CATA 273/275: Classical/Modern Theatre

Below are listed library resources and research strategies pertaining to the research of drama and the theatrical arts.

Overall tips

• How you spell a thing: Theatre? Theater? Different resources use different spellings. Most journals, books and professionals use the -re spelling, although the WorldCat database uses the -re spelling for their subject headings. Keep an eye out for the spelling preference of the resource that you are using at the moment. If you would like to catch both spellings with a single database search, most products accept the truncator character (example: "theat*" would find both theatre and theatre, not to mention theatrical) and the wildcard character (example: "theat??" would find both theatre and theatre, not to mention theatry.
• What you call a thing: There is also a difference between what we call theatre and what we call drama. Drama typically refers to the written work, that can be used in theatre studies, literature studies, or other humanities. Theatre typically refers to the staged performance itself, including all of the behind-the-curtain details such as set design and costuming.

Call numbers

Browsing the shelves is a simple, powerful method for finding materials on your topic. You can quickly evaluate the scope of a book by checking its table of contents, index and bibliography. In fact, even if a book's contents aren't what you are looking for, its bibliography may list tens or hundreds of more useful sources.

Depending upon your exact topic, you may wish to browse different sections of the collection. Below are examples of several call number ranges related in some way to the performing arts, including film:

PN	Literature (general)
PN 1560 - 1590	The performing arts. Show business
PN 1600 - 3307	Drama

To see a brief outline of the entire Library of Congress classification system, click here.

Reference resources in Hewes Library

Reference materials can provide an excellent starting point and factual repository. Encyclopedias and dictionaries are perfect for quickly establishing the importance of a theatrical figure, timelines of various schools of acting, and bibiliographies for all manner of theatrical-related issues. The resources below, among others, may be found in the Reference Collection on the Main Level.

• Drama criticism (21 vol.) REF PN 1601. D59
• The drama dictionary REF PN 1625. H62 1988bx
• The McGraw-Hill encyclopedia of world drama (5 vol.) REF PN 1625. M3 1984
• Modern drama: scholarship and criticism 1981-1990 REF PN 1851. C37 1997
• The Oxford companion to the theatre (4th ed.) REF PN 2035. O9 1983
• A dictionary of theatre anthropology: the secret art of the performer REF PN 2041. A57 A5313 1991
• Theatrical costume: a bibiliography and iconography REF PN 2067. J68 2000
• The Oxford illustrated history of theatre REF PN 2111. O95 1995
• Cambridge guide to American theatre REF PN 2221. C36 1991
• Contemporary theatre, film & television (55 vol.) REF PN 2285. C58

Books in Hewes Library

The Hewes Library Catalog, allows you to locate any item in Hewes Library: our books, videos, CDs, and more.

For your theatre history purposes, we recommend a mixture of HIP searching and browsing. Use the catalog to identify some promising titles. When you locate these books on the shelves, explore the surrounding titles too. Spend some time. Look around. You may find something much better than what you went up there for in the first place.

Last but certainly not least: found a good book? Use its bibliography!

Online resources

Human resources: your local librarians

Hopefully, the ideas and resources above will help you to get started in your research. If you have any questions, comments or difficulties, please contact a librarian at the Reference Desk: (309) 457-2301. Ask early and ask often: the more time that you give us to help, the more we can do for you.