History vs. Film (HIS 131 and 132)

How to search . . .

Example topic: The storyline of the film Guilty by Suspicion is about a fictitious film director from the 1950s whose loyalty has been called into question by the U.S. government's House Committee on Un-American Activities (a real committee from that time period). Screenwriters, actors, and all sorts of entertainers who were suspected to have been communists or active in the communist party were blacklisted from working in films, movies, etc.

Find Keywords

In this case, you could start by finding out more information about the House Committee on Un-American Activities. By doing a little background research using Credo Reference to search for encyclopedia articles, I was able to find out that this committee was created to investigate subversive activities in the U.S. (fascism, communism, etc.). I also found out that this committee was responsible for charging a group of Hollywood movie producers, directors, and screenwriters who were given prison sentences because of their communist affiliations. These people were blacklisted and unable to find work in the film industry after their sentences were up. They are referred to as the Hollywood Ten.

Keyword Search Examples (what to type into a database search box):

Put quote marks around anything you want searched as an exact phrase.

• "Hollywood Ten"
• "House Committee on Un-American Activities"

Combine keywords with AND (in all caps)

• Hollywood AND communism
• "Hollywood Ten" AND blacklist

As you search for articles, look for other related keywords you can try searching with. 

• "Red Scare"
• McCarthyism
• anticommunism AND Hollywood

Search 

You may need to search several of the databases below in order to find at least one appropriate article. Each database includes many types of articles on many different subject areas. 

You will be prompted to log in to myPittCC before you can search the databases. 

Example: Result list from Academic Search Complete

• You will get a list of different types of articles (movie reviews, magazine articles, journal articles, etc.).
• Look along the side to find a section that allows you restrict the list to only include articles from Scholarly Journals or Academic Journals.
• Click the article title link to see more information about the article.
• Click the Full Text link (PDF or HTML) to read the article.

Example: Result list from JSTOR 

Important Search Tips:

• If you want journal articles only, you must click JOURNALS under Academic content.
• Depending on your topic, you may get too many results. For example, just typing "civil war" is not enough as there have been many civil wars fought all over the world all throughout history. Add more keywords and check next to any of the SUBJECTS listed on the right that are related to your topic.
• When you see OPEN ACCESS or FREE, that means you can get the full text right now by clicking the DOWNLOAD button.
• If you find a long list of results and none of it is OPEN ACCESS or FREE, you may need to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the Refine Results section and under ACCESS TYPE, click next to CONTENT I CAN ACCESS.

Example : Result list from ProQuest Central