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Media Links

Searching the Media Collection

Our media collection can be searched through the UIUC Online Catalog using many of the same strategies to find print materials. You can search by title, subject, director, cast member, call number, and also limit the results further by format (DVD, VHS, etc.) and holdings location.

Quick Search is a fast way to search for a specific title, director, or cast member, but for doing more in-depth searches, Advanced Search offers the most options and yields the best results. Here are a few of the most common search strategies.

SEARCH MEDIA BY TITLE

  1. Go to the Online Library Catalog
  2. Click on Quick Search.
  3. In the Search for box, type the title of the video, omitting any initial articles ("a", "an", or "the").
  4. From the Quick Limit menu, choose Films/Videos.
  5. From the Search by menu, choose Start of title.
  6. Click the Search button to view the results of your search. If your search retrieves more than one title, you will receive a list of titles. To view the items, click on the title.

SEARCH MEDIA BY NAME

  1. Go to the Online Library Catalog
  2. Click on Quick Search.
  3. In the Search for box, type the last name and then the first initial or name (if known) of the person.
  4. From the Search by menu, choose Browse Author.
  5. Click the Search button to view the results of your search. If your search retrieves more than one title, you will receive a list of titles. To view the items, click on the title.

The above search will not bring up only media items. To limit a Name Search, you must use an Advanced Search.

SEARCH MEDIA BY KEYWORDS (Advanced Search)

  1. Go to the Online Library Catalog.
  2. Click on Advanced Search.
  3. Click on the More Limits button (lower right corner of screen)
  4. Within the Search Limits option box, there are several different limits. You can apply one or more limits to your search. To limit your search to media items, select Films/Videos under the Primary Format heading. To limit your search to items in the media collection, select Undergraduate Media Collection under the Location heading.
  5. Click Set Limits. Red bold text will appear on the screen stating: "Search Limits are in effect!" To remove any limits you have set, click on the Clear Limits button in the lower-right corner of the Advanced Search screen
  6. In the Search for box, type search keywords. Do not use "or," "and," or "not" between terms. Also omit initial articles ("a," "an," or "the").
  7. Click on the All of These menu, and choose the appropriate option. If you entered a phrase, choose These words as a phrase. If you entered keywords, but not as a phrase, select All of these words.
  8. From the Search by menu, select a specific type of keyword search (e.g., Subject Words).
  9. Click the Search button to view the results of your search. If your search retrieves more than one item, you will get a list of titles. To view the full record for an item, click on the title.

VIEW ALL TITLES IN THE MEDIA COLLECTION

  1. Go to the Online Library Catalog
  2. Click on Advanced Search.
  3. Click on the More Limits button (lower right corner of screen).
  4. Select Undergraduate Media Collection under the Location heading.
  5. Click Set Limits. Red bold text will appear on the screen stating: "Search Limits are in effect!"
  6. In the Search for box, type "videorecording" without the quotation marks .
  7. Click on the All of These menu and choose "these words as a phrase"
  8. From the Search by menu, choose "Title Words"
  9. Click the Search button to view the results of your search. To view the full record for an item, click on the title.

AVAILABILITY AND DETAILS

  1. Click on the title to view the full record.
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the call number, location, and availability of the title. If the status is Scheduled, please see the Undergraduate Library Information Services Desk to find out the item's availability.
  3. Related items can be searched by clicking on any of the highlighted links. This is a quick and effective way to search for related genre titles as well as other works by the cast, director, writers, and producers. The official Library of Congress Subject Headings will also be highlighted.
  4. Media items not currently on reserve are located on the lower level of the Undergraduate Library.

MEDIA ITEMS ON RESERVE

Some media items that have been placed on reserve may not be searchable through the online catalog because they are actually privately-owned copies, usually owned by instructors. You will need to use the Course Reserves link to search for these items. The best way to search for media items which an instructor has put on reserve is to use the Course Reserves search tool.