Film Encyclopedias, Guides, and Dictionaries
Use authoritative dictionaries and reference sources.
Wikipedia might be a handy tool in some cases, but it's not what your professors would call a reliable or authoritative reference source. The library resources listed below provide access to scholarly information on a range of subjects. See the Library Research Guides to find many more.
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Dictionary of Film TermsCall Number: Olin Reference PN1993.45 B33 2007Publication Date: Peter Lang, c2006, 2007.Includes bibliographical references and indexes. -
Critical Dictionary of Film and Television Theory.Call Number: Olin Reference PN1993.45 C75x 2001 +Publication Date: 2000"Explains the major theoretical approaches and definitions now deployed in the study of screen media. Entries range from longer overview essays which summarise the central paradigms of film and television theory, to shorter definitions of key concepts and introductions to major influential figures." (jacket copy) Includes cross-references, bibliographies, and index. -
Oxford Bibliographies: Cinema and Media StudiesProvides peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on film history, television studies, media studies, critical theory, visual arts, cultural studies, digital culture, game studies, popular culture, and the study of the moving image. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable. -
Routledge Encyclopedia of Film TheoryCall Number: Olin Reference PN1995 R6855 2014+Publication Date: Routledge, 2013An international reference work representing the essential ideas and concepts at the centre of film theory from the beginning of the twentieth century, to the beginning of the twenty-first. Signed articles by 50 scholars from around the globe address the difficult formulations and propositions in each theory by reducing these difficult formulations to straightforward propositions. -
International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers
Call Number: Online (click on title above); also Olin Reference PN 1993.45 I61 2000 (print copy)Publication Date: 2000Vol. I of this four-volume set lists and describes approximately 650 international and historical films. Descriptions include production information, a cast list, a plot summary, an essay of the film's place in film history, and a lengthy bibliography. Vols. II-IV focus on Directors/Filmmakers, Actors and Actresses, and Writers and Production Assistants.
Reference Sources for Chinese Film
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Historical Dictionary of Chinese CinemaCall Number: Kroch Asia Reference PN1993.5 C4 Y43 2012Publication Date: Scarecrow Press, 2012Covers the history of Chinese cinema from 1896 to the present. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section contains several hundred cross-referenced dictionary entries on films, directors, and historical figures. -
Encyclopedia of Chinese FilmCall Number: Print copy: Kroch Asia Reference PN1993.5.C4 Z53x 1998Publication Date: Routledge, 1999Provides alphabetically organized entries on directors, genres, themes, and actors and actresses from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as 300 film synopses. The alphabetical entries are preceded by a substantial historical section, incorporating material on the the main studios and analysing the impact of Chinese film abroad as well as at home in recent years. -
A to Z of Hong Kong CinemaCall Number: Kroch Asia Reference PN1993.5.C4 S885 2010Publication Date: Scarecrow Press, 2010Provides essential facts and descriptive evaluation concerning Hong Kong filmmaking and its filmmaking community. This is accomplished through the use of a chronology, an introductory essay, illustrations of individuals and film stills, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on directors, producers, writers, actors, films, film companies, genres, and terminology.
Multi-disciplinary Refererence sources
- Oxford Reference Online
- Searchable database of 100 language and subject dictionaries and reference works of Oxford University Press. Each topical division contains searchable versions of the latest editions of published dictionaries and encyclopedias.Covers general reference, language, science and medicine, humanities and social sciences, business and professional subjects.
- Sage Reference Online
- A database of reference books published by SAGE covering the social sciences and education, including such areas as African American studies, aging & gerontology, anthropology, business and management, communication and media studies, counseling and psychotherapy, criminology and criminal justice, economics, education, environment, family studies, gender & sexuality studies, geography, health and social welfare, history, politics and international relations, psychology, research methods and evaluation, science, philosophy, and theology, social issues, social work and social policy, and sociology, and urban studies and planning.
- New Dictionary of the History of Ideas
- This thoroughly re-envisioned New Dictionary of the History of Ideas brings fresh intelligence and a global perspective to bear on timeless questions about the individual and society. A distinguished team of international scholars explore new thinking in areas previously covered (communism, linguistics, physics) and present cross-cultural perspectives on more recent topics such as postmodernism, deconstruction and post-colonialism.