Film & Media Studies Research Guide

If a book that you need is checked out by another user, don't despair! You can place a recall request through discoverE.

1. Make sure that you are logged in to discoverE through the Emory Login link in the upper right hand corner.
2. Find the the book that you need and click on the Request tab inside that book's catalog record in discoverE.
3. Select the Pickup Location (usually the Woodruff Library) and click the Request button below it.

The recall period is 10 days. If you need the book sooner than that, don't panic! Ask a reference librarian at the Library Service Desk (online or in-person) for help with other options.

• Contact Reference at the Library Service Desk (online or in-person at the Library Service Desk), or contact the appropriate Subject Librarian for assistance.

• If you are an Emory faculty member or student, we may be able to purchase the book or video for you. Contact the appropriate Subject Librarian for assistance or use our online purchase request form.

• Qualified Emory borrowers may be able to obtain the item through Interlibrary Loan. Try checking in OCLC WorldCat first to see if other libraries have it.

• The film you're looking for may not be on video at all due to market constraints or licensing issues. If you are conducting a research project you may be able to make arrangements to see the film in an archive. Contact the Film and Media Studies Librarian for further advice.

discoverE is designed to be user-friendly, but it pays to spend a little time up front becoming familiar with its features.

1. Get help! Take advantage of discoverE's Help page.

2. Choose the best tab for your needs.

• The Catalog tab searches Emory's library holdings in books, media items, ebooks, electronic databases, journal titles (not journal articles!), and archival materials held at MARBL. Recommended for most purposes.
• The Emory Repositories tab searches holdings for items in our electronic repositories, including Emory Electronic Theses & Dissertations.
• The Combined Search tab searches the contents of the catalog, a selection of articles, Emory Electronic Theses & Dissertations, and the HathiTrust Digital Library. It's convenient but it may not be the best option if you are researching a topic for which you are likely to retrieve a large number of search results.

3. Use the search limit boxes on discoverE's Advanced Search to return more precise search results.

• Use multiple search boxes to create custom combinations of title, author/creator, subject, etc. to find exactly what you need.
• The Material Type pulldown menu enables you to limit results by books, video, audio, databases, etc. 
• Also consider using quotation marks for phrases, wildcards and truncation symbols to search for multiple spellings and word variants, and Boolean search operators such as AND, OR and NOT.

This advanced search will retrieve English language books on the subject of Shakespeare's Hamlet:

4. Take advantage of the Refine My Results facets on the left.

After you receive a list of results, you can click on the links on the left to limit the results by Resource Type (format), Topic (subject), Author/Creator, Library, Collection, etc. Here is an example of the facets that show up when you do a general search for "Hamlet":

Emory borrowers can check out books from many local colleges. Ask the Reference desk for more information.

Using Interlibrary Loan (ILL), you can also:

• borrow books, videos and other items from outside libraries
• get copies of articles that Emory doesn't own.

You will be notified when your materials arrive (most materials are obtained within 2 weeks).