Ferroelectric and dielectric properties of barium titanate (BaTiO3) bulk ceramics and thin films have been investigated. The bulk ceramics and thin film samples have been prepared from barium acetate [Ba(CH3COO)(2)] and titanium(lv)isopropoxide [Ti(CH3)(2)CHO)(4)] precursors by sol-gel technique. The as-grown bulk powder and thin films were found to be amorphous, which crystallized to tetragonal phase after annealing at 700 degrees C in air for one hour. The values of the spontaneous polarization (P-s), remanant polarization (P-r) and coercive field (E-c) of the bulk ceramics were found to be 19.0, 12.6 mu C cm(-2) and 30 kV cm(-1) respectively. In the case of the film, the values of P-s, P-r and E-c were respectively found to be 14.0, 3.2 mu C cm(-2) and 53 kV cm(-1). The capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics of the film also showed polarization hysteresis. The values of the dielectric constant (epsilon) of the bulk ceramic and thin film at 1 kHz were found to be 1235 and 370 respectively. Both the films and ceramics showed dielectric anomaly peaks at 125 degrees C, showing ferroelectric to paraelectric phase transition.