CULT11011 Australian film and culture

This guide will show you how to conduct a search for resources you can use for your assignments.

It is divided into the following topics:

• Planning your search
• Searching the library catalogue
• Searching online databases

The topic for Assessment Item 1 is used as an example throughout this guide:

Undertake an analysis of two ...films [listed in the course profile], showing how they represent ideas of Australia and Australianness. In particular, describe the way in which these films represent and resolve conflicts, and how these conflicts relate to broader issues of Australian identity and cultural values.

Planning your search

Before you begin searching for resources, you need to to spend some time thinking about the topic.

Firstly, try brainstorming what you already know about the topic.

You might like to use concept maps, flow charts, lists or tables to organise your information.

The brainstorming process should make it easier to select keywords you can use in your search.

Your list of keywords should include:

• topic words - words from the assignment topic
  e.g. films, Australia, Australianness, conflict, Australian identity, cultural values
   
• synonyms - words with similar meanings
  e.g. films = movies, cinema, motion pictures
  e.g. Australian identity = national identity, identity
  e.g. cultural values = values, beliefs
   
• related terms - terms related to the topic
  Consider names of films, directors, characters etc. as possible keywords.

Remember to also include:

• spelling variations
   
• plurals
  e.g. film/films
   
• word variants
  e.g. Australia, Australian, Australianness

Searching the library catalogue

To find resources on a particular topic,  perform a keyword search in the Library catalogue:

Example 1:

This search will return all records containing the word identity, the word australia and the word film.
(More information on how to perform a keyword search.)

Example 2:

This search will return all records containing the phrase national identity i.e. where the words are together.
(More information on how to perform a phrase search.)
 

Searching online databases

Journals are an excellent source of current information and research.

The easiest way to find journal articles on a particular topic is to search a database which contains references to journal articles.

There are a number of databases which may prove useful for this course:

Databases vary in the amount of information they provide about particular articles:

• Some will only contain a citation or reference.
• Some will contain an abstract or summary of the article's content.
• Some will contain a link to the full-text article.

If the article you want is unavailable in full-text via the database you're  searching, you can use ArticleLinker to see if the article is available in another database or in hard copy on the Library shelves.