What is the man doing?

W: Sir, you’ ve been using the online catalogue for quite a while. Is there anything I can do to help you?
M: Well, I’ ve got to write a paper about Hollywood in the 30s and 40s, and I’ m really struggling. There are hundreds of books, and I just don’ t know where to begin.
W: Your topic sounds pretty big. Why don’ t you narrow it down to something like... uh... the history of the studios during that time?
M: You know, I was thinking about doing that, but more than 30 books came up when I typed in " movie studios".
W: You could cut that down even further by listing the specific years you want. Try adding "1930s" or "1940s" or maybe " Golden Age".
M: "Golden Age" is a good idea. Let me type that in. Hey, look, just 6 books this time. That’ s a lot better.
W: Oh, another thing you might consider. Have you tried looking for any magazines or newspaper articles?
M: No, I’ ve only been searching for books.
W: Well, you can look up magazine articles in the Reader’ s Guide to Periodical Literature.
M: Okay, I think I’ll get started with these books and then I’ll go over the magazines.
W: If you need any help, I’ll be over at the Reference Desk.
M: Great, thanks a lot.