Credits

The Power of an Author search for Audiovisual items


It is family lore that when I was young I wasn’t allowed to ask for a drink when I visited my neighbors so I got around this by quoting a t.v. commercial: “You know orange juice isn’t just for breakfast anymore.” I’m going to revisit my days of mischief in a more constructive way and advise: “You know searching by author isn’t just for books anymore.”

In the Audiovisual Room patrons sometimes ask if they can search for movies by the actors in them or for CDs by their musical artists. We let them know that they can use an author search to do so. The author search is a powerful mechanism for connecting you to the materials you want. It taps into the various people who have contributed to the creation of the piece. You can use an author search to find items by a director or composer too. You want a Julia Roberts movie…great! Here’s what’s available to you. Mozart is more your style…cool! Here is what we have to check out. What projects has Rob Reiner been involved with? Here’s a list of things you can get that he’s acted in or directed.

One cool thing about the author search is that it points you to other materials by a person if they’ve been created under a pseudonym. Take the rapper Sean Combs. Searching by “Combs, Sean”, “Puff Daddy”, “Puffy”, or “Diddy, P” will provide a link to the record for “Diddy” under which his various projects are shown (including his new group, Diddy Dirty Money). This includes his music and acting projects.

So don’t forget to use the author search to ask for your audiovisual cup of tea!

posted by Lisa

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