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Search Tips: How to Find Films in the Classic Catalog

Tips for Finding
  • Tips — tips for finding materials in the library catalog
  • Articles — tips for finding articles about film, philosophy, and fine & performing arts
  • Books — tips for finding books at Lilly Library
  • Films — tips for finding films in the library catalog
  • Other Resources — tips for finding resources such as primary documents, images, and subject-specific resources

To search for films in the library catalog, go to <http://library.duke.edu/> and choose the Classic Catalog link found in the Search Resources box in the upper left of the page.


Title Search

  1. Click on Classic Advanced Search
  2. Select Title Keywords from the drop down menu
  3. Under Format in the blue box on the right of the screen select Film/Video from the drop down menu
  4. Enter Title keywords (Examples: Brokeback Mountain, Capote)
  5. Click Go

Keyword Search

  1. Click on Advanced Search from the banner at the top of the screen
  2. Select All Fields from the drop down menu
  3. Under Format in the blue box on the right of the screen select Film/Video from the drop down menu
  4. Enter keywords (Examples: Jew* And Holocaust; wom!n and suffrage)
  5. Using the wildcard "?" or "*" within a word or at the end of a word will yield all forms of the word (Example: Jew* will yield results that include “Jew,” “Jews” and “Jewish”)
  6. Use "!" to find variant spellings in cases where a single character may vary (Example: wom!n will yield results that include both “woman” and “women”)
  7. Click Go

Subject Search

  1. Click on Advanced Search from the banner at the top of the screen
  2. Select Subject Keywords from the drop down menu
  3. Under Format in the blue box on the right of the screen select Film/Video from the drop down menu
  4. Enter Subject keywords (Example: “Feature films – France”; “Documentary Films – Brazil”
  5. Click Go

Director/Actor Search

  1. Click on Advanced Search from the banner at the top of the screen
  2. Select Author Keywords from the drop down menu (treat actors and directors as if they were authors)
  3. Under Format in the blue box on the right of the screen select Film/Video from the drop down menu
  4. Enter Author keywords (Examples: John Cassavetes AND falk; Marilyn Monroe AND MGM; PBS AND Ken Burns)
  5. Click Go

General Search Tips

  • Limit your search by selecting a location (Lilly Library, etc.); language, and year (year is the date the video format was released, not the date the original feature film was released).
  • Using the wildcard "?" or "*" within a word or at the end of a word will yield all forms of the word (Example: Jew* will yield results that include “Jew,” “Jews” and “Jewish”). 
  • Use "!" to find variant spellings in cases where a single character may vary (Example: wom!n will yield results that include both “woman” and “women.”)
  • For additional information, click on HELP from banner at top of catalog

Last modified June 17, 2009 1:21:40 PM EDT

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