Library: Animation: Articles & Databases

Journal Spotlight

Animation Magazine

Click on the links below to view the full-text of these recently published articles.

Quick Links to Periodicals of Interest

These links will take you to a listing of available issues of several animation-related periodicals. Once you see the listing of journals by date, clicking on any date will take you to a listing of articles available full text in that issue.

Animation Xpress
Computer Graphics World
Woodbury University Library has access to this title on computer animation both in print and online.

Databases for Animation Research

The following databases will help you find videos and articles for animation. You will find plenty of animation trade information here (industry news, interviews, tutorials, information on technique). For scholarly articles that look at animation history and theory from a more academic point of view, you may not find quite as much but there are still several tricks you can use to dig up quality sources. Contact a librarian for help if you are having trouble finding what you need!

Art & Architecture Source This link opens in a new window
A great database for scholarly and trade articles related to animation.
Communication and Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new window
While there's not as much Animation-specific content in this database, it does have lots of great articles about mass media. You can often use many of these media & communication articles to feed into your animation projects.
Design and Applied Arts Index (DAAI) This link opens in a new window
Use this database to discover art and design articles (it's especially useful for uncovering hard-to-find articles from our print periodicals).
Film & Television Literature Index This link opens in a new window
This database offers magazine and journal articles on subjects like cinematography, film and television theory, film production, film reviews, and screenwriting. It also contains all of the major Animation scholarly journals.
Fine Arts: Gale OneFile This link opens in a new window
Fine Arts: Gale OneFile places 10.4 million articles at the fingertips of serious students of animation, game design, art history, and filmmaking. More than 250 journals are available in full text.
O'Reilly Learning Platform This link opens in a new window
Often known for its books featuring animals on the cover, O'Reilly offers ebooks mainly in computer science but also encompassing business, mathematics, and other topics. Some titles include audiobook format and video content.
Stashmedia.tv This link opens in a new window
...provides streaming access to an extensive online database of design, animation, and visual effects videos– over 5,500 videos – plus behind the scenes features and exclusive interviews.

Finding the Full-Text of Articles

While many of your search results will include "full-text" (meaning the actual article, not just a summary/abstract), others have only an abstract. So, what do you do when you find an article that is exactly what you need, but the database does not have PDF or HTML links for the full text?

If this happens, look for this icon:

That button will search all of our other databases, and our print periodicals too, and tell you if the article is available through our library (and where to find it).

If you get this message:

this means that the library does not have access to this article at all. If that happens, you can still request the article through Interlibrary Loan and we'll get it for you from another library. Just click the "Request this item" button, or fill out a blank form here, or ask a librarian for help.

Websites and Blogs

Well-written blogs and websites can be used the same way you'd use a trade or scholarly article from the library. Here are a couple examples of excellent sources of animation information on the open web:

Cartoon Research
A blog from Woodbury professor Jerry Beck.
Animation Magazine
Animation World Network