This 2-section guide covers both professionally-produced documentaries for a general viewing audience and footage produced by researchers for their own viewing in data collection and analysis. The first section, which focuses on edited documentaries, includes information on how documentaries are produced and on usefulness and realism, a catalog of edited documentaries about schools, and advice on showing and discussing the documentary with an audience. The second section discusses the production and use of research documents, approaches and purposes, and how to present research footage to audiences. An annotated bibliography and a short list of research projects are included. Five main topics are interspersed throughout the guide: (1) issues in making and showing footage for effective teaching in research and staff development; (2) viewers' perspectives and expectations; (3) points of access to networks of documentary film products, distributors, and researchers who use audiovisual documents; (4) an introduction to basic intellectual sources, especially in the research literature; and (5) consumer protection information about unintentional and intentional distortion and about ethical problems in the production and use of commercial and research footage. (LMM)