Research

The Moving Image Source Research Guide is a gateway to the best online resources related to film, television, and digital media.

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 Peer Reviewed

Databases

  • Ad Flip  
    A large database of classic print ads dating back to 1940, including movie ads. About 10 percent of the archive is publicly available; the rest of the content can only be accessed through a paid subscription.
  • American Masters Database  
    Read well-researched biographies of important film and television personalities.
  • American Widescreen Museum  
    The American Widescreen Museum is a collection of online exhibitions on a variety of film exhibition and technology topics, including wide screen systems, color history, sound development, aspect ratios, preservation, and restoration. The websites feature a variety of resources such as technical publications, filmographies, poster galleries, journal publications, and other reference tools.
  • Arcade History  
    A searchable database of classic arcade games, including general information on the games themselves as well as more technical information about the consoles.
  • BECTU Oral History Project   Paid Subscription Required
    The Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU) represents personnel working within the British film industry and related fields. Since 1986, the BECTU History Project has compiled over 500 recorded interviews with veterans of the industry discussing their careers. Subjects range from well-known directors and producers to less famous crew and personnel.
  • Big Cartoon Database  
    This database allows users to search for information on animated media by character, title, studio, and crew.
  • Bioscope  
    Bioscope features well-researched and indexed posts on a range of early and silent cinema topics as well as a calendar of current and upcoming festivals and conferences on silent cinema. The Bioscope Library compiles links to full-text downloads of books and journals, most published before 1920.
  • Blaxploitation Database  
    This database, created by fans, lists hundreds of blaxploitation films and soundtracks. This exhaustive list includes short synopses and information about DVD availability.
  • British Artists' Moving Image Database  
    A research database on British artists' film and video, covering experimental and avant-garde film, video art, artists' television, gallery-based installations, and other works that use moving image and audiovisual multimedia technologies. The database provides information for several thousand works, including dates, formats, and some synopses. It also links to the holdings of public and academic collections, archives, distributors, and dealers, including information about locations and conditions of access.
  • British Universities Newsreel Database  
    Get information about the history of moving image journalism in the UK. Search a database of stories and interviews with British news reporters, dating back to 1910.
  • Chinese Movie Database  
    A multilingual search engine covering the entirety of Chinese film history. The website also features an assortment of film posters, the earliest of which date back to the 1970s.
  • Cinema Treasures  
    Devoted to the cause of movie theater preservation, this site covers nearly 16,000 theaters and has over 1,500 photos from roughly 60 countries.
  • CinemaTour  
    35,351 cinemas and 42,209 photos in the database.
  • Design ProFILES   Paid Subscription Required Peer Reviewed
    Profiles of more than 8,000 20th-century designers and design-related organizations.
  • Digital Games Research Association (DIGRA) Digital Library  
    Full-text archive of presentations given at the leading academic conferences and seminars related to digital games.
  • Documentary Films .NET  
    A searchable database of documentary films that also provides an extensive list of online resources for documentary filmmaking and distribution.
  • Don Markstein's Toonopedia  
    This fan-produced database provides information on all aspects of animation in television and film. User can find a variety of information on shows, characters, animators, and designers.
  • East and Southeast Asia: An Annotated Directory of Internet Resources  
    A guide to online resources on various countries and regions of Asia. Most sections feature subsections devoted to film and media.
  • Educational Media Reviews Online  
    Educational Media Reviews Online is a database of video, DVD, audio CD, and CD-ROM reviews for educational audiences, primarily academic librarians. The reviews are written by librarians and teaching faculty in institutions across the United States and Canada.
  • eScholarship Editions  
    The eScholarship Editions collection includes almost 2000 books from academic presses on a range of topics, including art, science, history, music, religion, and fiction. Over 500 of the titles are available to the public. There are 59 books available under the subject “Cinema and Performance Arts.”