BU London Library Resources: Theatre, Film, Television

It's possible to go to the resource you require from the A-Z list if you know the name of the database, or you can search for specific topics via the search option. Visit: BU Databases

Below are some recommended databases for theatre and film. It is advisable to consult the appropriate research guides in addition, as these links represent a small selection of the resources available to you.

BU Subject Guides are an invaluable source of guidance and help. They are curated by BU Subject Librarians, who are experts in their field, and gather together key sources for a given subject, including databases and journals, all in one location. 

There are 12 guides devoted to film and television and 6 guides for theatre. To access the guides click into the link below then navigate to Film & Television, and Theatre. 

Visit: BU Subject Guides

The university's Educational Resource Centre provides a number of online resources covering elements such as time management, note taking and study strategies - click into the logo below to access these:

UCL Institute of Education (IOE) is a world-leading centre for research and teaching in education and social science. Their online writing centre offers an array of study skills resources, from planning your work, reading and writing critically through to referencing. Click into the logo below to access this:

The collection includes a wide variety of titles on  theatre and film/television. They are located around the classmarks PN and PR. You can access the catalogue to search the collection from the link below.

 Visit: BU London Library Catalogue 

Once you know how to search for information, how do you know you can rely on the results? How do you know if something received via social media is true? Evaluating information is a vital skill, and there is lots of help and advice around this. Below are three very good sources to engage with. 

BU Library - Visit: BU Fake News

Full Fact (UK) This is a fact checking charity, set up to check and correct facts reported in the news, and through social media. Visit: Full Fact 

Adding images to your work is great way to make it visually engaging. However, you need to be careful to avoid copyright infringement. A common misconception is: because an image is there on the internet it must be fine to use it. This is not true. 

Most images will have an owner, or rights holder, behind it. Once an image is used, then published to the web -  in any form - it can be seen and tracked through what's called 'reverse image searches', meaning the owner(s) can see where their work is being used.

Copyright infringement can result in fines, but perhaps far more seriously, damage to the university's reputation.

Thankfully, there is an increasing amount and variety of images made available through dedicated websites, or under Creative Commons licenses. 

Some good sources for free-to-use generic, or 'stock', images are below. These are great sources if you're seeking background images, or scenes to illustrate the theme of your work. Click into the logos to access. 

Specific images, such as artworks or maps, are usually within copyright, however many are released under Creative Commons, or CC, licenses.

To discover more about Creative Commons, click into the logo below.  

The terms and conditions of each license need to be observed if you are going to use these. For example all materials used under a license need to be attributed. For information on the licenses and their terms of use, visit: CC Licenses 

Some excellent sources for images released under CC licenses are below. Click into the logos to access. 

This historically important and visually rich collection has now been digitised, and is available for free online.

Visitors to the online resource can learn about the nation’s heritage through images collated from the exhibition, publication and sale of British works of art. Users are able to download, compare, and contrast the works using digital tools. More than 44,000 images are available for reuse, offered with a Creative Commons licence for non-commercial purposes. Please click into the logo below to access the collection: 

The library has an immense range of journals on offer, accessible wherever you are. The link below takes you to the dedicated search facility for all journals the university has access to.

Visit: Journal Search

Box of Broadcasts - or BoB for short - is a unique resource. This is a UK-based television/radio archive and streaming service, which covers all UK terrestrial channels. It's records go back to the early 1990s, so the breadth of content is vast, and it is constantly updated each day as programmes are broadcast. 

The first time you use the service you will need to register using your BU.edu email, and this is a very quick process. 

The benefits of this service are:

• Programmes can be booked in advance of being aired, and are then emailed to you when ready to view.
• Create personalized playlists of broadcasts. 
• Edit broadcasts into clips and create playlists of these. 
• Easily share and/or embed broadcasts and playlists.  

To access BoB:

• Visit: Learning on Screen
• When prompted type Boston University into the box (this will appear as you type)
• Sign in from here using your bu.edu credentials (email and password)

Please click into the image below to access a full set of instructions for using the service. 

Below are a series of brief how-to videos, made by Learning on Screen who provide us with BoB, covering all essential elements of using the service. Click into the image below to access these:

Please note: BoB is now behind the university's two-factor authentication process, DUO. You will need your mobile (cell) phone to hand to confirm your identity when logging in. To find out more about DUO and to register a phone, please click into the image below - this also includes a section on enrolling a device if you have not already done so, and series of FAQs. 

This is a multidisciplinary streaming video collection, offering a vast array of content. It delivers thousands  of video titles spanning subject areas including History, Education, Politics and Current Affairs, Film, Psychology and more. 

You can link content in Blackboard, as well as create and share custom clips and playlists. To do this you will need to register in the database using your BU.edu email and set a password.  

To access visit: Academic Video Online

The publisher of Academic Video Online has produced a guide containing full instructions on using the service. Please click into the image below to access. 

Below are some featured multi-disciplinary resources. This is only a small selection, please consult the research guides and website to access the full range. 

Digital renditions of European and global newspapers and magazines. Visit: PressReader

Similar to BoB and AVO this provides streaming access to films and documentaries. Visit: Kanopy 

London's Screen Archives offers a unique collection of films of London from various periods, covering everyday activities and state occasions. Visit: London's Screen Archives

BU library resources includes a suite of very useful how-to guides. In this section, you can find advice and help on the search and research process, referencing and much more.

Visit: BU How-To 

E-books are a very convenient way of accessing texts remotely, wherever you are. BU has access to a wide range of e-book collections, covering multiple disciplines. There is also a dedicated Research Guide to e-books covering all the collections the university has access to. Visit BU E-Books

There is an immense amount of guides on referencing using the Harvard style available. Below is a small selection, which are very clearly laid out and user-friendly. 

Institute of Education (UK). The guide includes a comprehensive set of examples depending upon your source material, an excellent guide all round. 

Visit: IoE Referencing 

Monash University (Australia) via BU This guide is incredibly detailed, with extensive examples and instructions throughout.

Visit: BU Referencing