Source Notes

Leyda senses the relationship between film workers and academic historians, although he leaves the subject without any real analysis (pp. 15-17). It seems likely that historians will fill in the missing links, as they more and more turn to film as a worthwhile , indeed necessary, source for the writing of modern history. Martin A. Jackson ]¡hile we await your responses to the questionnaire with regard to what areas need the fullest coverage in our Newsletter, the editors propose the two following departments as permanent features. In Source Notes we will pass along the suggestions of our readers for easy and inexpensive sources of films. The Film Reviews we hope will help you decide which films to use with your classes and perhaps give you some hints on how to use a particular film to its best advantage in the classroom. *** SOURCE NOTES *** The most convenient and least expensive source of films for classroom use is your local public library. Not every library has a film collection but many do and their numbers are growing as are the size of the collections. Many libraries supplement the films that they own with membership in a film library circuit, which provides them with a selection of a dozen or more titles for a month or more at a time to give the local borrower as wide as possible a selection in the course of a year. Some film library circuits have "pool collections " with copies of the most popular films kept at a central location year round. These can be borrowed by patrons of any of the local branches as long às sufficient notice is given. A few libraries will even lend projecting equipment and screen. While it is true that only one in ten of the films available in a public library is likely to be useable in the upper level history classroom and that some libraries dislike lending films for class use (The New York Public for example) , the few titles that are available might be just the ones you can use. We at Newark College of Engineering last year had the experience of renting a film from a commercial source for $25, only to find a few weeks later that the same film was available free from the East Orange Public Library, only minutes away. If a community library in your vicinity has films you can use, see if one of your colleagues lives in the community and has borrowing priviledges. Otherwise your department might purchase a membership or make other arrangements to borrow the films. It is true that the larger urban areas are more likely to have libraries equipped with film collections, but those of you out in the hinterlands—don't give up. If no local library in your area has a film collection or belongs to a film circuit, write your State Librarian for information. Many state libraries have film collections from which they will lend by mail, perhaps costing the borrower no more than the cost of postage back and forth. *** FILM REVIEWS *** This department of the Newsletter attempts to put into effect one of the suggestions most warmly received at our first meeting in December. We hope to be able to exchange and make available for all interested the comments of historians and teachers of history on films that they have used in their classes. The summaries that film catalogs provide tend often to be incomplete and uncritical, and are never aimed directly at the teacher considering the film for classroom use. The primary ingredients we are interested in are the historical scope of the film, the basic ideas it attempts to convey, and suggestions on how to best utilize the film in the history classroom. The opinions you find here will be those of other historians and teachers rather than the opinions of the producers of the films or of the commercial renting firm. This experiment can only be successful if you will cooperate and share your experiences with us . There is a film review form included with the Newsletter. It may be photocopied or additional copies may be requested from the Committee. We will include as many reviews as possible in...