As interdisciplinary cultural studies programs become increasingly prevalent in North America, many humanities-trained scholars find themselves drawn to study film from a similar perspective. Finding source materials such as copies of canon films and appropriate scholarly resources is complicated by library lending policies that do not extend to media items, or foreign films with formats different from those collected by one�s institution. This article examines such problematic issues for patrons looking for films and includes personal experiences at several research institutions in both Los Angeles and Paris, with advice and insight for the potential researcher writing about film for academic purposes.