THTR:2411/1401 History of Theatre & Drama / Theatre & Society: Books and Articles
Secondary Sources
Books
Books are wonderful resources for research, because they contain a lot of information but can reach broader and deeper than articles. Books can actually be somewhat like a collection of articles on a topic, but there's always a strong thread tying the information, methodologies, and conclusions together.
Search for Books
Search by SUBJECT
When searching for books, use SUBJECTS to navigate between books that cover the same topics. You can find SUBJECT links in the catalog record below the shelf and basic bibliographic (title, author, publication) information. For example, this copy of The Crucible has a subject of "Witchcraft in literature" which connects to more books about the play, but also books about 17th century English magic to Anne Rice novels.
You can also use SUBJECT searches to find books ABOUT instead of BY a playwright. For example, if you search for MILLER, ARTHUR as a subject instead of as an author, you'll get books ABOUT him, not plays BY him. You might get a few plays, but they probably include essays or other introductory material ABOUT Miller.
BROWSE by SUBJECT
Found a book that appears highly relevant to your research? Be sure to look at other books in the same virtual or physical space. If you grab the book off the shelf in the library, the books on either side should be related to your book by SUBJECT. You can browse the shelf in the book's catalog record by scrolling to the bottom of the record and looking for the "shelf," then you can navigate the shelf using the arrows.
Articles
Recommended Journals:
The Libraries subscribes to hundreds of databases with articles that can inform your research. How to pick the right database for your needs? Here are some recommendations, and a link to the full list so you can explore it using keyword searching or filters for subject, type, and vendor.
Recommended Databases
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JSTOR (Journal Storage) This link opens in a new windowProvides image and full-text online access to back issues of selected scholarly journals in history, economics, political science, philosophy, mathematics and other fields of the humanities and social sciences. Consult the online tables of contents for holdings, as coverage varies for each titles. Journals may be searched across multiple titles as well as by the individual titles below
Note that this database comprises mostly back issues: for most titles the JSTOR database does NOT include full text of the most recent 3 to 5 years. -
MLA International Bibliography (EBSCO Version) This link opens in a new window
The MLA International Bibliography is a subject index for books, articles and websites published on modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics. It is produced by the Modern Language Association (MLA), an organization dedicated to the study and teaching of language and literature. The electronic version of the Bibliography dates back to 1925 and contains over 2 million citations from more than 4,400 periodicals (including peer-reviewed e-journals) and 1,000 book publishers.
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Periodicals Archive Online This link opens in a new windowCompanion to: Periodicals index online. Archive of hundreds of digitized journals published in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
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Periodicals Index Online This link opens in a new windowElectronic index to over 4,500 periodicals in the humanities and social sciences, covering each periodical from its first issue (as early as 1665) . Every article is indexed. The scope is international, including journals in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and other languages.
Looking for Newspapers and Magazines? Check out the Primary Sources page on this guide.