mostly circa 2000s, but some older films as well. It's easiest to search the catalogue by country.
Relevant Vocabulary
- Photoplay
- motion picture
- motion photography
- moving pictures
- cinematograph
- film
- movies
Database tutorials and instructions
AM Explorer Support Videos: Getting Started and Browsing
JSTOR support for students: instructions and tips for searching and citation
Chronicling America: FAQ and instructions
ProQuest basics: instructional video
Newsbank: instructional video
Searching Techniques
Boolean Operators
This handout by Prince George's Community College is a visual representation of how boolean operators work and how they can help narrow or broaden your results.
Using Different Type of Keywords
When brainstorming more keywords try thinking of different types of keywords: narrower (for specific results), broader (general results), similar (synonyms), and related (information about related topics).
Film & Media Journals
This is just a sample of the film and media journals provided by Lemieux Library. Search the catalog for more.
- Mediascape [electronic resource].UCLA's journal of cinema and media studies. Open Access journal. 2005-present.