Introduction

Library of Congress Classification

Online Catalog

Materials in Reference Collection

Indexes and Databases

Internet Resources

Introduction

The Theater includes one of the more artistic endeavors of mankind. It differs from literature in that its creations are meant to be performed to an audience. Students of theater divide their studies into the academic side of theater (history, affects on society, criticism, etc.) and the practical side of theater (writing plays, acting, etc.).

Library Of Congress Classification

Library materials are organized by a system created by the Library of Congress that groups materials based on what they are about. This LC system uses letters and numbers to determine the call number of a book, which serves as that book’s address within the collection. The advantage of this system is that books about the same subject, say Napoleon, should be in the same area. Find a good book on your subject and you should be able to find others in the same area.

The Library of Congress system places books on theatre in LC Class P (Language and Literature). This class are further broken down into subclasses that define more specific subjects. Some important subclasses for theatre and drama are listed below. Click here for a more complete look at Library of Congress Class P.

Online Catalog

Specific books and other library materials can be found by searching the Online Catalog. This is a catalog that not only lists the collection of the Rockhurst University Greenlease Library, but can also be used to see the collections of the other MOBIUS libraries. For more information about the MOBIUS consortium, visit their website at http://mco.missouri.mobius.edu.

One can search by title, author, subject and keyword to find books owned by the library. Good first searches are subject keyword and title keyword searches. A good research strategy is called subject heading tracing. This strategy involves first doing a keyword search to find books relevant to a topic. Once a ‘good’ book is found, look at its subject headings. Then do a subject search and type in that subject heading. You should find other books on your topic this way.

Materials In Reference Collection

The library’s reference collection contains materials that are quite useful to students studying theatre. These reference items include:

Cambridge Guide to World Theatre (REF PN 2035 C27)

Contemporary Dramatists (REF PR 737 C57)

Critical Survey of Drama (REF PN 2035 C7)

Dictionary of Literary Biography, 20^th Century American Dramatists (REF PS 351 T9)

Dramatic Criticism Index (REF Z5781 E8)

International Dictionary of Theatre, Plays (REF PN 2035 I49)

Ottemiller’s Index to Plays in Collections (REF Z 5781 O8)

Oxford Companion to American Theatre
(REF PN 2220 B6)

Oxford Companion to the Theatre (REF PN 2035 O9)

Indexes And Databases

Indexes and databases are tools used to find journal articles about a particular topic. Some are available only in print, while others will be electronic and may even contain the full-text of the article. See our Electronic Resources page for a complete list of electronic indexes and databases.

Humanities Index, 1974-2004
(INDEX AREA AI 3 R492)
Covers literature, folklore and languages, plus other humanities topics such as archaeology & classical studies, area studies, history, performing arts, philosophy, religion, theology. Continues Social Science and Humanities Index.

MLA International Bibliography of books and articles on the modern languages and literatures.
This bibliography covers 1926 to the present. It will list journal articles, doctoral dissertations and books about the works of authors in all genres and formats.

Connect to MLA International Bibliography

Play Index, 1949-1992
(INDEX AREA Z 5781 P53)
An index to collections of plays of all types, for all age groups.

FirstSearch
FirstSearch is actually a cluster of over 40 databases and requires a training session to access. But the training session is well worth it! Some of the databases useful to researchers of theatre and drama include:

Art and Humanities Search
Clase and Periodica

Connect now to FirstSearch (password protected).

Internet Resources

WWW Virtual Library: Theatre and Drama
http://vl-theatre.com
Founded in 1996, this extensive site attracts over 1 million hits per year from professionals, academics and students. It offers resources on art from over 40 countries and is updated on a daily basis.