Database of the Month: IMDB.com

Awards season is just around the corner when Hollywood bestows various honors related to film and television. Whether you are a cinephile or a casual viewer, the Internet Movie Database, or IMDb, can be a wonderful resource to help you navigate the ins and outs of the industry. IMDb (www.imdb.com) is a freely available database that originally started in 1990. The database includes millions of records and is considered to be an authoritative source for film and television. Content includes:

• Records for movies and television shows
• Entries for industry professionals and celebrities including actors, directors, writers, composers, producers, and more (including filmographies and brief biographies)
• Trivia
• Quotes
• Industry news & event coverage
• Box office charts & trends
• Release calendars

Found movies on IMDB that you would like to watch? Bentley Library has a number of DVDs and streaming films. Search the Bentley Library Search to find our available DVDs or search one of our streaming film collections:

• Films on Demand offers educational film titles in a variety of subject areas.
• Kanopy includes many various collections including films from the Criterion Collection, documentaries, films appearing at various international film festivals, Academy Award winning films and nominees, and more! Browse collections or search for specific titles.
• Swank Digital Campus includes both classic and contemporary films. Some past award winners such as American Beauty, Argo, The Hurt Locker, and The Departed are available in our collection. Can be searched by title or genre.

Image Credit: thumb_film_reel_2_1. By ScypaxPictures, 2010, (Flickr). Used under Creative Commons License BY-ND 2.0 with no modifications.

Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to a useful website or Library database, highlighting key features you should know about. If you would like more information about this free web resource (or any of the library’s databases), please contact us for research assistance. If you would like a demonstration of this resource for a class, please schedule a research instruction class using the instruction request form.