Course Syllabus (PDF)	Ask a Librarian
Theatre Research Guide	Library Web Site

How to Find:
Books | Journal Articles | Theatre Reviews | Web Sites | Citing Sources

Finding Books Using Catalogs to locate books:

1.) Ariadne

• Search by Keyword
• Find and Use Subject Headings
• Browse the shelves by Call Number

2.) MeLCat

• Search by Keyword
• Find and Use Subject Headings
• About MeLCat

3.) WestCat - Western Michigan's catalog

• Search by Keyword
• Find and Use Subject Headings
• Browse the shelves by Call Number
• Waldo Library: Hours and How to get to Western

4.) WorldCat and 5.) Interlibrary Loan

• Search by Keyword
• Find and Use Subject Headings
• Order item through Interlibrary Loan

See also: Library of Congress Classification...

Useful sources in Reference:

• The Crown guide to the world's great plays, from ancient Greece to modern times, Ref. PN 6112.5 .S45 1984.
• The history of world theater, Ref. PN 2104 .B413 1991.
• Dictionary of literary biography, Ref. PS 221 .D45.
• Medieval English drama: an annotated bibliography of recent criticism, Ref. Z 2014.D7 B43 1990
• Theatre: history, criticism, and reference, Ref. Z 5781 .C48
• Early English drama, Everyman to 1580 : a reference guide, Ref. Z 2014.D7 W48 1986
• Analytical sourcebook of concepts in dramatic theory, Ref. Z 5781 .B84
• English tragedy, 1370-1600: fifty years of criticism, Ref. Z 2014.D7 C3

• The Oxford illustrated history of theatre, PN 2111 .O84 1995
• The theatre in history, PN 2037 .K38 1989
• Theater and society in the classical world , PA 3024 .T47 1993

Note: Don't forget to use Print and Online Bibliographies

 Finding Journal Articles

Off-Campus Access to Licensed Resources

Scholarly Journals and Popular Magazines/Newspapers

Scholarly Journals (Theatre Journal)

• Authors are scholars or researchers in their fields.
• Authors cite their sources in footnotes, endnotes, and bibliographies.
• Individual issues have little or no advertising.
• Articles must go through a peer-review process.
• Articles usually report original scholarly research.
• Most illustrations are charts, figures, or graphs.
• Authors use the specialized language or jargon of the discipline.

Popular Magazines (Time, Atlantic Monthly)

• Authors are free lance writers or magazine staff members.
• Authors may mention sources, but rarely cite them in notes or bibliographies.
• Individual issues contain many advertisements.
• There is no peer review process. Articles are reviewed by editors or publishers.
• Illustrations are numerous and colorful.
• Articles are meant to inform and entertain an educated audience.
• Language is written for the general adult audience (no specialized jargon).

Scholarly or Not?
Ulrich's Periodicals Directory Online < about >
Ulrich's Periodicals Directory (Ref. Desk Z6941 .U5)
Look for section called "Document Type"
Document Type MUST say "Academic/Scholarly Publication" to be considered scholarly!

Journal List

What Journals does the Library Own?

• In paper - Check Ariadne - search on your discipline or subject area, and in Step 2, limit the location to "Periodicals"
  • Or - Search Ariadne for a specific journal - enter the journal title into the Ariadne Title Search
• Online - Check Online Journals at K - to find out what online journals the Library subscribes to

Is a particular journal covered in a specific Index?

Ulrich's Periodicals Directory Online < about >
Which journals are in which FirstSearch databases

Do you have access to a journal?  

1.) Ariadne (print)

• Title search on Title of the Journal to locate print journal

2.) Online Journals at K

• Title search on Title of the Journal to locate article in a Full Text Database

3.) WestCat - Western Michigan's catalog

• Title search on Title of the Journal
• Waldo Library - Hours and How to get to Western

4.) Interlibrary Loan

• Order item through Interlibrary Loan
• Use *only* when the journal is not available through Ariadne or Online Journals at K

Journal Indexes

Advanced Search Help

MLA Bibliography < about >
The Modern Language Association International Bibliography indexes 4,000 English language and international periodicals, as well as books and book chapters.
It includes critical works on literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. There are no abstracts.
Coverage: 1925 - Present.

Arts and Humanities Search < about >
A multidisciplinary index to over 1,100 journals spanning 25 disciplines. References many of the world's leading arts and humanities journals. Includes all aspects of visual and performing arts, plus humanities.
Coverage: 1980 - Present.

Historical Abstracts < about >
An index to the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada, which are covered in America: History and Life).
Published since 1954. Over 2,000 journals are covered in the database.

Humanities Abstracts < about >
Bibliographic index that covers English language periodicals in the humanities. Feature articles are indexed, as are interviews, obituaries, bibliographies, and reviews of plays, operas, ballets, dance, musicals, movies, television and radio. Offers detailed abstracts.
Coverage: Indexing - 1984 - present; Abstracting - 1994 - present.

Periodical Abstracts < about >
General and academic journals, covering business, current affairs, economics, literature, religion, psychology, women's studies, and others.
Coverage: 1987- Present.

Essay and General Literature Index < about >
Cites essays contained in anthologies and collections published in the United States, Great Britain and Canada. Coverage spans the humanities and social sciences, including literary works, art history, drama, and film. Indexing: 1985 to present.

Dramatic Index for.
Index to materials on theatrical production and dramatic texts.
Library owns 13 volumes, from 1937 to 1949. (Ref. 1601 .D79)

See the Theatre Research Guide: Using Indexes and Databases to help select an Index.

Theatre Reviews

New York Times is available online Full Text through LexisNexis (not an Index)
Final New York City Edition
Coverage: June 1, 1980 - present. Updated daily.

LexisNexis Academic Universe < about >
To find theatre reviews in Lexis Nexis:

• Make sure you are searching in the News category.
  Click on the News Button in the Red Bar at the top left of the screen
• Scroll down to the section titled "Select Sources"
• From the list of Sources under the pull down menu in "Select Sources,"
  choose "Book, Movie, Music, Play, and Video Reviews"
• To search for reviews in the New York Times only, then look In the box under "Select Sources,"
  scroll down to the New York Times and check the box next to it.
• You may specify a date range

To find articles published before 1980, you may search the New York Times 1851- 3 yrs. ago
(ProQuest Historical Newspapers, contains full text online of New York Times articles from 1851- 3 yrs. ago)

New York Times 1851- 3 yrs. ago (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) < about >
Full Text of the New York Times from 1851- 3 yrs. ago; all articles in PDF format.

Another source you may use is the New York Times Index in *print*. You must know the year that the play was produced, and look in the index volume for that year. The Index is alphabetical by subject. Under T, look for Theater - Reviews. Then look for the title of your play in the Theater - Reviews section.

The New York Times Index [Print]
Reference storage, call number: AI21 .N48
Library has: 1851 - 1997

Once you have found the citation to your pre-1980 play review in the New York Times, you will need to find your review in the New York Times, either through the online New York Times 1851- 3 yrs. ago, or on microfilm.

The New York Times [Microform]
Reference, Microfilm area, first floor, AP2 .N4
Library has: 1851- 2004

The New York Times [newspaper in print]
Newspapers, second floor
Library has: last 30 days

New York Times Index Online Index < about >
Full text of all New York Times articles. 1995 - present.
You must be in Michigan to access this index. Updated daily

Full Text Databases

Please note that databases may provide different dates of coverage for each journal.

Online Journals at K

Project Muse < about >

Wilson Select < about >

ProQuest Research Library < about >
You may search the entire database or select specific subject modules (examples include Arts, Women's Studies and Humanities).
You also may search peer-reviewed journals only.

JSTOR < about > Title List.
Provides older issues of journals, up to the last 3 to 5 years.

Note: Don't forget to use Print and Online Bibliographies!

 Websites

To find Web sites, use search engines and web indexes. See Finding Web Sites and Web Indexes and Directories. See also Web Sites by Subject and Finding Web Sites on Theatre.

WorldCat < about >
WorldCat contains bibliographic citations for high-quality Web sites on a variety of subjects. When you search WorldCat for Web sites, remember to check the box for "Internet Resources" in the section called "Limit type to". Sites are selected according to a collection development policy that emphasizes quality, authoritativeness, and durability.

See the Following Web Sites:

• Theatre History Sites on the WWW
  Maintained by theatre historian Jerald Bangham.
• Theatre History Materials on the web from MERLOT
• Theatre and Drama section of the WWW Virtual Library.
• Theatre History on the Web
  Maintained by Jack Wolcott, University of Washington School of Drama.
• TheatreHistory.com
  Includes an archive of online texts, theatre news, and information on several theatre topics.

1. Accuracy
How reliable is the information? Are there editors and fact checkers?
2. Authority
What are the author's qualifications? Is the publisher reputable?
3. Objectivity
Is the author trying to sway opinion? Is the information free from bias?
4. Currency
Is the publication date indicated? Is the source up to date?
5. Coverage
Does the site cover the topic comprehensively, or are there information gaps?

• Evaluating Web Resources
  Widener University Library
• Evaluating Information Found on the Internet
  Johns Hopkins University Library
• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, or Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Resources
  New Mexico State University Library
• Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources
  UCLA College Library

 Citing Your Sources

See: How to Cite Sources

See also Citing Sources for help in citing print and electronic resources in various bibliographic styles (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.)

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
5th ed., New York : Modern Language Association of America, 1999.
Reference, LB2369 .G53 1999.

• MLA Style From The University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center.
• MLA Style From the Modern Language Association (MLA).
  (see the FAQ on MLA style).
• MLA Style Form Guide from the Ohio State University Libraries
• Using MLA Style to Cite and Document Sources
  (includes information on citing electronic sources)