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Encyclopedias
Provide
excellent background/overview information. An excellent place to
begin research. Contain articles written by experts for a general
audience. Provide indexes indicating scope of coverage of a topic
and pinpointing in which articles a concept will be discussed. Provide
bibliographies for further reading.
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McGraw-Hill
encyclopedia of world drama, 2d ed.
PN1625 .M3 1984, 5 volumes (Reference)
Contains entries for individual playwrights (biographical
information, critique of works), extensive articles on national
and ethnic theater traditions and on theater in individual countries
or areas, with emphasis on performance-related topics. Includes
title entries for anonymous plays and articles on theater companies.
There are extensive bibliographies with each article, a glossary
of terms (p. 215-264) and, in volume 5, a play title list and
general index. Good illustrations. |
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The
encyclopedia of the New York stage, 1940-1950 PN2277
.N5 L365 1992
The encyclopedia of the New York stage, 1930-1940
PN2277 .N5 L364 1989
The encyclopedia of the New York stage, 1920-1930
PN2277 .N5 L36 1985, 2 volumes
Each
volume includes a calendar of productions, play categories,
awards, sources of plays, foreign companies and stars, lists
of longest running plays, seasonal statistics and theater
statistics. Arranged by title of play, giving personnel. Critical
description of show, including contemporaneous critical appraisals,
brief plot summary. Samuel L. Leiter, ed.
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The
encyclopedia of the American theatre, 1900-1975
ed. by Edwin Bronner
PN2266 .B68
Arranged by titles of plays written or adapted
by American or Anglo-American authors and produced on Broadway
or off-Broadway 1900-75. Gives date of opening, theater, number
of performances, synopsis or statement of play's theme and brief
evaluation, principal players, author, producer, director, and
notes on revivals. Musicals are not included. Screen versions
are cited. Personal name index. |
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Enciclopedia
dello spettacolo
PN1625 .E7, 9 volumes
Covers the "grand spectacle" from antiquity to
the present--includes opera, theater, ballet, motion pictures,
vaudeville, the circus, etc. |
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The
encyclopedia of world theater
PN2035 .E52 1977
Brief entries on actors and actresses, playwrights,
directors, designers, types of drama, theatrical institutions,
awards, etc. |
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The
reader's encyclopedia of world drama
John Gassner
PN1625 .G3 1969
Entries for playwrights, selected titles and
types of drama. Brief historical surveys of theatrical development
in individual countries.
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Reference
Books
Handbooks,
dictionaries, statistical sources, tables; detailed or procedural
information specific to the subject areas addressed.
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Popular
entertainment research: how to do it and how to use it
Barbara J. Pruett
PN1576 .P78 1992
Includes database searching, interviewing, "small
town research." Covers general entertainment, theater, popular
music and recorded sound, film research, broadcast research,
collecting, etc. |
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Performing
arts research; a guide to information sources
Marion Whalon
Z6935 .W5 (Reference)
Annotated guide in several sections: (1) guides;
(2) dictionaries, encyclopedias and handbooks; (3) directories;
(4) play indexes and finding lists; (5) sources for reviews
of plays and motion pictures; (6) bibliographies, indexes
and abstracts; (7) illustrative audiovisual sources.
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The
performing arts: a guide to the reference literature
Linda Keir Simons
Z6935 .S56 1994 (Reference)
Includes theater, dance and drama. Lists guides,
bibliographies, catalogs, indexes, dictionaries, encyclopedias
and companions, handbooks and yearbooks, directories, review
sources, chronologies and histories, electronic discussion groups,
core periodicals, libraries and archives, professional organizations
and societies. |
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The
New York Public Library performing arts desk reference
PN1584 .N49 1994
Covers theater, music and dance with a glossary
of terms for each discipline; an article on dramatic structure,
biographies of major writers and synopses of major plays. Articles
on production and a list of major theaters and companies; directing
and biographies of directors; acting and biographies of actors.
Short historical essays on world theater, forms of theater,
drama criticism, film, theater awards, and funding sources/grants.
List of theater reference books, magazines, libraries, museums,
and other theater organizations. |
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International
dictionary of theatre
PN2035 .I49 1992 (Reference)
3 vols.: Vol. 1: Plays. Vol. 2: Playwrights. Vol. 3: Actors,
directors, and designers. |
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The
Oxford companion to the theatre
PN2035 .H3 1983 (Refenece) |
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The
Cambridge guide to the theatre
PN2035 .C27 1995 (Refenece) |
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An
International dictionary of theatre language
ed. by Joel Trapido
PN2035 .I5 1985 (Reference) |
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Performing
arts books, 1876-1981: including an international index of
current serial publications
Z6935 .P43 (Reference)
50,000 entries for books by subject with author
and title indexes.
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English
theatrical literature, 1559-1900: a bibliography
James F. Arnott
Z2014 .D7 A74 1970 (Reference)
Annotated list of theatrical literature (vs dramatic
literature--does not include plays and critical accounts of
them). Subject arrangement. |
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Theatre
and allied arts: a guide to books dealing with the history,
criticism, and technic of the drama and theatre and related
arts and crafts
Blanch M. Baker
Z5781 .B18 (Reference)
Annotated list of 6000 titles in 3 parts (1)
drama, theatre, and actors (2) stagecraft and allied arts (3)
Misc. reference material. Each part subdivided by subject or
geographical region. Items included were published 1885-1948
with a few later titles. |
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Bibliographic
guide to theatre arts, 1975-1986.
Z6935 .N46a (Reference)
Annual list of materials newly cataloged by the
NY Public Library and by the Library of Congress. |
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A
guide to reference and bibliography for theatre research
Claudia Jean Bailey
Z5781 .L87 (Reference) |
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Variety
obituaries : including a comprehensive index
(1905-1995)
PN1583 .V35 1988 (Reference)
Reprints, in chronological order, obituaries
originally appearing in Variety, of showbusiness personalities,
giving biographical data as well as performing, directing, producing,
etc., credits. Name index in final volume. |
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A
reference guide for English studies
Michael J. Marcuse
PN56 .M37 1990 (Reference) |
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Literary
research guide: an annotated listing of reference sources
in English literary studies, 3rd ed.
James L. Harner
Z2011 .H34 1998 (Reference)
Excellent guide to doing research in literature
(including theater and drama). "Identifies reference tools
essential for the study of American and British literatures,
other literatures in English, and related topics."
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Databases
and Indexes
Magazine,
periodical and journal articles provide information on current developments,
research trends, experiments and hot topics in a discipline. For
every discipline, there are specific databases or indexes that provide
article level information. Once articles are identified through
the database or index search, look up the source journal in Vikat,
PSU Library's online catalog, to locate them in the library. For
a complete list of online databases and indexes, see the Library's
Online Databases pages.
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MLA
international bibliography (1921-present)
Z7006 .M64 (3rd floor Index Tables)
MLA
international bibliography (1963-present)
MLA Bibliography covers literature, languages,
linguistics, and folklore from over 4,000 journals and series
published worldwide. From the Modern Language Association. |
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International
bibliography of theatre. IBT (1982-present)
Z6935 .I53 (Reference)
An essential source for theater research. Lists theater books,
book articles, dissertations, journal articles and other documents
dealing with "any aspect of theatre significant to research,
without historical, cultural or geographical limitations." Entries
may come from theater histories, essays, studies, surveys, conference
papers and proceedings, catalogs of theatrical holdings, portfolios,
handbooks and guides, dictionaries, bibliographies, and other
reference works, records and production documents.
Does not include reprints or purely literary scholarship. Texts
of plays are excluded unless they appear with "extensive or
especially noteworthy introductory materials, or when the text
is the first translation or adaptation of a classic from an
especially rare language into a major language." Book reviews
and reviews of performances are not included, "except for reviews
of sufficient scope to constitute a review article, or clusters
of reviews published under one title."
Entries arranged by subject classification (Theatre in General,
Dance, Dance-Drama, Drama, Media [including Film], Mixed Entertainment,
Music-Drama, Puppetry) with subject sub-headings. Extensive
subject index and Geographical-Chronological Index. Document
Authors Index and lists of periodicals indexed. |
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International
index to film periodicals (1972-present) Z5784 .M9 I49
(Reference)
Indexes 85 film periodicals selected for their
value to film research and scholarship. |
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Biography
index
Z5301 .B5 (Reference)
Indexes biographical information appearing in
more than 2,700 periodicals and books of individual and collected
biographies. |
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Biography
and genealogy master index (1980-present)
Z5305 .U5 B57 (Reference)
An index to more than 300,000 biographical sketches
in biographical dictionaries. |
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Humanities
index (April, 1974-present)
AI3 .H8 (Reference)
Humanities
Index
Journals
in Humanities Index held by PSU. |
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Arts
& humanities citation index (1974-present)
AI3 .A75 (Reference)
Allows searching of references cited in books
and journal articles as well as author, title and subject searching.
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Essay
and general literature index (1900-1996)
AI3 .E752 (Reference)
Essay
and General Literature Index
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Inter-Play:
an on-line index to plays in collections, anthologies and periodicals.
http://www.lib.pdx.edu/systems/interplay
An index to the complete texts of plays in collections,
anthologies and periodicals in the PSU Library. |
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WorldCat
http://firstsearch.oclc.org/fsip?dbname=WorldCat&done=referer
Contains more than 30 millions records for materials
cataloged by the Library of Congress and OCLC member libraries,
including most academic and many public libraries in the U.S.
Catalog includes books, serials (journals, magazines and newspapers),
musical scores, recordings, videos, computer software, films,
maps and manuscripts. Locations for all materials are cited.
Can be searched by author, title, subject, year, language, material
type. |
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Dissertation
abstracts international. (Dissertations 1861-present;
Masters Theses, 1988-present) |
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Academic
search premier (1984-present)
Provides full text for more than 4,600 scholarly
publications, including full text for more than 3,500 peer-reviewed
journals. Coverage spans virtually every area of academic study
and offers information dating as far back as 1975. This database
is updated on a daily basis via EBSCOhost. |
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ArticleFirst
(1990-present)
Contains nearly two million bibliographic records from the tables
of contents of more than 3,000 journals, covering a broad range
of subjects including business, humanities, medicine, popular
culture, science, social science, and technology. Most journals
in ArticleFirst have been indexed from 1990 to the present.
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ContentsFirst
(1990-present)
Contains approximately two million bibliographic
records from the tables of contents more than 13,000 journals,
covering a broad range of subjects, including business, humanities,
medicine, popular culture, science, social science, and technology.
Most journals in ContentsFirst have been indexed from 1990 to
the present. |
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Ingenta
(Fall, 1988-present)
In March 2000, ingenta acquired UnCover, a resource
for the search and delivery of research articles. The database
provides information about current articles published in ~26,000
journals. Coverage is drawn from all disciplines. As well as
a source for article citations, articles may be purchased from
ingenta. |
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Subject
Headings
Subject
headings allow you to search library catalogs for materials on a
particular topic. Often subject heading searching can be more productive
than searching by simple keywords. Listed here are some major subject
headings of interest for research in theater.
Copies of the complete set of the Library of Congress Subject Headings
are available at the reference desks throughout the library.
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Acting |
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Acting--auditions |
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Acting--vocational
guidance |
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Actors |
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Actors,
Black |
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Actresses |
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Afro
American actors |
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Architectural
acoustics |
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American
drama |
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American
drama--Afro American dramatists |
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Authors
and the theater |
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Black
theater |
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Copyright--drama |
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Copyright--performing
rights |
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Costume |
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Dance |
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Ballet |
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Choreography |
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Jazz
dance |
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Modern
Dance |
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Movement
notation |
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Music
and dance |
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Tap
dancing |
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Etc. |
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Drama |
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Drama--dictionaries |
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Drama--history
and criticism--bibliography |
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Dramatists |
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English
drama |
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English
language--dialects |
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English
language--slang |
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Expression |
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Gesture |
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Monologues |
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Performing
arts |
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Playbills |
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Set
designers |
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Scene
painting |
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Stage |
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Stage
fright |
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Stage
lighting |
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Stage
machinery |
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Stage
management |
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Stage
photography |
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Theater |
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Theater--dictionaries |
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Theater
and society |
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Theater
architecture |
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Theaters |
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Theaters--decorations |
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Theaters--fire
and fire prevention |
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Theaters--sound
effects |
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Theaters--stage
setting and scenery |
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Call
Numbers
Browsing
the library shelves by call number ranges is another strategy for
locating information on a topic; call numbers can help you get to
the "right neighborhood" in the library stacks.
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P1-1091
Philology and Linguistics (General) |
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PA
Classical languages and literature |
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PG
Slavic. Baltic. Albanian language and literature |
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PH
Finno-Ugrian, Basque languages and literature |
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PJ
Oriental (Middle East) languages and literature |
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PK
Indo-Iranian languages and literature |
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PL
Languages and literatures of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania e.g.
Japanese language and literature in PL501-889, Chinese in PL1001-3207
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PN
Literary history and collections (General) e.g. PN1600-3300
includes Theater and Drama |
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PQ
Romance literatures e.g. French in PQ1-3999, Spanish in PQ6001-8929
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PR
English literature |
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PS
American literature |
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PT
Germanic literature |
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PZ
Juvenile literature |
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Organizations
Often
the best way to find information on a topic is to look for material
published by a professional society
or an organization.
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Important
Resources
These
sources don't fit any particular category, but are important for
the discipline.
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English
books, 1641-1700
PR1127 .U5 (Microfilm)
English books, 1475-1640
PR1101 .U5 (Microfilm)
Two microfilm collections containing full-text
reproductions of printed materials from England, 1473-1700.
The PSU online catalog has records for all titles in these
collections, citing microfilm reel number and item number
on the reel. e.g. PR1127 .U5 259:E.200 (reel 259, item number
200)
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Ottemiller's
index to plays in collections: an author and title index to
plays appearing in collections published between 1900 and 1985,
7th ed.
Z5781 .O8 1988 (Reference) |
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Play
Index. (1949/52-1988/92)
Z5781 .P53 (Reference) |
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Chicorel
theater index to plays in collections, anthologies, periodicals,
and discs in England
ed. by Marietta Chicorel.
Z5781 .C486 (1972) (Reference)
Contains references to many obscure plays, including
some unpublished titles. |
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Index
to plays in periodicals
Dean H. Keller
Z5781 .K43 1979
Index to plays in periodicals, 1977-1987
Dean H. Keller
Z5718 .K43 1990
( Reference) |
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Drury's
guide to best plays, 4th ed.
Z5781.D8 1987 (Reference)
Includes plot summaries, a cast index, index
by subject of the play, a list of prize plays, and a selection
guide for potential producers. |
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Best
plays of [1899-present].
PN6112 .B45
Excerpts and extended summaries of major plays
from the current season. Notes awards, number of performances,
photographs and some actors' biographies. |
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New
York Times theater reviews (1870-1995/96)
PN1581 .N4 (Reference)
Contains reprints of theater reviews from the
New York Times. |
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Book
Review Index (1965-present)
Z1035 .A1 B6 (Reference) |
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Book
Review Digest (vol. 51, 1955-present)
Z1219 .C95 (Reference) |
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Index
to Book Reviews in the Humanities (1960-1990) Z1035
.A1 I63 (Reference) |
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Combined
Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Humanities Journals,
1802-1974. 10 vols.
Z1035 .A1 C65 (Reference) |
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Combined
retrospective index to book reviews in scholarly journals,
1886-1974. 15 vols.
Z1035 .A1 C64 (Reference) |
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Indiana
University Bloomington Dance, Theater and Drama Resources
http://www.indiana.edu/~libhper/DTD/
An excellent site with comprehensive coverage
of theater, dance and drama topics, including a list of online
resources for production/stage design, African American theater,
U.S. and international theater (geographically arranged), and
of sites of interest to actors and playwrights. |
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Theater
and Drama Resources Online Journals
(from Indiana U. Bloomington Libraries)
http://www.indiana.edu/~libhper/DTD/theateronlinejournals.html
Annotated list of theater-related journals, some
available on the Internet, with links to the journals. |
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Guides
to WWW theater resources
(from Indiana U. Bloomington Libraries) http://www.indiana.edu/~libhper/DTD/theatersubresources.html
Annotated list of theater super-sites on the Web, with links.
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Children's
theater resource page
http://faculty-web.at.nwu.edu/theater/tya/
A guide to web resources for children's theater, with links
to sites. |
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A
brief guide to Internet resources in theater and performance
studies
Kevin McCoy (Stetson University) http://www.stetson.edu/departments/csata/thr_guid.html
A guide to web resources in theater and performance studies,
with links to sites. |
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Worldwide
arts resources: theater
http://wwar.com/categories/Theater/
A guide to web resources in theater, with links to sites.
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Theatre
central
http://www1.playbill.com/cgi-bin/plb/central?cmd=start
A guide to theater web resources. This site also includes "Connections,"
a searchable directory of theater professionals, provided by
Playbill. |
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Working
actor's guide: the online resource for performers & other entertainment
industry professionals
http://www.workingactors.com/
A guide to services for Los Angeles area entertainment industry
professionals. |
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Playbill
on-line
http://www.playbill.com/
For information about Broadway and regional theater.
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Mr.
William Shakespeare and the Internet
http://daphne.palomar.edu/shakespeare/default.htm
An
annotated guide to Shakespeare resources on the Internet,
with links to texts of his works and materials on his life,
Elizabethan England and the theater of his time. Includes
a guide to specifically-Shakespeare search tools.
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Infomine:Visual
& Performing Arts
http://infomine.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/search?arts
A
powerful academic Internet finding tool with links to Internet-accessible
databases, journals, conference proceedings, guides and other
materials relating to the performing arts. Allows browsing
and provides advanced searching capabilities. Because Infomine
is indexed by Library of Congress subject headings, keywords
and authors, it may be searched similarly to the Library's
online catalog.
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