Finding Content in the Collection
Before you start your search for footage, it is important to familiarize yourself with how the collection is organized.
Each news program is segmented by staff into an individual clip for each news story. The majority of clips in the database are then given a staff-written title and abstract (summary) providing a short description of the contents of the clip.
When you search the collection, the results are based on keywords found in the abstract or title of a given clip (see example below).
Additionally, each clip in the collection is associated with a unique item number. The item number also appears in the URL for a clip. For the below example, the URL is https://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/broadcasts/80394. Copying the item number to a separate document can help you keep your research notes organized.
Users at sponsoring academic institutions (excludes Vanderbilt users) will only be able to stream content originating from CNN and NBC. If a video is not playing, it is likely from a different network. Please use our loan service to access content from other networks.
To look up news programs that aired on a specific date, the broadcast index is the best way to search. The broadcast index allows you to view a list of all the segments that aired on a specified day.
The broadcast index can be accessed on the Television News Website via the navigation bar at the bottom of the homepage.
The page shows a list of years and months.
After clicking into a month, you'll be able to see news coverage for each day. Select a program to see a list of segments aired during the program. Click into any segment to view the clip.
Scroll to the bottom of the page to see a list of Specials in the collection that aired during the month. Click on any of the segment titles to view the footage.
To search the collection using specific keywords, you will need to open the advanced search box.
(1) Click on the "Search" button at the top of the website, then select "Advanced."
(2) Enter your keywords in the search box. The search function is NOT programmed to use Boolean operators. Changing the SEARCH TYPE is the best way to limit your results.
"Word Search" is toggled by default. Word search uses “OR” between each term and ranks the results based on frequency of all entered terms in the title and abstract.
Instead, toggle "Phrase Search" to search by the exact phrase entered (circled below in red).
(3) To further refine your results, you can limit your search to specific dates, a specific anchor, a network, or by selecting segment types to omit.
Users at academic institutions (excluding Vanderbilt) should limit the network to NBC or CNN.
"Word Search" versus "Phrase Search" example
Doing a word search for the keywords "strawberry festival" yields 1,608 results. It includes all clips in the collection that contain the word "strawberry" or "festival" in the title or abstract. The order of the list is based on the number of times a keyword appears in the title or abstract. The top result is a story featuring a baseball player named Darryl Strawberry, not news about strawberry festival.
Doing a phrase search for the keywords "strawberry festival" yields 2 results. Both results are news stories that mention a Strawberry Festival.
