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Film Studies

Vassar Library Search

Vassar Library Search is the best starting place for finding books, videos and journal articles in our collection. Use the dropdown menu from the search page or the filters on the results page to limit your search to books, videos, or peer reviewed journal articles. If you know the title of a book or author you're seeking, use the Starts With / Browse search.

Finding Videos

Using the Advanced Search, limit the material type to Film & Video. You can then search for a director or actor by limiting the search field to Author/Creator and search for a personal name in last, first order (eg, Campion, Jane), or for a title by limiting to the title field.

You can identify films from a particular country (a national cinema) using the Genre and doing a search for the adjective and a search for the noun with the words motion pictures (eg, Italian Motion Pictures and Italy Motion Pictures). You can then limit to DVD format using the Location filter on the left column of the results page.

Browsing Books in the Library Collection

Like most academic libraries, Vassar uses the Library of Congress Classification Outline to organize the print books and journals. This makes it possible to find related books next to each other on the shelves. Use the guide available at the Circulation Desk to determine what room a call number range is in, then use the signs at the end of each shelf to find an exact call number.

Library of Congress Call Number Areas:

  • PN1992 Television (history, theory, individual shows, writing for television)
  • PN1993 Film journals
  • PN1993.5 Film history (general history first, then grouped alphabetically by country)
  • PN1994-1995 Film theory and appreciation
  • PN1995.9 Films by special topics (e.g., detective films, film noir, war films, etc.)
  • PN1996 Screenplay writing
  • PN1997 Screenplays
  • PN1998 Directors (biographies and criticism)
  • PN2000-2900 Actors and actresses (biographies and studies)

Please note that some books on musicals on film and music used in film are located in the Music Library in Skinner Hall, and some books on design and costume, cinematography and animation are located in the Art Library stacks. Check the location in the book's catalog record for the location.