American Cinema, 1929-69

Course #: FS264

About this Guide

This guide was created for FS264 students. It includes information to help with the annotated bibliography and research essay assignments.

Finding Scholarly Sources

a) Peer-reviewed Articles

Peer review is a process that involves evaluating research prior to publication. When researchers submit their work to peer-reviewed journals, experts in the field evaluate the quality of the work and decide to accept it for publication, send it back for revision, or reject it altogether. This process ensures that what gets published meets the highest standards of scholarship.

Scholarly databases are good places to search for peer-reviewed articles. Check off "peer reviewed" to limit results to scholarly articles. Check out these databases:

b) Scholarly Books

Try an advanced search in the library catalogue to find scholarly books.

Evaluating Sources

Is your source scholarly -- a peer-reviewed article published in 2017? Or, is it an unauthorized biography? A blog post written by a Film Studies academic? It's important to be aware of the type of source you're using so that you can evaluate it in relation to your research. Consider ways that the type of source and the features of that source might influence the way you use it.

Consider who the author is, when the source was published, why the source was written, etc. Check out Evaluating Resources for more.

Citing Sources in MLA, 8th Ed.

You'll find the MLA Handbook at Laurier Library (LB2369 .G53 2016).

Questions?

Did you know you can have one-on-one or small group research consultations with your librarian? Drop in or make an appointment. Please get in touch, I'll be happy to help!