FIAF Databases (International Index to Film Periodicals)
(IIFP-OV) Database Guide
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The FIAF Databases are published by the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) and contains several databases: the International Index to Film Periodicals, the International Index to Television Periodicals, the List of Periodicals Indexed, the Treasures from the Film Archives.

The main database, the International Index to Film Periodicals, offers in-depth coverage of the world's foremost academic and popular film journals from 1972 to the present. The database cumulates citations from the annual printed volumes and contains more than 466,000+ article references from more than 390 titles. Every year more than 12,000 new records are added. Each entry consists of a full bibliographic description, an abstract and comprehensive headings (biographical names, film titles and general subjects). A hierarchically ordered controlled thesaurus, containing more than 20,000 subject terms, is available to aid users.

The International Index to Television Periodicals includes approximately 50,000 article references from 1979 to 2006. Full bibliographic description and headings are given for each entry and a separate thesaurus is offered. Please note that this database is no longer updated and that television related references from film journals continue to be indexed in the International Index to Film Periodicals.

The List of Periodicals Indexed is a separate database which provides addresses and other information (including ISSN) on the journals indexed in the two main databases: International Index to Film and TV Periodicals.

The Treasures from the Film Archives database contains unique information about silent film holdings in international film archives. It was conceived as a tool to aid the work of preservation, research and film exchange between archives, and provides filmographic and holdings information on over 40,000 works. Included are silent shorts and features, fiction and non-fiction, from over 98 of the world's major film archives. The database was updated in 2001 and 2002 through the generous financial support of Saving the Silent, a collaborative project organized by the National Film Preservation Foundation and supported through Save America's Treasures, a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Since 2003, the generous support of the Louis B. Mayer Foundation has enabled FIAF to continue updating the Treasures database. FIAF is truly grateful to these foundations for their invaluable support.

Users must be aware that the inclusion of a title in this database does not indicate whether the material is complete, nor does it guarantee access to that material. Access regulations may differ from archive to archive according to their individual and national policies and restrictions, and researchers must query individual archives regarding access. Contact information for FIAF archives can be found on the FIAF website (www.fiafnet.org).

The FIAF Databases (International Index to Film/TV Periodicals, Periodicals Indexed, Treasures from the Film Archives) contains full annotated bibliographic citations to various materials published since 1966 by FIAF archives, and is updated annually.

Database, Years of Coverage and Database Description
Database Name Years of Coverage Database Description
IIFP 1972 to Present, updated quarterly

International Index to Film Periodicals

The limit of databases that you can select for a multifile search session is based upon database segments rather than actual databases. The Ovid multifile segment limit is set at 120 to avoid impacting your search sessions. This database includes 1 segment.

This database is updated online quarterly.

 

 
Fields
The following list is sorted alphabetically by field alias. Click a field name to see the description and search information.
All Fields in this Database
  Abstract (AB) Country of Publication (CP) Journal Name Word (JX)
  Accession Number (AN) Film Country (FC) Language (LG)
  All Searchable Fields (AF) Film Description (FI) Page (PG)
  Article Title (AR) Film Director (FD) Publication Year (YR)
  Article Type (AT) Film Title (FT) Record ID (RI)
  Author (AU) Film Title Word (FX) Source (SO)
  Author Name (AX) Film Year (FY) Subject (SH)
  Biography (BI) Frequency (FQ) Subject Word (HW)
  Biography Word (BX) ISSN (IS) Title (TI)
  Corporate Name (CN) Issue Number (IP) Volume (VO)
  Corporate Name Word (CX) Journal Name (JN)  
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Default Fields for Unqualified Searches (MP): Searching for a term without specifying a field in Advanced search, or specifying .mp., defaults to the following ‘multi-purpose’ (.mp.) fields for this database: ar,ab,ax,bx,cx,hw,fx,dw.
  Abstract (AB) Biography Word (BX) Film Title Word (FX)
  Article Title (AR) Corporate Name Word (CX) Subject Word (HW)
  Author Word (AX) Film Director Word (DW)  
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Default Fields for Display, Print, Email, and Save: The following fields are included by default for each record.

  Abstract (AB) Article Title (AR) Source (SO)
  Accession Number (AN) Film Description (FI) Subject (SH)
  Author (AU) Film Title (FT)  
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All Fields for Display, Print, Email, and Save: Use the Select Fields button in the Results Manager at the bottom of the Main Search Page to choose the fields for a record.

  Abstract (AB) Film Country (FC) Journal Name (JN)
  Accession Number (AN) Film Description (FI) Language (LG)
  Article Title (AR) Film Director (FD) Publication Year (YR)
  Article Type (AT) Film Title (FT) Record ID (RI)
  Author (AU) Film Year (FY) Source (SO)
  Biography (BI) ISSN (IS) Subject (SH)
  Corporate Name (CN)    
  Country of Publication (CP)    
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Elements of Source (SO) Field: Ovid searches the following fields as part of the record source.

  Frequency (FQ) Journal Name Word (JX) Publication Year (YR)
  Issue Number (IP) Page (PG) Volume (VO)
  Journal Name (JN)    
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The following list is sorted alphabetically by the two-letter label, and includes the relevant alias, at least one example for all searchable fields, and a description of the field.
Label Name / Example
AB Abstract [Word Indexed]
aanrijding.ab.
 

The Abstract (AB) field contains an abstract that summarizes the major points of the article. You can search for any word or phrase in this field.

List of Periodicals Indexes (LOPI) and Treasures of Film Archive (TRFA) don't have this field.

Back 
AF All Searchable Fields [Search Alias]
heart.af.
 

All Fields (AF) is an alias for all of the fields which occur in the source documents, including value-added fields such as Abstract (AB).

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AN Accession Number [Phrase Indexed]
10000060.an.
 

The Accession Number (AN) field is an 8-digit unique identifier for IIFP, IITP and LOPI assigned to each record in the databases.

The Accession Number (AN) field is 5-digit unique identifier for TRFA assigned to each record in the database.

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AR Article Title [Word Indexed]
80erversionen.ar.
 

The Article Title (AR) field gives information about the record, it specifies the title of an article.
This field is only available in International Index to Film Periodicals (IIFP) and International Index to TV Periodicals (IITP).

 
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AT Article Type [Phrase Indexed]
festival report.at.
 

The Article Type (AT) field contains details about the nature of the item being indexed (interview, review, etc.) and indicates whether illustrative material or filmographic information appears in the original document.

You may limit your searches using the Article Type Lists under Additional Limit.

This field is only available in International Index to Film Periodicals (IIFP) and International Index to TV Periodicals (IITP).

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AU Author [Phrase Indexed]
abbondanza j.au.
 

The Author (AU) field contains the name(s) of the individual(s) responsible for the content of the original article. You can search personal author names, using the Author Index.
This field is not available in List of Periodicals Indexes (LOPI) and Treasures of Film Archives (TRFA).

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AX Author Word [Word Indexed]
abbondanza.ax.
 

The Author Word (AX) is a word index containing the values of Author field.

 
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BI Biography [Phrase Indexed]
abbott lb.bi.
 

The Biography (BI) field includes the biographical headings (last name, first name). Alternative spellings and pseudonyms are listed as non-preferred terms. You can search personal names using the Biography Index.

This field is not available in List of Periodicals Indexes (LOPI) and Treasures of Film Archives (TRFA).

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BX Biography Word [Word Indexed]
abbott.bx.
 

The Biography Word (BX) is a word index containing the values of Biography (BI) field.

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CN Corporate Name [Phrase Indexed]
cinemateca nicaragua.cn.
 

The Corporate Name (CN) field gives names of the Corporation with a specific record. You may limit your searches using index for this field.

This field is only available in International Index to Film Periodicals (IIFP) and International Index to TV Periodicals (IITP).

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CP Country of Publication [Phrase Indexed]
australia.cp.
 

The Country of Publication (CP) index contains the full name of the country in which an article was published. The country name is entered into the index as a phrase.

You may limit your searches using the Country of Publication Lists under Additional Limit.

Note: This field is not available in Treasures of Film Archives (TRFA).

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CX Corporate Name Word [Word Indexed]
cinemateca.cx.
 

The Corporate Name Word (CX) is a word index containing the values of Corporate Name field.

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DW Film Director Word [Word Indexed]
 

The Film Director Word (DW) field contains the film director information for a record. This field is word indexed.

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FC

Film Country [Phrase Indexed]
ecuador.fc.

 

The Film Country (FC) field includes information about the country or countries of production. Co-productions are indicated as follows: e.g. BE-FR-UK.

But records display the equivalent value.

See the Film Country Lists under Additional Limits for a complete listing of the countries.

This field is not available in List of Periodicals Indexes (LOPI).

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FD

Film Director [Phrase Indexed]
aaron.fd.

 

The Film Directors (FD) field lists the film directors name (last name, first name). Names are searchable by last name and first name in any order.

This field is not available in List of Periodicals Indexes (LOPI).

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FI

Film Description [Phrase Indexed]
71 uk yann demange 2014.fi.

 

The Film Description (FI) field includes the film description. Each heading contains the original film title and information on the country of production, name of director(s) and year of first public showing. e.g. TOUCH OF EVIL (US, Orson Welles, 1958).

This field does not contain alternative titles. The Film Description Index allows you to browse in the list of original film titles. You can search on alternative film titles in the FT field.

This field is not available in List of Periodicals Indexes (LOPI).

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FQ Frequency [Word Indexed]
summer.fq.
 

The Frequency field (FQ) indicates the number of times a periodical is published.

This field is only available in International Index to Film Periodicals (IIFP), International Index to TV Periodicals (IITP) and List of Periodicals Indexes (LOPI). This field displays as part of Source (SO) field.

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FT Film Title [Phrase Indexed]
10 ans de cinema et de television publicitaires.ft.
 

The Film Title (FT) field includes information about the Film Title. All the films can be accessed either by their original title or by their alternative US and British release titles and, in the case of co-productions, also other language titles.

This field is not available in List of Periodicals Indexes (LOPI).

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FX Film Title Word [Word Indexed]
"101". fx.
 

The Film Title Word (FX) is a word index containing the values of Film Title field.

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FY Film Year [Phrase Indexed]
"1914".fy.
 

The Film Year (FY) field includes information about the year of first public showing of the film. If the year of first public showing differs by two years or more from the year of production, the year of production is also mentioned in square brackets: e.g. 1969 N. [prod.1969]. If no exact year could be found, the following conventions are used: e.g. N. ca. 1960 (for approximate year); N. 199 or 199- (for decade certain); N. 195- or 195-? (for probable decade). For television series the range of years indicates the period during which the series originally ran: e.g. 1992-1996.

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HW Subject Word [Word Indexed]
ageism.hw.
 

Sometimes you may wish to retrieve every Subject that includes a particular word or words. This is done by searching the desired word(s) in the Subject Word (HW) field.

This field is available in International Index to Film Periodicals (IIFP) and International Index to TV Periodicals (IITP) and Bibliography of FIAF Affiliates Publications (BFMP).

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IP Issue Number [Word Indexed]
"1075".ip.
 

The Issue Number (IP) field lists the issues of journals included in the database. You can search for a specific issue of a journal using the Issue Number (IP) Index. This field is displayed as part of Source (SO) field.

This field is only available in International Index to Film Periodicals (IIFP) and International Index to TV Periodicals (IITP).

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IS

ISSN [Phrase Indexed]
"0001 7361".is.

 

The ISSN (IS) field is a list of International Standard Serial Number (ISSN).

This field is not available in Treasures of Film Archives (TRFA).

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JN Journal Name [Phrase Indexed]
archivos de la filmoteca.jn.
 

The Journal Name (JN) field contains the name of the journal in which the article appeared. You can search for a specific journal using the Journal Name Index. This field is also displayed as part of Source (SO) field.

This field is not available in Treasures of Film Archives (TRFA).

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JX Journal Name Word [Word Indexed]
archivos.jx.
 

The Journal Name Word (JX) field contains individual words from every journal name displayed as part of the Source (SO) field. This field is used to retrieve every occurrence of a journal name which includes a particular word.

This field is only available in International Index to Film Periodicals (IIFP) and International Index to TV Periodicals (IITP) and List of Periodicals Indexes (LOPI).

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LG

Language [Phrase Indexed]
bulgarian.lg.

 

The Language (LG) field lists the language of the original document. When searching, use the full name. See the Languages List for a complete listing.

You may limit your searches using the Language Lists under Additional Limit.

This field is not available in Treasures of Film Archives (TRFA).

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PG Page [Word Indexed]
a23.pg.
 

The Page (PG) field contains the first page or sometimes whole range of pages on which an article was published in the source journal.

The Page (PG) displayed as part of the Source (SO) field.

This field is not available in List of Periodicals Indexes (LOPI) and Treasures of Film Archives (TRFA).

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RI Record ID [Phrase Indexed]
f1972 10001.ri.
 

The Record ID (RI) contains the old number assigned to each document to uniquely identify a particular record.

This field is only available in International Index to Film Periodicals (IIFP) and International Index to TV Periodicals (IITP).

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SH Subject [Phrase Indexed]
warhol andy in films.sh.
 

The Subject (SH) field lists the controlled vocabulary terms that describe the document. The field can include general subjects and corporate names. Preferred and non-preferred terms will be displayed in SH field.

Note: This field is not available in Treasures of Film Archives (TRFA) and List of Periodicals Indexes (LOPI).

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SO Source [Word Indexed]
feb.fq.
 

The Source (SO) field indicates the bibliographic source of the entry set. This field is composed of several fields such as : Journal Name (JN), Journal history (JH), Volume (VO), Issue Number (IP), Year of Publication (YR) or Publication range (PR) and Page number (PG). Not all record have this indexes in SO field.

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TI Title [Word Indexed]
alcatraz.ti.
 

The Title (TI) field contains the article title as published in the journal. The TI field in International Index to Film Periodicals (iifp) is equivalent to the Article Title (AR) field.

To avoid retrieving titles from the List of Periodicals Indexed, or Treasures from the Film Archives, it is recommended to use the AR field when you only want to retrieve article references.

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VO Volume [Word Indexed]
ccclxiv.vo.
 

The Volume (VO) field is display as part of Source (SO) field. Not all records have this information.

Note: This field is not available in Treasures of Film Archives (TRFA).

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YR Publication Year [Word Indexed]
"2010".yr.
 

The Publication Year (YR) field lists the year in which the document was published. This field is range searchable.

If no exact year could be found, the following conventions are used: e.g. N. ca. 1960 (for approximate year); N. 199 or 199- (for decade certain); N. 195- or 195-? (for probable decade)

You may limit your searches using the Publication Year Lists using Limits.

Note: Publication Year Lists limit is disabled when selecting Treasures of Film Archives (TRFA) List of Periodicals Indexes (LOPI).

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Advanced Searching
You can use special search syntax listed below to combine search terms or strategically develop a search. Full documentation is provided in the Advanced Searching Techniques section of the Online Help.
Operator Syntax Search Example Sample Results
OR x or y bipolar or mania

"The 2006 Idiot's Box Awards: the bipolar episode edition."

  The OR operator retrieves records that contain any or all of the search terms. For example, the search heart attack or myocardial infarction retrieves results that contain the terms heart attack, myocardial infarction or both terms; results are all inclusive. You can use the OR operator in both unqualified searches and searches applied to a specific field.
AND x and y light and dark

"The dark, the light & the cop: an interview with Robert Sarkies."

  The AND operator retrieves only those records that include all of the search terms. For example, the search blood pressure and stroke retrieves results that contain the term blood pressure and the term stroke together in the same record; results are exclusive of records that do not contain both of these terms. You can use the AND operator in both unqualified searches and searches applied to a specific field.
NOT x not y depression not bipolar

"When the lights went out - Hollywood, the depression, and the thirties."

  The NOT operator retrieves records that contain the first search term and excludes the second search term. For example, the search health reform not health maintenance organizations retrieves only those records that contain the term health reform but excludes the term health maintenance organizations. In this way, you can use the NOT operator to restrict results to a specific topic.
You can use the NOT operator in both unqualified searches and searches applied to a specific field.
Adjacency (ADJ) x y entertainment aspects

"The entertainment aspects of copyright law."

  The Adjacent operator (ADJ) retrieves records with search terms next to each other in that specific order. You do not need to separate search terms manually by inserting ADJ between them, because when you separate terms with a space on the command line, Ovid automatically searches for the terms adjacent to one another. For example, the search blood pressure is identical to the search blood adj pressure.
Defined Adjacency (ADJn) x ADJn y film adj3 review

"Semiology and the independent film: a review of criticism and theory."

  The defined adjacency operator (ADJn) retrieves records that contain search terms within a specified number (n-1) of words from each other in any order (stop-words included). To use the adjacency operator, separate your search terms with ADJ and a number from 1 to 99 as explained below:

           ADJ1     Next to each other, in any order
           ADJ2     Next to each other, in any order, up to 1 word in between
           ADJ3     Next to each other, in any order, up to 2 words in between
           ADJ99   Next to each other, in any order, up to 98 words in between

For example, the search physician adj5 relationship retrieves records that contain the words physician and relationship with a maximum of four words in between in either direction. This particular search retrieves records containing such phrases as physician patient relationship, patient physician relationship, or relationship between cancer patient and physician.
Please note Ovid’s order of operation handles terms within parentheses first. Therefore it is recommended to apply the ADJn operator in one-on-one operations to avoid missing out on results. E.g. stroke adj4 (blood pressure or high blood pressure) could potentially miss out on some combinations of stroke with high blood pressure. The optimum way to execute this on Ovid is: (stroke adj4 blood pressure) OR (stroke adj4 high blood pressure).
Frequency (FREQ) x.ab./FREQ=n film.ab. /freq=5

"Explores ways of reproducing films to satisfy access demands: film on film, film on video, film on CD-ROM, and film as photographs."

  The frequency operator (FREQ) lets you specify a threshold of occurrence of a term in the records retrieved from your search. Records containing your search term are retrieved only if the term occurs at least the specified (n) number of times. In general, records that contain many instances of your search term are more relevant than records that contain fewer instances. The frequency operator is particularly useful when searching a text field, such as Abstract or Full Text, for a common word or phrase.
Unlimited Truncation ($) x$ sex$

"Examines the social and sexual significance of Hollywood portrayals of the Pacific Islands from the 1920's to the 1980's."

  Unlimited truncation retrieves all possible suffix variations of the root word indicated. To apply unlimited truncation to a term, type the root word or phrase followed by either of the truncation characters: $ (dollar sign) or * (asterisk). For example, in the truncated search disease*, Ovid retrieves the word disease as well as the words diseases, diseased, and more.
Limited Truncation ($) x$n dog$1

"Dog years: reticence and reform in Kriv Stenders' Red dog: true blue."

  Limited truncation specifies a maximum number of characters that may follow the root word or phrase. For example, the truncated search dog$1 retrieves results with the words dog and dogs; but it does not retrieve results with the word dogma.
Mandated Wildcard (#) xx#y wom#n

"Yojaranun iyumanuro (Because you are a woman)."

  Searching with a mandated wildcard retrieves all possible variations of a word in which the wildcard is present in the specified place. You can use it at the end of a term to limit results to only those that contain the word plus the mandated character. For example, the search dog# retrieves results that contain the word dogs, but not those that contain the word dog, effectively limiting results to only those that contain the plural form of the word. The mandated wildcard character (#) is also useful for retrieving specialized plural forms of a word. For example, the search wom#n retrieves results that contain both woman and women. You can use multiple wildcards in a single query word.
Optional Wildcard (?) xx?y colo?r

"Screenwriter Richard Price and director Martin Scorsese discuss "The color of money"."

  The optional wildcard character (?) can be used within or at the end of a search term to substitute for one or no characters. This wild card is useful for retrieving documents with British and American word variants since it specifies that you want retrieval whether or not the extra character is present. For example, the optional wildcard search colo?r retrieves results that contain the words color or colour. You can use multiple wildcards in a single query word.
Literal String ("") "x / y" "left / right"

"Left, right and Asterix. "

"n" "3".pg

"Filmbulletin, Vol L nr 295 (Dec 2008), p. 3. "

 

Quotation marks can be used to retrieve records that contain literal strings, when the string includes special characters, such as a forward slash (/).

Quotation marks can also be used to retrieve records that contain numbers that may otherwise be confused for earlier searches. In the example, a search for 3.vo would limit the string from your third search in your search history to the volume field. By including the number in quotation marks, the search will retrieve documents with a 3 in the volume number.

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Stopwords

The Ovid search engine applies so called "run-time stopword processing". This means the search engine on the fly ignores the stopwords: and, as, by, for, from, in, is, of, on, that, the, this, to, was, were & with.

Therefore a search: at risk for diabetes.ti will also find: at risk of diabetes. The distance of one word in between is kept, but the stopword "for" is ignored.
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Limits
The following limits are available for this database. See Database Limits in the Ovid Online Help for details on applying limits.

Limit

Syntax
Abstracts Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to "book review"
Command Syntax: ..l/ ab=y
 

A limit to Abstracts will restrict retrieval to documents which contain an abstract.

Article Type Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to Bio-filmography
 

A limit restricts retrieval of records to specific article type.

Country of Publication Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to brazil
 

A limit searches for a specific country or countries in this field.

English Language Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to english language
Command Syntax: ..l/ 1 en=y
 

A limit to English restricts retrieval to articles which are written in the English language.

Film Country Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to australia
 

A limit restricts retrieval of records to specific country or countries of production.

Languages Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to finnish
 

A limit to Language will present an alphabetic list of the most significant languages from which to select.

Local Holdings Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to local holdings
 

A limit to local holdings will restrict retrieval to documents from journals held in your local library or library system.

If your System Administrator has created any special messages about a journal's availability, this message will display with the document in the Local Holdings (LH) field.

Publication Year Sentence Syntax: limit 1 to yr="1981"
 

You can restrict retrieval to any of the years which this database covers.

Note: Publication Year lists limit is disabled when selecting Treasures of Film Archives (TRFA)

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Tools
The following Search Tools are available for this database. For specific information on using these tools, refer to the Ovid Online Help linked below.
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Changing to this Database
To change a search session to a segment of this database from another database or another segment, use the following syntax in the Ovid Syntax tab:
  Command Syntax:

..c/iifp

  Sentence Syntax:

use iifp

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Sample Documents
Sample #1
Accession Number
  10010334
Journal Name
  Film a Doba
ISSN
  0015-1068
Source
  Film a Doba, Vol XXX nr 1 (Jan 1984), p. 53-55.
Publication Year
  1984
Country of Publication
  Czech Republic
Language
  Czech
Author
  Kratochvilova, Veronika
Article Title  
  Varna 83.
Abstract
  On the 3rd international festival of animated films, Varna 1983.
Article Type
  Festival Report; Illustration(s)
Subject
  ANIMATED FILMS
FESTIVALS VARNA 1983 Record ID F1984. 40596
Sample #2
Accession Number
  29920246
Journal Name
  Ecran
ISSN
  0243-4490
Source
  Ecran, nr 4 (Apr 1972), p. 33-36.
Publication Year
  1972
Country of Publication
  France
Language
  French
Author
  Lopes, F.; others
Article Title
  Autour du cinema portugais.
Abstract
  Two Portuguese filmmakers and two Portuguese film critics discuss the present situation of the national cinema.
Article Type
  Discussion; Illustration(s)
Subject
  PORTUGAL
Record ID
  F1972. 11405
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Producer Information
Producer
FIAF
Rue Blanche 42
1060 Brussels
Belgium
Tel: 32 (0)2 538 30 65 (FIAF)
Fax: 32 (0)2 534 47 74
Email: [email protected]
URL: http://www.fiafnet.org

Support & Technical Contact
Rutger Penne | P.I.P Editor
Tel: 32 (0)2 534 61 30 (P.I.P.)
Email: [email protected]

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Copyright

Copyright of the data, FIAF, 1972 to present, All Rights Reserved Copyright production, database build and data conversions, IVS nv/sa -Iscientia, 2003 to present, All Rights Reserved Copyright Search and Retrieval Software, 1990 to present.

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