Many types of resources are available to you through the Dean B. Ellis Library. This guide is only a starting point for your research, it is not meant to be a comprehensive list of resources. If you need further assistance, please visit the Service Desk in the library or contact your librarian, April Sheppard, at asheppard@astate.edu.
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SCHOLARLY OR NOT?
Scholarly and peer reviewed are your "academic" articles. These are the ones that deal directly with research, history, or theory. Most likely, your professor wants you to use these types of articles. These types of articles are written by scholars, experts in the field often associated with a university or an organization. Peer reviewed articles must also be approved by a group of scholars before being published to ensure that the research presented is factual and relevant. Not everyone can get peer reviewed.
Popular magazine articles are usually ones that you read for entertainment. These are usually the type of publications that you find at the grocery store checkout. Chances are if there's a celebrity on the cover, it's a popular magazine.
For a more in-depth look at the differences, please visit our Scholarly Journals guide.
Contact Your Librarian
BOOKS IN THE DEAN B. ELLIS LIBRARY
All books in the library are arranged by subject using the Library of Congress classification system for call numbers and subject headings. The majority of call numbers for Theatre begin with "PN". The basic breakdown is as follows:
| GR 420 - 426 | - | Costume, jewelry |
| GT 500 - 2370 | - | Costume. Dress. Fashion |
| MT 955 - 956 | - | Musical Theater |
| MT 960 | - | Music in the theater |
| NA 6820 - 6821 | - | Theater architecture |
| NK 4700 - 4890 | - | Costume |
| PN 2061 - 2071 | - | The monologue |
| PN 1551 | - | The dialogue |
| PN 1560 -1590 | - | The performing arts. Show business |
| PN 1600 - 3307 | - | Drama |
| PN 4001 - 4355 | - | Oratory. Elocution, etc. |
| PN 6110.5 - 6120 | - | Collections of general literature - Drama |
The numbers that follow these beginning letters relate to the narrower scope of the item. For example: Theatre World (PN2277. N5 A17) focuses on general theatre while Plays for Young Audiences II (PN6119.9 .P52) focuses specifically on children's theatre.
Occasionally, a totally different call number will appear. This means the item is about more than theatre and higher importance was given to the other subject when the call number was assigned. For example: The Theater at Isthmia has a call number of NA285.I86 G42 R34 2005 because it is more about the history of architecture than it is theater arts.
Note: The library does not have a set area of plays -- these are mixed in with literature. To find a particular play, search by play or author name. If you do not have a particular author or play in mind, try adding "play" or "plays" to your search.
DATABASES
Databases with green 
or partially green 
icons offer some level of free, full-text articles. In most cases, you must be affiliated with A-State to view the article or on the A-State campus. Some database offer a "pay-per-view" service where you can buy an article not available for free and have immediate access. If you do not need immediate access to the article, you may also request it through Interlibrary Loan for free. Articles requested through Interlibrary Loan can take 2-5 business days to come in, depending on the lending library. You can also digital scans from our physical collection through Digital Delivery.
To view all our Fine Arts databases, click here.
To view all our databases, click here.
- Arts & Humanities Database This link opens in a new window
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Features hundreds of titles covering Art, Architecture, Design, History, Philosophy, Music, Literature, Theatre and Cultural Studies. It is designed to complement the following indexes: ABM, Avery, BHA, BHI, DAAI, Index Islamicus, MLA, Philosopher's Index and RILM. - Digital Theatre+ This link opens in a new windowAn extensive online resource providing high-quality full-length films of leading British theater productions plus interviews with the cast, the creative and production teams behind each show and documentaries on a variety of theater movements and practitioners.
- Films on Demand History Through Films Collection This link opens in a new windowLarge collection of academic, embeddable videos. Many programs from the History Channel, Biography Channel, BBC, PBS and other news channels are included in this collection.
- Fine Arts and Music Collection This link opens in a new windowProvides access to scholarly journals and magazines that support research in areas including drama, music, art history, and filmmaking. The database emphasizes full-text content for publications included in the Wilson Art Index and RILM bibliography.
- IPA Source This link opens in a new window
The largest online library of International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions and literal translations of opera arias and art song texts. IPA Source was developed to benefit singers, teachers, and all those interested in the correct and knowledgeable performance of vocal literature.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Massive journal and e-book collection. Contains core scholarly journals from the earliest issues to within a few years of current publication
- Library of Congress Digital Collections This link opens in a new window
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More than 350 digital collections from the Library of Congress. Primary source materials, maps & photographs, letters, diaries, sound recordings, and historic films. - Met Opera On Demand This link opens in a new windowThe Met Opera on Demand Database provides access to nearly 700 full-length Metropolitan Opera performances, spanning more than 80 years of broadcast history. Note: 5 simultaneous users at one time can use this resource.
- Music Index with Full Text This link opens in a new windowCovers every aspect of classical and popular music. In addition to newly added full-text journals, it includes reviews of performances as well as reviews of sound recordings and videos.
- National Theatre I Collection This link opens in a new windowBrings the stage to life through access to high definition streaming video of world-class productions and unique archival material offering significant insight into theatre and performance studies.
- Nineteenth-Century American Drama: Popular Culture and Entertainment, 1820-1900 This link opens in a new windowThis collection includes a wide variety of works such as historical plays, melodramas, political satires, minstrel shows, comic operas, musical extravaganzas, parlor entertainments, adaptations of novels, and many others.
- Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
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Dictionary of music, opera, and jazz. - Periodicals Archive Online This link opens in a new windowArchive of hundreds of digitized journals published in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
- Project MUSE This link opens in a new windowLarge, user-friendly collection of eBooks and scholarly journals.
- ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
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The largest aggregated full-text database in the market today, with thousands of periodical titles and millions of full-text articles available. Includes ABI/Inform and Hoover's Company Profiles.
- Theatre in Video: Volume 1 This link opens in a new windowContains hundreds of videos, including documentaries and definitive performances of the world’s most important plays. From celebrated productions of Shakespeare to rare, in-depth footage of the work of Samuel Beckett, the collection covers a wide range of 20th century theatre history.
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WORDS TO USE
Theatre covers a wide range of topics. If you're having trouble coming up with a topic, here are some keywords you can use that might help you get started:
- Acting
- Broadway
- Children's
- Costume
- Criticism
- Design
- Directing
- Drama
- Engagement
- Lighting
- Musical
- Playwriting
- Production
- Scenery
- Stagecraft
- Theater
- Theatre
If you want to combine keywords, use the connector AND between terms:
Children AND "musical theatre"
You can learn more about connectors in our Boolean Searching guide.
THEATRE OR THEATER?
Both spellings are actually correct - it just depends on who your audience is and where you're from. It also depends on the author. Some scholars use -er and others use -re. Because of the prevalence of both spellings, it's important to make sure you search with both variations as you do your research.
You can do separate searches for each spelling or nest the terms together like so:
(theatre OR theater)
The OR tells the computer to search for either work and the parentheses () groups the words together.
You can even combine nesting with other Boolean connectors!
(theatre OR theater OR drama) AND children
