Key search tips for all databases
AND: if I search cinema AND war, I will get articles containing both terms (less articles)
OR: if I search men OR masculnie, I will get articles containing either terms (more articles)
*: if I search nation*, I will get articles that have nation, national, nationality, etc in them
Quotation Marks: when searching a phrase search with quotation marks→"genre theory", "national propoganda"
Key search tips for media research
- When searching always search these terms together: film OR cinema OR "motion pictures". This will get you the maximum hits because those subject terms are used interchangebl.
- If you are looking for a particular perspective or method of analysing media, search the main term. For instance, if you are searching for postcolonial theory, searching postcolonial* will get you postcolonial, postcolonialism, and postcoloniality. If you are searching for feminist theory searching fem* will get you feminine, femininity, feminism. This will open your search more.
- When you search for a particular film, you can use the theory as a second search term. This limits your search to the results that only pertain to the critical analysis you want.
- If you want to see what critical analysis have been applied to a particular piece or film, search it by name only. Everything within the database will appear. You can use limiters to narrow down the results.
