What's New

American Film Institute Catalog is updated with new content twice a year. This page highlights content and enhancements that have been added.

October 2007 release

This release of the American Film Institute Catalog sees the completion of records for the year 1972, a seminal year for American film with the release of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. Coppola was just one of the new generation of filmmakers who were making their mark at this time: this release also includes records for early films by Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, John Boorman, Brian De Palma, Robert Altman and Peter Bogdanovich. As well as plot summaries, extensive notes and source citations, all records include full production credits, details of cast and music, and indexing by both subject and genre: the genres ‘Horror’ and ‘Blaxploitation’ both feature heavily for the year 1972.

In addition, the indexers have made corrections and additions to existing records. The Catalog now includes more than 48,000 film records, and new records for the year 1973 onwards will be added in 2008.

November 2006 release

The American Film Institute Catalog has now extended its coverage through 1971. The Catalog currently offers over 47,760 film records with detailed subject and music indexing, plot summaries and production notes. In addition, over 1,000 revised film entries are included. These film records have been updated with current information on new film and television adaptations of older films, the latest news on persons in the film records, additions to silent film records from new research findings, and other relevant film industry news.

The Top Ten Films of the last 5 years, selected by AFI, are also featured with full entries, subject and music indexing, and extensive plot summaries and production notes. For instance, the entry for Crash, also the 2005 winner of the Academy Award's Best Picture award, includes detailed information on the creation of the script, casting, distribution, and box office results. The Top Ten Films entries may be found on the home page of the AFI Catalog.

The American Film Institute's editorial staff is continuing their research into the films of the 1970s decade, as well as their ongoing work of updating existing film records. Coverage beyond 1971 will be added in 2007, as well as the 2006 Top Ten Films.

December 2005 release

Linking from American Film Institute Catalog

For institutions that employ a link resolver, there are two types of outbound linking now available in American Film Institute Catalog:

  • Reference Linking
    Search the library's holdings for the full text of journal articles listed in the Source Citation section of the Film records.
  • Film Finder
    Find the dvd or video of a film indexed in American Film Institute Catalog in your library catalogue by clicking on the link in each Film record.

To enable linking functionality you should contact your librarian or systems administrator who can access information on linking in the Information Resources area of American Film Institute Catalog.

Z39.50 Compliance

American Film Institute Catalog is now compliant with the Z39.50 standard, allowing searching via federated search engines and other remote systems. Information on how to enable searching via Z39.50 can be found in the Information Resources area of the service.

Enhancements to Navigation and Functionality

  • Citation generation
    This allows users to export citations directly into the reference manager software applications EndNote, ProCite, Reference Manager or RefWorks, or to save citations as a plain text file.
  • Improved navigation within records
    We have added jump-down links in film and person records. These links go straight to the Notes section of the record and are designed to reduce the amount of scrolling.
  • User Information
    To help users get the most out of American Film Institute Catalog, search tips have now been added. To access this information, click on the links which are accessible from the About page of the service.
  • MARC record
    A MARC record is available for American Film Institute Catalog which contains a OpenURL link directly to the home page allowing American Film Institute Catalog to become fully integrated with your library system. Librarians can download this from the Information Resources area of the service.

August 2005 release

Additional film records

This release of the American Film Institute Catalog contains the most recent data produced by the editorial staff at the American Film Institute. American Film Institute Catalog now covers 1893-1970 and provides in-depth indexing of over 47,500 films.

Coming soon - OpenURL Reference linking

The American Film Institute Catalog will shortly support outbound OpenURL linking at journal level. If your institution employs a link resolver, you will be able to follow links from the reference citations in the film records to corresponding electronic full text or local physical holdings of that journal. Librarians can enable OpenURL Reference linking by filling in the details of the institution's link resolver in the Information Resources area.

October 2004 release

New and updated data

This release includes the most recent data available from the AFI. New records from 1957 and 1958 are included and a substantial amount of revised information has also been added.

August 2004 release

Alternate name searching

Searching for film cast and crew has been optimized in AFI Catalog to include results that use alternate names and pseudonyms.

Athens compliance (for UK educational institutions)

Athens is a method of user authentication used by educational institutions in the UK. AFI Catalog is now Athens compliant and UK institutions wishing to enable access via Athens should email customer_service@proquest.co.uk to request this facility. Once it is activated, users can log on by following the link on the home page and entering their Athens username and password.

June 2004 release

New and updated data & Top Ten Films for 2003

This new release includes the most recent data available from the AFI - both new records and a substantial amount of revised information. The Top Ten Films for 2003 selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) are also included and can be accessed from the home page of the site.

Updated formatting

The formatting of production information and article citations in film records has been enhanced to make it easier to view the extensive information about each film.

Changes to advanced search fields - 'Cast', 'Crew' and 'Other information'

Following user feedback about the names of the search fields, the 'Cast and crew' field has been renamed 'Cast', and 'Production' has become 'Crew'. A new field, 'Other information', has been introduced, which searches information related to language, the physical properties of a film, copyright information, distribution company, production company and premiere information.

Results re-sorting in chronological order

A new option that enables you to sort your set of results in chronological order has been added to the site; results can now be displayed in Alphabetical, Reverse-chronological or Chronological order.

Durable URL for each film record

A feature enabling you to generate a Durable URL (OpenURL format) for each film is now available. These URLs can be used in learning materials, course pages or websites to enable direct linking to these records in the resource.

The 'Durable URL' link is included on every film record screen (next to the 'refine this search' link). Clicking on this link generates a pop-up containing the durable link, which can then be copied and pasted to enable direct navigation to the record.

E-mail selected records in HTML format

You now have the option to e-mail your selected records in plain text or in HTML format. The new HTML option displays each record in a format similar to the layout of the site.

October 2003 release

New and updated content

As well as featuring a new design for AFI Catalog, this new release includes additional and updated film records. Films released in 1951-1955 are now available and many of the existing entries have been updated. A new feature which lists entries for the Top 10 films from 2000-2007 is now available on the site. Further Top 10 films information is available below.

Enhanced search capability

The new interface enables you to find in-depth information on American films quickly and easily. A Quick search is included on the home page for immediate access to the wealth of content in the site.

A more advanced search allows in-depth, detailed searching for information about films. Thirteen different search fields allow you to narrow your searches to focus on specific genres, or search for films released during a range of years, for example. You can also refine your searches to widen or pinpoint your results. Search results are returned in reverse-chronological order by default and can be re-sorted alphabetically.

AFI Catalog supports the Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT to enable you to combine search terms and execute more powerful searches. Exact, proximity and truncation searching can also be performed.

Detailed information for your research

The records include detailed information about each film. Included in each record are in-depth production information, credits and cast lists, information on the songs and music associated with the film, and detailed plot summaries. Classification information for Genre, Principal subjects and Additional subjects are included, which are created using controlled vocabulary. Many films have an additional historical Notes field to give you extra insight into the film.

Selected records

During your research, you can select those film records that are of particular interest and add them to a Selected records list. On the selected records page, notes can be added to each record and you can print or e-mail the entire list.

Top 10 Films

AFI Catalog now includes information on the Top 10 films selected by the American Film Institute for the last eight years, 2000 to 2007. These selections were made through AFI's unique jury process in which one chair, three scholars, three artists, three critics and three AFI Trustees discuss, debate and determine the most outstanding achievements of the year and provide a rationale for each selection. You will find a link to the Top 10 films on the homepage of the site.

Search history

The Search history logs all searches run in one user session. The details of each search are summarized, and you can re-execute, refine or combine these searches.

Information resources

This area of the site contains resources and information for librarians and administrators about AFI Catalog.

Usage statistics are accessible from Information resources. These are based on International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) guidelines, are easy to collate and give a full breakdown of access statistics.

Accessibility

The AFI Catalog interface adheres to U.S. government and industry guidelines regulating Web accessibility for disabled users. These guidelines include Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and Priority 2 standards of the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Some features also contribute towards compliance with Priority 2 and 3 guidelines. More information about accessibility in AFI Catalog is available.

Help

Help files are provided to answer any queries you may have about using AFI Catalog. These are context sensitive so that clicking the 'Help' link provides the most relevant information.

Further support is available if you contact us. The "contact us" link can be found at the bottom of each page of the site. We will respond to queries as soon as possible, generally within 24 hours of receiving the e-mail.

Future enhancements

Forthcoming updates of the site will include additional content as well as enhanced features. The facility to retrieve results associated with all versions of an actor's name (alternate names, pseudonyms, stage names etc.) is also under review.