TV + Screenwriting Library Guide

In this Guide

Best Bets

Academic Search Ultimate - Covers a wide range of subjects and contains the full text of nearly 12,400 journals, including 10,900 peer-reviewed journals. Learn More.

Journal of Screenwriting

Films on Demand: Master Academic Collection - Contains more than 25,000 streaming videos covering a wide variety of academic subjects.

Stephens Library Catalog - Search the traditional catalog for Stephens College books, videos, and more.

Stephens Library Quick Search - Search across most all of Stephens Library holdings as well as millions of additional books and articles using the EBSCOhost Discovery Service.

Librarian for TV + Screenwriting

Anne Cox
acox@stephens.edu
(573) 876-7181

Book a meeting

Library Contact Info

library@stephens.edu
Front Desk: (573) 876-7182
Text the Library: (573) 475-4211
Chat (when available)

Anne Cox
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Finding TV + Screenwriting Books

Library Resources

Stephens Library Catalog - Search the traditional catalog for Stephens College books, videos, and more.

MOBIUS Library Catalog - Search the MOBIUS Consortium catalog and request physical/print books be sent to a MOBIUS library for pickup. Books are generally ready to be picked up in two to three work days.

eMO Electronic Books - Search and view over 250,000 electronic books. Entirely full-text.

OverDrive eBooks & Audiobooks - Contains several thousand electronic books and audio books.

Book Locations

Digital filmmaking books are generally located in the following sections on the main floor of the Stephens Library:

  • PN 1996-1997.85 - Screenwriting and screenwriters

Search Tips

Search the Stephens Library Catalog to find physical materials and ebooks held by the Stephens Library. Use filters (on the left of search results) to narrow your search to particular formats of materials. There are also several collections specifically focused on ebooks.

The subject heading for film screenwriting is “motion picture authorship”. The phrase “motion pictures” is the subject heading for film overall. Try combining these phrases with a keyword using AND, or a keyword and “in motion pictures” to explore materials on how a topic is handled in movies.

Here’s some more potentially helpful keywords:

  • screenwriters

  • motion picture plays technique

  • television authorship

  • television plays technique

  • film title

  • writer’s name

  • genre or style

Use the advanced search function and search for these phrases as subject terms to find materials about that term, rather than the work itself or material by that individual. Use the words AND, OR, or NOT to combine or exclude keywords or phrases.

Finding Articles on TV + Screenwriting

Library Resources

  • Academic Search Ultimate - Covers a wide range of subjects and contains the full text of nearly 12,400 journals, including 10,900 peer-reviewed journals. Learn More.

  • Journal of Screenwriting - Broadly explores the nature of writing for film. Contains full-text 2010 to the present.

  • Humanities International Complete - Contains data from the Humanities International Index (2,224 journals and more than 3.4 million records), and full-text for approximately 1,240 journals.

Search Tips

When searching in databases, you will likely come across articles that are not immediately available. In such cases, choose to “Request It” and complete the process. Articles usually become available within one business day, although it can take as many as five days. You can review your request history and make requests from scratch by using the following link:

Finding TV + Screenwriting News & Trade Publications

  • New York Times - Full text from 1980 to the present.

  • Los Angeles Times - Full text from 1985 to the present.

  • Hollywood Reporter - Presents news articles and features for and about the motion picture industry and the Los Angeles/Hollywood area. This database includes full text from 4/28/2008 to present and brief bibliographic records back to 1995.

  • Variety - The international entertainment weekly; feature articles, interviews and profiles, television and motion picture reviews and ratings, financing, legislation, box office reports and news of note on all aspects of the entertainment industry. This database includes full text from 7/12/1999 to present and brief bibliographic records back to 1994.

  • NewsBank: Access World News Research Collection - Includes current and archived news content from more than 12,700 sources spanning 200+ countries and territories.

Finding Films & Videos

  • Stephens Library Catalog DVD Search - Search the traditional catalog for Stephens College books, videos, and more. The library offers a wide variety of films on dvd.

  • Black Film Archive - A register of Black films from 1915-1979, currently available for streaming, by Maya S. Cade.

  • Internet Archive Moving Image Archive - An extensive and varied collection of video content, including films, news broadcasts, educational video, cartoons, and recorded performances. Primarily digitized content, and many films in the public domain or available for use/reuse under a Creative Commons license.

Finding Scripts & Screenplays

  • Stephens Library Catalog - Scripts and screenplays are increasingly published in print. Search the catalog for these items using some combination of the film title, screenwriter’s name, and “screenplay”, “script”, or “shooting script”. Use WorldCat to search across libraries more broadly.

  • Scripts on Screen - search engine for movie and film scripts, which aggregates results from a number of other sites.

  • Motion Picture Scripts Database - search film script holdings of eight Los Angeles area collections for screenplays, primarily of produced films.

  • Older scripts and screenplays may be located via archival sources. The New York State Archives Motion Picture Scripts Collection includes scripts from 1921-1965, and copies can be requested for educational purposes. Use ArchiveGrid to search descriptive information across many archives. You may be able to locate the screenwriter’s papers, or collections relating to others involved with the film’s production. Policies and options for access vary, and you may need to contact the repository directly to determine how best to access the material.

Websites