World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre. Main Lib. Lang. & Lit. Ref. PN
2035/W. There are also electronic reference works on FindIt@Bham such as The
...
Information Sources Drama and Theatre Arts Whether you are preparing to write an assignment or about to embark on some serious research, you will need to take a systematic approach to finding information (sometimes known as "literature searching").
1. DEFINE YOUR SUBJECT Before starting a literature search, it is important to be clear about what you are searching for. • It may be necessary to focus on a particular aspect of the subject, time period or geographic location. • Think of keywords, phrases and synonymous terms to describe your subject and be prepared to use new phrases and terms which you come across as you search. • You may need to find definitions or introductions to topics or themes with which you are not familiar.
Try these reference books: Cambridge Guide to Theatre Main Lib. Lang. & Lit. Ref. PN 2035; OLRC Ref. 792.03/BAN; Sh.Inst. Ref. PN 2035 International Dictionary of Theatre Main Lib. Lang. & Lit. Ref. PN 1625 McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama Main Lib. Lang. & Lit. Ref. q PN 1625 Oxford Companion to the Theatre Main Lib. Lang. & Lit. Ref. PN 2035; OLRC Ref. 792/HAR ; Sh.Inst. Ref. PN 2035 World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre Main Lib. Lang. & Lit. Ref. PN 2035/W
There are also electronic reference works on FindIt@Bham such as The Literary Encyclopedia, or the reference works in Literature Online (LION).
2. FIND BOOKS At Birmingham University: The online library catalogue contains records of books and periodicals held at all library sites. The catalogue can be accessed from computers in every library and also from any computer with an internet connection through FindIt@Bham at: http://findit.bham.ac.uk
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For books by or about a particular author, enter his/her name in the search box. Use keywords to look for books on a subject, and select Library Catalogue from the drop-down menu. You can also browse the shelves at the following classmarks:
Main Library: Literature in general: - Drama PN 1601-1988 - Theatre PN 2000-3262 See also individual literatures OLRC: Drama, Dance English drama Literature in general - Drama
792-793 822 808.2; 809.2
See also other individual literatures
On short title catalogues: The following are useful for tracing early (pre-1900) printed books. Both are on FindIt@Bham: • The English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC) • The Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue (NSTC) Both works aim to list all printed books published in the English-speaking world up to the end of the nineteenth century, and to indicate the location of known copies. Books in electronic format: The Library has access to collections of modern books in electronic format such as Ebrary and MyiLibrary, as well as many individual electronic titles which can be found on the library catalogue in the usual way. There is normally a link from the catalogue record for an electronic book to the full text. If you are not logged in with your University username and password, it will ask you for them at this point. In Bookdata Online: This database contains the bibliographic details of millions of Englishlanguage books and other media published throughout the world. It can also be used to find details of items which are currently out of print. All these resources can be found in FindIt@Bham. See also our published guide Tracing Books Published in English.
3. FIND PERIODICAL (JOURNAL) ARTICLES Periodicals (also called journals or serials) are published on a regular basis and often contain more up-to-date research on a subject or treat aspects of a subject in greater depth. To find periodical articles quickly you can enter your keywords in the FindIt@Bham search box and select Article Search from the drop-down menu. For a more focused subject search, it is better to use a bibliographic database. You can search these to find details of published articles, and many include abstracts summarising the content of the articles. Many of them provide a facility for linking to the full text of articles from the references found. Go to the Find Databases link in FindIt@Bham, then the Browse by Subject tab and look out for resources marked Bibliographic Databases.
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These databases are the most useful ones to start a search in Drama or Theatre Studies:
Arts and Humanities Citation Index A citation index to about 1,500 core journals in Arts and Humanities from 1975 to the present. Allows searches by subject and by cited work or author. British Humanities Index Indexes over 300 key journals and newspapers in Humanities. Literature Online (LION) This is the major database for all aspects of English literature. It contains a substantial full-text database of collections of English and American literature by genre, as well as indexes to critical books and articles, many of them available in full text. It also incorporates the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL) and the MLA International Bibliography, so it can be used to search for references to European literatures as well. TLS Centenary Archive Index to and full text of articles appearing in the Times Literary Supplement between 1902 and 1990. Searchable by keyword, author or contributor. Full text is a facsimile of the original. World Shakespeare Bibliography Online Indexes and abstracts books, reviews, articles, papers and theses on all aspects of Shakespeare and related subjects. Year’s Work in English Studies (YWES) Available as an electronic journal on FindIt@Bham. An annual narrative bibliography that records and evaluates scholarly writings on English language and literatures written in English.
4. FIND THE FULL TEXT OF ARTICLES Many of the bibliographic databases have a link from the article references that you find which checks whether we have the particular journal available electronically or in print copy. Look out for the
icon.
Alternatively, you can make a note of the journal title and the volume and page details, and do a search on FindIt@Bham for the journal title. Use the Title search option in the Advanced Search and select Journals from the Material Type menu. If we have it, it will provide a link to the electronic version of the journal, or give details of the classmark and location of the printed version as well as the date-range that is available. Services such as JSTOR and Periodicals Archive Online include the full text of older issues of many journals.
5. USE SPECIALIST RESOURCES The library provides access to a number of important specialised resources to support learning and research in drama and theatre arts. Examples of these are: Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) A digital collection of the full text of over 150,000 books published in Britain during the 18th century. Early English Books Online (EEBO) Facsimiles of more than 125,000 titles published between 1473 and 1700. This is an ongoing project which is not yet complete.
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Women Writers Online contains the full text of works by women writers between 1400 and 1850. Newspapers can be a useful source for the historical study of the theatre by providing contemporary accounts and reviews of performances. Among the electronic newspaper databases available are: The Times Digital Archive for 1785-1985 19th Century British Library Newspapers: a digitised collection of UK national and local newspapers held by the British Library Historical Newspapers: The Guardian and The Observer: Digitised full-text of these newspapers from 1791 to 2003 Nexis UK provides a substantial full-text collection of British national and local newspapers as well as many European and American ones The Shakespeare Institute Library also maintains a file of newspaper cuttings of reviews and articles about Shakespearean performances in Stratford. Special Collections (Cadbury Research Library), located in the Muirhead Tower, contains rare books, manuscripts and archives. The OLRC and the LMRC also house important collections of audio-visual materials relevant to the study of drama, and the Shakespeare Institute contains specialist collections related to the study and research of Shakespearean and Elizabethan drama.
6. FIND INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET There is a huge range of subject based information on the Internet, but you need to be careful to assess the quality of what you find. Using subject gateways and sites such as those listed below, which are created by subject specialists, will ensure that you find information that has been evaluated for its academic quality.
Try these sites: FindIt@Bham will find links to websites, databases and other on-line resources. Click on the Find Database link, then the Search by Subject tab, and select Drama, Theatre & Film from the subject categories. Look out for resource type: Subject gateways. AHDS Performing Arts: Contains a wide range of digital data resources to support research and teaching in the performing arts. Forms part of the Arts and Humanities Data Service. Palatine: A directory of over 4,000 links to learning and teaching resources in dance, drama, music, theatre and related topics. Touchstone: Website providing links to major collections and institutions in the United Kingdom devoted to the study of William Shakespeare. Or use a search engine such as Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com) which only searches registered academic and research websites.
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7. CITE YOUR REFERENCES Keep a record of the references you use to write your assignment or project so that you can list them in the bibliography at the end of your work. Follow the advice in the Preparing and Quoting References guide and also on the Library Services web site at https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/libraryservices/icite/index.aspx . This site also suggests some bibliographic software packages that you might consider using in order to manage your references.
8. GET MORE HELP IF YOU NEED IT The Academic Skills Centre (ASC), located on the first floor of the Main Library, provides a range of courses, workshops and individual advice sessions for undergraduates to help them develop their general academic skills. Its website is at https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/libraryservices/asc/ . The Centre for Learning and Academic Development offers similar support for postgraduate students and academic staff: https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/claddivision/index.aspx Information Desks – If you have a further query, staff at any of our information desks will be pleased to help. You can also email or telephone your query using the Just Ask ! service on the Library Services home page at www.intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/library/justask If your query is more complex they may suggest you arrange an appointment with a Subject Advisor: Subject Advisor appointments – If you need further help with finding information or with using particular resources, you can book an appointment with the Subject Advisor for Drama, Zbig Gaś. He can be contacted on ext.58097 or by email at
[email protected] .
All Library Services documents are available in other formats, please contact Library Services on 0121 414 5828 or www./intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/library/justask for information S/Art.03 – ZG – 09/2012
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