Asian Theatre
Theatre 290

Theatre 290 Syllabus (PDF)	Ask a Librarian
Theatre Research Guide	Library Web Site

How to Find:
Books | Book Chapters | Journal Articles | 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 - (Western now a part of 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 the Theatre Research Guide: Finding Books.

Useful sources in Reference:

• The Cambridge guide to Asian theatre, PN2860 .C35 1993
• The World encyclopedia of contemporary theatre, 4 vols., PN1861 .W67 1994, Volume 5: Asia/Pacific
• Dictionary of traditional South-East Asian theatre, PN2860 .G48 1994
• Theatre: history, criticism, and reference, Z5781 .C48
• Analytical sourcebook of concepts in dramatic theory , Z5781 .B84
• Modern drama: scholarship and criticism, 1981-1990: an international bibliography, PN1851 .C37
• Modern drama scholarship and criticism, 1966-1980: an international bibliography, PN1851 .C36
• Modern world drama; an encyclopedia, PN1851 .M36
• 20th-century plays in synopsis, PN6112.5 .S68
• The World encyclopedia of contemporary theatre, PN1861 .W67 1994

General Sources from Professor Menta's Bibliography:

• Berson, Misha (Ed)., Between Worlds: Contemporary Asian-American Plays.
• Bowers, F., Theatre In The East.
• Brandon, James. , Brandon's Guide To Theatre In Asia.
• ---. , Theatre In Southeast Asia.
• ---(Ed)., Cambridge Guide To Asian Theatre.
• ---(Ed). Performing Arts In Asia
• Irwin, Vera (Ed)., Four Classical Asian Plays
• Malkin, M. R., Traditional & Folk Puppets Of The World.
• Osman, M.T. (Ed)., Traditional Drama & Music Of Southeast Asia.
• Pronko, Leonard., Theatre East & West.
• Scott, A.C., The Theatre In Asia.
• Tilakasiri, J., The Puppet Theatre Of Asia.

Books in the Kalamazoo College Library, by Subject Heading:

• Theater Asia
• Asia Theater
• Chinese Drama
• Theater China
• Theater India
• Indian Drama
• Theater Indonesia
• Japanese Drama
• Theater Japan
  • N¯o Plays
  • Ky¯ogen
  • Kabuki
  • Bunraku

See also: Library of Congress Classification...

Finding Book Chapters, also called Book Articles:

To find chapters within books, do a keyword search on your topic, whether your topic is an idea, a period of history, or a person. A keyword search will search multiple fields of the record for a book, such as title, author, contents note, etc.

Example: kabuki

A keyword search on kabuki returns 41 records. The following book is one of them:

War, occupation, and creativity : Japan and East Asia, 1920-1960 / edited by Marlene J. Mayo and J. Thomas Rimer with H. Eleanor Kerkham, NX582 .W37 2001

Kabuki doesnt appear in the title or in the subject headings, but it does appear in the following chapter title, which may be of interest:

To be or not to be: Kabuki and Cultural Politics in Occupied Japan / Marlene J. Mayo

In keyword search in Ariadne, you can also search for your topic specifically in the contents note field, where chapter titles are listed. To search the contents note field, your search would look like this:

Example: n:kabuki

A keyword search on n:kabuki returns 20 records; all of them have kabuki in the contents note field.

You can also find book chapters in the MLA Bibliography and Essay and General Literature Index. In the MLA, you can limit your search to book chapters by choosing "book article" in the Document Type Phrase option of the search screen.

MLA International Bibliography < about >
Produced by the Modern Language Association.
Critical works on literature and languages.
Covers publications from 1963 to the 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.

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 >
Use 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

Japanese Studies Periodicals in Ariadne

Is a particular journal covered in a specific Index?

Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory, Reference Z6941 .U5
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.) Electronic Journal Finder (online)

• 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 Electronic Journals.

Theatre journals available at our library:

List of Periodicals in Theatre

Journal Indexes

MLA Bibliography < about >
The Modern Language Association International Bibliography indexes 3,000 English language and foreign periodicals as well as books, book chapters, and dissertations. Its subject matter includes critical works on literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. Reviews of literary and scholarly works are not included. There are no abstracts.
Coverage: 1963 - Present.

Arts and Humanities Search < about >
Arts & Humanities Citation Index is a multidisciplinary index to more than 1,100 journals spanning 25 disciplines. Records referencing 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 >
Historical Abstracts is a reference guide 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. Currently over 2,000 journals published throughout the world are covered in the database.

Humanities Abstracts < about >
Humanities Abstracts is a bibliographic database that covers English language periodicals in the diverse subject areas of the humanities. Humanities Abstracts offers detailed abstracts describing the content and scope of source articles. Feature articles are indexed, as are interviews, obituaries, bibliographies, and reviews of plays, operas, ballets, dance, musicals, movies, television and radio.
Coverage: Indexing - 1984 - present; Abstracting - 1994 - 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.

Essay and General Literature Index
A good source for locating literary criticism in collections of essays.
Reference Stacks AI3 . Es73 Library has: vol 1 - 1900 - Present.

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

Full Text Databases

Electronic Journal Finder

Project Muse < about >
Project MUSE offers the full text of Johns Hopkins University Press scholarly journals via the world wide web. Journals from these disciplines are included: the humanities, social sciences and mathematics.

Wilson Select < about >
Contains indexed and abstracted articles in ASCII full text. The database is comprised of records from Readers' Guide Abstracts, Social Sciences Abstracts, Humanities Abstracts, General Science Abstracts and Wilson Business Abstracts.
(Please note that each periodical can begin on a different month and year.)
Coverage: 1994-Present.

Proquest < about >
Proquest Research Library is a fulltext database providing access to over 2,000 periodicals. Graphics are included with the fulltext for many articles. Users may search the entire database or select specific subject modules (examples include Arts, Women's Studies and Humanities). Users also may select to search peer-reviewed journals only.

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.

Theatre Web Sites:

• Silk Road Theatre Project
  http://www.srtp.org/
• Association for Asian Performance
  http://www.yavanika.org/aaponline/
• The Noh Training Project
  http://www.nohtrainingproject.org/
• Asian American Theatre Revue
  http://www.aatrevue.com/Directory.html
• Shoji Kokami
  http://www.thirdstage.com/english/
• Asian American Theatre Review
  http://www.aatrevue.com/AATR-1.html
• The National Theatre of Japan
• Noh Plays
  http://etext.virginia.edu/japanese/noh/index.html
• AsiaSource
  All aspects of Asian culture, including performing arts. AsiaSource is a web resource from the Asia Society.
• Noh Theatre
  Plus Kyogen and some Bunraku and Kabuki.
• Asian Pacific Theatre
  Maintained by Donn B. Murphy, Georgetown University.
• Theatre History on the Web
  Maintained by Jack Wolcott, University of Washington School of Drama.
• Theater and Performance Studies Resources
  Bobst Library, New York University. Site created and maintained by Pamela Bloom, the librarian for Performing Arts.

Use these points to evaluate the credibility of Websites:

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?

Sites that provide guidance on evaluating Websites:

• 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).
  (you must follow the links for 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)

ALWAYS check the style manual!! DO NOT rely on other guides!