Favorite Web Sites: Movie Reviews
The web sites featured this month have been critically evaluated
and selected by the IU Northwest librarians as well as a group of academic
and public librarians across the United States who compile a yearly Best
Free Reference Web Sites List for the American
Library Association . Here is a list of selection
criteria initially created by the MARS Best Free Web Sites
Committee to choose these sites. The Library hopes our readers
will find these web sites useful for locating reliable, accurate
and authoritative information on the Internet.
The Movie Review Query Engine (MRQE) is a database of links to
online reviews (written by professionals and amateurs and
drawn from hundreds of sources
including newspapers, magazines and fan sites) along with other articles covering
over 30,000 movies from all over the world. Users can search the MRQE
using all or part of a film's title or consult pre-compiled lists of films,
including films featured at various festivals, the top 10 films at the U.S.
Box Office, recent video releases, most reviewed titles, and Academy Award
nominees. Although the lack of search capability by any field other than film
title could be seen as a drawback, the MRQE does provide links wherever possible
to the vast Internet Movie Database, (http://www.imdb.com/) selected
for the MARS Best 1999 list. (RUSQ. Fall 1999) (Summary used with permission
of the MARS Best Free Websites Committee)
The database is a highly comprehensive and easy to use movie reference
tool. The core of the database is the over 2,250,000 filmographies
covering some
180,000 movie titles and over 560,000 people. The hyperlinks within the database
make cross-referencing the following categories effortless: actors, directors,
writers, composers, cinematographers, editors, production designers, costume
designers, and producers. Award and biographical information is also readily
available. (Summary used with permission of the MARS Best Free Websites
Committee)
Rotten Tomatoes is an unique, alternative web site for locating
objective movie reviews from all genres and time periods. According
to its web site, this web resource features "more than
100,000 titles and 360,000 review links to its ever-growing
database." Rotten Tomatoes contains movie criticism and film reviews
from America's top print and online film critics. Movies are rated
by using the Tomatometer(TM). Good films receive a "fresh" rating
while bad ones earn a "rotten" one. Although the
main web page is a bit cluttered, it does contain a well placed
search box and an easy to use quick navigation pull-down menu.
In addition to film reviews, the site also offers the latest information
on top box office movies, video game and DVD/VHS movie rentals
as well as entertainment news.
Read About Past Events as They Actually Happened with the Historical
New York Times
The IU Northwest Library recently started a subscription to the New
York Times Historical Edition through an IU Libraries
system-wide agreement with Proquest Historical Newspapers.
The Historical New York Times provides users
seeking electronic access to primary source information with:
- Complete coverage from 1851-2001
- Display and classified ads
- Comics and cartoons
- Photos, maps and graphics
- Editorials and commentary
- Literary criticism
- In-depth coverage of politics and science
IU Northwest students, faculty and staff can use this database on campus
or off campus through a VPN connection by going to the
IU Northwest
Library's Electronic Information Page and choosing the All
Databases Listed Alphabetically link under the Electronic
Resources heading. At the next screen, click on the New
York Times (Historic) link. At the database's main menu,
users can access articles/topics by keyword in basic or advanced
search format or retrieve information by date or date range. If
further help is needed, this resource features a Search Tips link.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online Joins the GaleNet
Database Lineup
The Gale Group recently added Eighteenth Century Collections
Online to its electronic database collection. This
full-text web resource provides access to the digital images
of all pages of 50,0000 books published in the 18th Century.
A variety of materials are included in this digital collection
from books, Bibles, tract books, broadsides and sermons to
printed ephemera primarily from Great Britain and the
Americas. The major highlight of Eighteenth Century Collections
Online is the complete works of 28 major 18th century
writers including:
- Henry Fielding
- Edmund Burke
- Alexander Pope
- Thomas Paine
- Benjamin Franklin
- Jonathan Swift
This comprehensive online tool also contains significant collections
of 18th century women writers, texts on the French Revolution and
numerous 18th century editions of William Shakespeare's works.
IU Northwest students, faculty and staff can access Eighteenth Century
Collections Online by going to the
IU Northwest
Library's Electronic Information Page and choosing the All
Databases Listed Alphabetically link under the Electronic
Resources heading. At the next screen, click on the Eighteenth
Century Collections Online link. At the database's
main menu, users can search for full-text materials through
a basic keyword search and can also limit searches by year(s)
of publication and/or subject area. In addition to keyword
searching, one can browse by authors or specific works.
, Library News Web Editor |
