Welcome to the Theatre
Subject Guide!
This
subject guide is intended to be a starting point for your
research on theatre and drama topics.
Recommended databases,
journals, reference tools, and websites are listed (and linked
when it is an electronic resource) from the menu above.
This Subject Guide was compiled by the library liaison to the
Theatre Department,
Krista Knapp.
If you have questions, please use the information below to
contact Krista!
This page was last updated on 2/24/2009.
Jump to:
Books in Blackwell
Library
Search the
online
Library Catalog
for books in Blackwell Library.
You can search by Title, Author, Subject or Keyword, or you can
do a browse search. The books you can check out say
"Stacks" before the call number and are located on the
second floor of the library.
If you feel like browsing, here is a website that explains
Library of Congress Classification,
which is how books are organized in our library.
Click here to see a list of recently added
theatre/dance titles!
These are call number ranges you might want to browse:
|
PN1635
- 1650 |
Drama –
special subjects |
|
PN1660 -
1693 |
Technique
of dramatic composition |
|
PN1720 -
1861 |
History |
|
PN1865 -
1988 |
Special
types |
|
PN2000-3307 |
Dramatic
representation. The theater |
|
PN2061-2071 |
Art of
acting |
|
PN2085-2091 |
The
stage and accessories |
|
PN2131-2193 |
By
period |
|
PN2131-2145 |
Ancient
|
|
PN2152-2160 |
Medieval
|
|
PN2171-2179 |
Renaissance |
|
PN2181-2193 |
Modern
|
|
PN2219.3-3030 |
Special
regions or countries |
|
PN3035
|
The
Jewish theater |
|
PN3151-3171 |
Amateur
theater |
|
PN3175-3191 |
College
and school theatricals |
|
PN3203-3299 |
Tableaux, pageants, "Happenings," etc |
Subject Searching
Why would you
want to do a
subject search? Well, let's say you were
interested in finding all the books in the library about cats.
You might find books about cats under "Cats," "Kittens,"
Felines," or a variety of other keywords. When you search by
subject, then all of the synonyms are accounted for, so "Cats"
as a subject would include all the books about "Kittens" and
"Felines" as well. Subjects can also serve to narrow your
search. A keyword search of "cats" would retrieve all the books
that just have a few pages about cats, whereas a search of the
subject "Cats" would retrieve books where the main focus were
those cute, furry creatures! This
website
from MIT might do a better job of explaining it than I did!
Here are some
subjects related to Theatre you might want to try in your
searches. This list might also be helpful if you are stumped
with a broad topic and need to focus it a bit. Copy the term or
phrase into a search box in the
Library Catalog
and select "subject" in the left-hand box.
Come
on, get creative! You can combine subjects or subjects and
keywords.
Remember, joining terms with "OR" will get you "MORE" results
and joining terms with "AND" will narrow your results.
Savvy researchers try lots of different combinations of terms
and discover what yields the best results. Happy
searching!
|
General
theatre |
History, continued |
Technical, continued |
|
African
Americans -- Drama |
Theater --
history |
Stage
lighting |
|
Experimental
drama |
Theater --
history -- 20th century |
Stage
management |
|
Musicals |
Theater --
United States -- history |
|
|
Musical
theater |
|
By place |
|
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
Acting |
American
Drama |
|
Theater and
society |
Acting – Auditions |
Theater --
England |
|
Theater --
moral and ethical aspects |
Acting –
history |
Theater --
France |
| |
Monologues |
Theater --
Germany |
|
History |
|
Theater --
Greece |
|
Drama – 18th
century |
Technical |
Theater -- New
York (State) -- New York |
| Drama – 19th
century |
Theater --
production and direction |
Theater --
Rome |
| Drama – 20th
century |
Theaters --
stage-setting and scenery |
Theater --
United States |
| Drama --
history and criticism |
Theatrical
makeup |
|
| Drama,
Medieval |
Stage props |
|
Looking for a play?
Plays are
assigned subject headings in this fashion: Topic (what the play
is about) -- drama.
For example: Sex role -- drama, Race relations -- drama,
Sisters -- drama.
A good way to
find a list of plays we own in the library (we get this question
a lot at the reference desk) would be to
search the word
"drama" as a word in the subject.
That's going to be a lot of results, so try limiting with a
keyword or two either by time period, nationality of the
playwright, or topic of the play.
If you get stuck,
come to the Research Services Desk for help!
Books from Other USMAI Libraries
If
you are a student, faculty, or staff member of Salisbury
University, you have access to the library collections of all of
the University of Maryland affiliated universities through our
shared library catalog.
To
borrow a book from another campus, follow these steps:
-
Select "Choose
Campus" from the menu at the top
-
Choose a campus or
USMAI for all the campuses
-
Perform the search
-
When you find a book you want that is not at SU, click on
the location link
-
Click the request
button if the item is available
-
Log in with the
information from your Gull Card and complete the request
-
The book will be
available for you to pick up in Blackwell in 3-5 business
days
You
can also watch this
short tutorial that shows the process!
Books from
Interlibrary Loan/Worldcat
Interlibrary Loan is a
great tool that allows you to borrow a book from libraries
outside the USMAI system. Before you submit a request, make
sure that we don't own the book here at SU or at one of the
other USMAI institutions. If not, you can
submit a request through
ILL Express.
You can also
search
Worldcat,
which is a huge catalog of materials from libraries all over the
world. If the book you want is in a library, chances are pretty
good you will find it in Worldcat!
If you find the book you want and you know it is not available
at SU or any USMAI campus, then you can click the Find It button
and then request the book through Interlibrary Loan. The
advantage of doing it this way is that you don't have to fill in
all the information about the book!
Click here
to go to the Interlibrary Loan webpage Click here to view
a
short tutorial about using interlibrary loan.
Contacting the
Theatre Liaison, Krista KnappOffice: BL129
(always best to make an appointment!)
Research Services Desk Hours (Spring 09)
Monday 8am - 12pm
Wednesday 8am - 10am
Thursday 10am - 12pm
Friday 8am - 10am
Phone: (410) 677-0118
Email: kmknapp@salisbury.edu
IM: kristaknapp on google talk, paisleyr on yahoo
IM, and also on Facebook
JUMP TO:
Multidisciplinary & Newspapers
Subject-Specific
Search Tips
Find It Button
These are databases in which you will find
articles relating to theatre. These links will only work from
on campus. For off-campus access, please use
Research Port.
Some of these databases have full text,
some have only citations, and others have both. Whenever
there's no full text available, there should be a Find It
Button. Watch this tutorial to see how the Find-It Button
works!
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY
& NEWSPAPERS
-
Academic Search Premier -
a
multidisciplinary database from EBSCO with a mix of
scholarly
and popular resources, a lot of full-text and Find It links
when there is no full-text available. A
great place
to start your research.
-
ArticleFirst - a multidisciplinary
database. Use the Find It Button to see how to access
the
articles you want.
-
JSTOR -
scholarly
full-text resources; the newest documents are 3-5 years old.
-
Lexis-Nexis Academic
- this database contains full-text world news, legal and
business
information. It is particularly
good for international topics.
-
National Newspapers
- a collection of full-text major newspapers including
The New York
Times,
The Washington Post, and The Baltimore Sun.
This would be a good source for finding reviews of
shows.
SUBJECT-SPECIFIC DATABASES
-
Communication & Mass Media Complete - might be useful
for some theatre topics such as performance or acting.
-
ERIC (Educational Resource Information Center)
- useful for topics about teaching
theatre or about theatre programs in school.
-
Humanities International - provides
full text of hundreds of journals, books and other
published sources in Humanities fields.
-
Literature Resource Center - includes
literary criticism, biographies, and bibliographies.
-
MLA Bibliography
- covers literature,
language and linguistics, folklore, literary theory &
criticism, and the dramatic arts.
-
Music
Index - for articles on musicals or
any other topic involving music.
SEARCH TIPS
-
Start simple!
Sometimes combining two one-word terms with the word AND is
the best way to get your research started!
-
Try many different
combinations of terms. The biggest mistake I see
undergraduates make is searching once and then when nothing
is retrieved, declaring that there must not be anything out
there!
-
Documents about theatre
might have the spelling "-re" while others might be spelled,
"-er." Many databases, including all the EBSCO
databases, will let you search both variations with a
wildcard: "theat*"
-
Some databases allow you
to use quotations to search for exact phrases.
-
Whenever you find a great
article, look at the subject terms or keywords that have
been assigned to that article in the record. Then,
search for articles like it using those terms!
-
Narrow too-broad search
results by restricting the dates, adding terms, using
subject terms instead of keywords, or limiting to a
particular type of source (e.g. "Academic Journals" in EBSCO
databases.)
-
If you have trouble
finding sources, please don't hesitate to stop by the
reference desk or contact me, your friendly Theatre liaison
for help! That's what we're here for!
WHAT DOES THAT CUTE LITTLE FIND IT BUTTON DO, ANYWAY?
It's a bit like magic,
really. The Find It button does three things:
-
Looks in all of our
databases to see if the document you want is available
full-text in another of our databases. If so, it links you
to it!
-
Links you to the library
catalog when we have the item you want in print or
microform.
-
Links you to ILLiad
(interlibrary loan) so you can borrow the item from another
library if we don't have access electronically or in print.
The Find It button is YOUR
FRIEND!!! Here's a
tutorial showing how to use it!
Theatre
Journals
This is a list of journals
relevant to Theatre that are available in print in the library
or electronically through one of our databases. Please be
advised that this is not a comprehensive list of journal
titles. For complete records of all
the journal holdings, search
catalogUSMAI or the Periodical
Holdings List in Blackwell Library Reference.
Because holdings and subscriptions change
from time to time, this list may not be entirely current, but I
will do my best to keep it updated. If you have any questions
or problems accessing the journals, please call or email your
friendly Theatre Liaison,
Krista Knapp, or stop by the Reference Desk.
* NOTE, the links to
databases will only work from on campus!
American Theatre
Full text in
Academic Search Premier
1995+
Applied Theatre Researcher
Full text available
online
2000+
Asian Theatre Journal
Full text in
Academic Search Premier
2001+
Full text in
JSTOR
1984-2004
Comparative Drama
Print/microfiche available in Blackwell Library
1967+
Full text in
Project Muse
2007+
Live Design
Print/microfiche available in Blackwell Library
2005+
Full text in
Business Source Premier
2002+
Modern Drama
Print available in Blackwell Library
1958+
Full text in
Project
Muse
2005+
Plays
Print/microfilm available in Blackwell Library
1945+
Full text in
Academic Search Premier
1994+
TDR
Print available in Blackwell Library
1988+
Full text in
JSTOR
1988-2002
Text & Performance Quarterly
Print available in Blackwell Library
1989+
Theater
Print available in Blackwell Library
1988+
TheatreForum
Full text in
Academic Search Premier
2004+
Theatre History Studies
Full text in
Academic Search Premier
2003+
Theatre Journal
Print/microfilm available in Blackwell Library
1979+
Full text in
JSTOR
1979-1995
Jump to:
What is a Reference Tool?
General Theatre Reference Tools
Biographical Sources
Musical Theatre Reference Tools
Technical Theatre Reference Tools
What is a reference tool?
- A reference tool is a resource that
is used to uncover a specific fact or piece of information.
Reference tools are generally not intended to be read
sequentially or cover-to-cover.
- Reference tools contain
specific facts, definitions, overviews, background
information and citations to other
relevant resources.
- Reference tools are helpful
in narrowing a topic.
- Reference tools provide
definitions of concepts.
- Reference tools
include encylopedias, dictionaries,
biographies, bibliographies, handbooks, atlases, maps, and
thesauri.
- Reference tools are a great place to
start research!
- Reference books in Blackwell Library
are located on the main floor and have call numbers that
start with the letters REF.
Reference books are located on the main
floor of Blackwell Library. You can't check them out, but you
can use them in the building or make photocopies. Here is a
list of recommended reference books for Theatre:
General Theatre
-
An Annotated
Dictionary of Technical,
Historical, and
Stylistic Terms
Relating to
Theatre and
Drama
REF PN2035 .W48 1995
-
The Cambridge
Guide to World
Theatre
REF PN2035 .C27 1988
-
Drama
Criticism
REF PN1601 .D59
-
The Encyclopedia
of the American Theatre,
1900-1975
REF PN2266 .B68
-
International Dictionary of
Theatre
REF PN2035 .I49
(v. 1 - Plays, v.2 - Playwrights)
-
The Language
of
Theatre
REF PN2035 .H297 1998
-
Masterplots II:
Drama Series
REF PN6112.5 .M37 1990
-
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of
World Drama
REF PN1625 .M3
-
Modern World Drama
REF PN1851 .M36
-
On Stage
REF PN2277 .N5 B4
-
The Oxford Companion
to American
Theatre
REF PN2220 .B6 1984
-
Play Index
REF Z5781 .P6
Biographical Sources
-
Biographical Encyclopedia &
Who's Who of the American Theatre
REF PN2285 .R5
-
Contemporary Black American
Playwrights and their
Plays : a Biographical
Directory and Dramatic
Index
REF PS153.N5 P43 1988
-
The Great
Stage Directors
: 100 Distinguished
Careers of the
Theater
REF PN2205 .L44 1994
Musical Theatre
-
Broadway
Musicals, 1943-2004
REF ML102.M88 S74 2006
-
The Book
of World-famous
Libretti : the Musical
Theater
from 1598 to Today
REF ML128.O4 F8 1994
-
Rodgers
and Hammerstein Fact
Book : a Record
of Their Works
Together and With
Other Collaborators
REF ML410.R6315 R63
-
American
Musical
Theatre : a
Chronicle
ML1711 .B67
Technical
Theatre
