Research

Categories in Technology and Craft

  • Critical Commons  
    Critical Commons is a non-profit advocacy coalition that supports the use of media for teaching, learning, and creativity by providing resources, information, and tools for scholars, students, educators and creators. The website offers film, television, and video clips, accompanied by commentary.
  • Design Abstracts Retrospective   Paid Subscription Required Peer Reviewed
    More than 24,000 abstracts and bibliographical records covering arts- and design-related publications. Most of the periodicals have ceased publication but are considered critical in the field. A good place to research the development of ideas about design.
  • Design and Applied Arts Index   Paid Subscription Required Peer Reviewed
    More than 150,000 abstracts and bibliographic records of articles published in applied-arts and design periodicals.
  • Digital Media FX  
    Digital Media FX is an online publication for animators, visual effects technicians, and video game designers. The website's archives holds a number of interviews with animators and technicians, as well as many articles on practical issues regarding animation alongside examinations of earlier animation technology.
  • Dimitri Tiomkin - The Official Web Site  
    The official website of Dimitri Tiomkin features a biography of the composer, audio clips of his compositions, personal and promotional photographs, and a searchable catalogue to the Dimitri Tiomkin Collection at the University of Southern California.
  • Directors Guild of America   Paid Subscription Required
    Although most of the information here can only be accessed by DGA members, non-registered visitors can access current and back issues of the DGA Weekly and the DGA Monthly. The multimedia section also features accessible streaming video from the members-only DGA Visual History Program.
  • Directory of Corporate Archives in the U.S.  
    An index of corporate archives that lists each archive's location, archivist, and contact information. A good source for business information in areas ranging from technology to industry history.
  • Documentary is never neutral  
    This online resource for political documentary makers features essays, interviews, articles, a list of organizations and people involved in community and grassroots media, and lists of online and "real world" resources.
  • Early Visual Media: A Pictorial Media Archeology  
    This excellent resource consists of many different online exhibitions concerned with all kinds of visual media, beginning with pre-cinematic visual technology and amusements, through early television. In addition to the text, each exhibit features many unique illustrations and photographs.
  • Edison Papers  
    View scanned images of Edison's original papers, including his personal notes, correspondence, and more. Includes information on the invention of the kinetoscope and other moving image technology, as well as Edison's business records. Search the archive by author, title, or folder.
  • Experimental Television Center  
    The website for the Experimental Television Center in Owego, New York, provides basic information on the Center's founding and history, as well as information on grants and residencies. Another resource is the ETC's Video History Project, which aims to document and research video art and community television in urban as well as rural communities across the United States.
  • Eyes of a Generation  
    This "virtual museum" created by Bobby Ellerbee and J.R. Smith includes photographs of TV cameras and broadcast equipment from private collections, technical information, historical background, and discussion forums.
  • Film and Television Music Archive  
    The website for UCLA's Film and Television Music Archive, which includes a catalog entry and a finding aid for each collection. The items are available at the physical archive in Los Angeles.
  • FilmSound.org  
    A website with analysis, feature stories, interviews, and historical articles about sound design, with a bibliography, FAQ, a glossary, sound effect libraries, and sections on animation sound, film music, foley artistry, home theater sound, sound clichés, sci-fi films and Star Wars.
  • FOCAL International  
    Based out of England, "the Federation of Commercial Audiovisual Libraries [FOCAL] International Ltd, is a not-for-profit professional trade association providing excellent networking and marketing opportunities for content industry professionals". Although it is chiefly designed for members, FOCAL's website also contains a number of articles selected from its publication, Archive Zones.
  • Franz Waxman - Official Site  
    The official website of composer Franz Waxman features a biography, audio clips, a filmography and discography, and a finding aid to the Franz Waxman Papers at Syracuse University.
  • From Nanook to Oumigmag: Documentary Film in Canada  
    A curated exhibit (by the Cinematheque Quebecois) about Canadian documentary film. Features a timeline of notable events in Canadian documentary filmmaking, biographies of directors, profiles of companies that have produced documentaries, information on common recording equipment and processes, and a guide to the topics Canadian documentaries most often cover. Also features posters and some video clips. In English and French.
  • Google Patents  
    Search for patents by keyword or inventor and view them in their entirety. A great tool for finding out about the invention of moving image technologies.
  • Halcyon Days: Interviews with Classic Game Designers  
    A collection of interviews with videogame designers from the 1980s and 1990s. Published by James Hague.
  • International Federation of Film Archives   Peer Reviewed
    FIAF is an international association of film archives dedicated to the preservation of the moving image. Although the actual catalog of associated-archival holdings is only available to paying users, the website also hosts a variety of free information pertaining to film preservation, most notably fully downloadable back issues of the Journal of Film Preservation.