To research a film for its Wikipedia article, an editor must go through multiple approaches to gather useful references. Depending on the film, most of the references may be found online or in print. In addition to finding online references to use, the Internet can be used to identify print references that can then be accessed using a library system. Listed below are some of the approaches that can be used to conduct research.
Google edit
Google has several kinds of searches that can be used to research a film. The most pertinent searches are Google Web Search, Google News Search, Google Books Search, and Google Scholar Search. The right search query matters to find useful references. If the film's title is a common word or phrase, or if the film is based on a book of the same name, then the query should be more specific by including a film-related detail such as the director's name or one of the actors' names. If you are already familiar with the film's background, the query can instead include a specific crew member or a filming location. The query may need to be modified and tried out several times to find useful results. A researcher should be familiar with Google's Advanced Operators.
Google Web Search is the most difficult for sifting through results. Many films are identified in databases and on blogs and message boards. For this reason, specific queries are important. Including the director or an actor will not reduce unhelpful database results. However, if you search for the film title and the word "interview", you are likely to find some useful results. The query modifier site: can be used to display results from a specific web domain. This can be used for web domains of local newspapers if you know filming took place in the area. Another way to improve search results is to use the "Custom range" feature in the left column. For example, the date range can be set up to be the same year as the film's release year, which will list results that were published during that time. References for use in a film's Wikipedia article should meet the reliable source criteria, particularly if they are online-only.
Google News Search is better than Google Web Search in that it does not include databases or message boards in its results. Most of its results tend to be more reliable than the ones in Google Web Search. A portion of the results may be behind paywalls, which means that they are not readily accessible through standard browsing. Such results' abstracts should be reviewed for usefulness, and if they are useful, they should be recorded for potential access through a library system. Like with Google Web Search, the "Custom range" feature can be used to set up a date range and generate useful results. For example, setting up the date range to be between the announcement of the film's development and the date of the film's release can show results related to its production. If there is an overabundance of results in a given range, it is recommended to reduce the range (for example, going month by month) to narrow down the results.
- Example: Search "gone with the wind" in the date range of 1/1/1998 to 12/31/1998 to find articles about the film's 1998 re-release
Google Books Search provides access to print references and for some references can provide a preview of pages relevant to the film. The first step is to find books about the film, and the intitle: search modifier can be used for this query. If the film is based on source material of the same name, results of the source material can be excluded by using the -inauthor: (note the hyphen) search modifier to exclude the author. (Where necessary, exclude Books, LLC with -inauthor:"Books, LLC" since they reprint Wikipedia articles.) If the director is well-known, or if one of the film's actors is well-known, then their names can be used instead of the title. The general rule of thumb is that if a book was published in a year after the film's release year, it will cover the film in part. Like with Google Web Search, if the title is a common word or term, the title can be combined with other keywords to narrow down results. Again, the "Custom range" feature can be used to narrow down results. It is recommended to go year by year with the date range to find good results. If you cannot preview a page from a result in Google Books Search, access the reference on Amazon.com, which sometimes provides a different set of page views.
- Example: Search intitle:"gone with the wind" -inauthor:"margaret mitchell" for books like this
Google Scholar Search provides results from academic journals, though the articles are largely inaccessible online. Use good search queries to identify useful references that you can later try to access through a library system.
- Example: Search film intitle:"gone with the wind" for relevant results
WorldCat edit
WorldCat is a search engine of library collections. The results often include abstracts or tables of content, so the film title can be searched to find useful results such as a book about film where one of the listed chapters talks about that specific film. It is recommend to search under "Books" or "Articles". It is not recommended to get too specific with the search since WorldCat does not search book or article contents. If necessary, one can add the word film, movie, or cinema to the query to exclude non-film results. One can also choose the topic "Performing Arts" from the left column, but this may exclude useful results like a philosophy book that covers the film in part. Theses and dissertations should be excluded; they can be unchecked under "Format" in the left column. Like with Google Books Search, a useful way to navigate results is by year, so click "Show more" under "Year" in the left column and browse the results for each year. By putting in your zip code at a given reference's WorldCat page, you can see if any libraries near you have the reference.
Amazon.com edit
Like Google Books Search, Amazon.com can be searched for relevant content even if the film title is not in the book title or the table of contents. It is recommended to browse the entirety of search results for a film title in Amazon.com's books since the results are not necessarily ordered by relevance. The sixth page of search results could provide several useful pages about the film.
Other resources edit
WikiProject Film has a resources department that lists some common resources for different aspects of a film's Wikipedia article. For additional research, see the "Repository of resources" section and see if any of the databases are available to you. It is also recommended to visit the public library or the university library to ask about searching electronic databases for listings of references or even for the references themselves.