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WRI 112/113: The Craft of Authenticity: Finding/Using Videos, Data & Social Media

Guide for using the library for research successfully in Julianna Visco's writing seminar.

Video holdings at Princeton

Interested in discovering what films you can get your hands on at Princeton? Consult this guide to find films using the library catalog. If PUL doesn't own a film, suggest a purchase or attempt to get via Borrow Direct or Interlibrary Loan (see Library Services menu on main library website).

Princeton also subscribes to a handful of video streaming resources: do a search for video at the DATABASES search.

Art & Architecture in Video (avail. to PU affiliates) seems to have a handful of videos in the craft realm.

Finding/Using Data & SM

If interested in finding or using data, consult the Data & Statistical Sources website, a unit in Firestone Library that provides specialized services. Refer to the University guidelines on using and posting to SM; see especially the Glossary at the bottom. See this list of SM Research Tools.

Interested in using or analyzing social media? This guide from Northwestern University Libraries provides many resources related to doing research on/with social media. Tips for finding and evaluating primary source materials can be found here.

The Chicago Manual of Style does a good job of providing examples of citing different kinds of social media platforms.

The online version of MLA provides guidance in a few different sections:

  • See 2.107 for titles of apps (put in italics, e.g. InstagramTikTok)
  • see 2.123 on very long titles (see note about social media posts)
  • Sections 5.31-5.37 speak about Containers: e.g. how to cite a photo or video clip included on Instagram, TikTok, etc.

Types of social media (be strategic in what you choose to work on/with, not random):

  • blog posts
  • Internet forums
  • news sources / interviews
  • YouTube videos       etc.