Reference resources are ideal for a broad overview of a topic and can help you decide how to narrow down your search. You can find our print Drama Reference Collection on the second floor or consult one of our many electronic reference resources, such as:
Why? To explore specific cultural concepts (e.g. death, health, money, or youth) through eras in human history
What? Subject guides, timelines, and pedagogical resources including lesson plans
When? Antiquity to modernity
Why? To explore a premier virtual reference collection including encyclopedias, dictionaries, and atlases in a wide expanse of subject areas
What? Encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, images, audio files, and video
Why? To find sources within scholarly and industry performing arts journals on ballet, cinema, comedy, dance, mime, opera, and puppetry
What? Abstracts and indexes of periodicals, with limited full-text availability
Why? To explore Victorian cultural selections from the British Library including playbills, scripts, and scores
What? Primary sources
When? 19th century
Why? To search an encyclopedia covering theater and performance
What? Encyclopedia entries
When? Ancient Greek theatre - modern times
Why? To search the umbrella database for all theatre content from Alexander Street Press
What? Full text plays, performance ephemera, audio plays, and filmed stage performances
Why? To browse a select collection of eBooks covering the history and critical reception of theatre
What? Playbills, eBooks, posters, photographs, and related ephemera
You can find more resources on researching contemporary or historical theater, databases for outlining production histories, resources for critical and contextual research, and locating criticism and reviews of performances and texts on our Dramaturgy Subject Guide and our Theatre History Subject Guide.
Books and ebooks can provide a more in-depth look at a topic, place, design style, or historical moment. You can search our catalog for digital and physical collections simultaneously. Click Advanced Search for additional search criteria such as material type, language, and year of publication. You can also browse our collection of books about directing, acting, theatre history, and related topics on the third floor in the call number range from roughly PN1600 to PN3300.
Articles from magazines and scholarly journals can provide a deeper dive into focused topics. Some databases where you can find articles of interest include:
Why? To explore a full-text archive of scholarly journals, particularly strong in the arts and humanities
What? Journal articles
When? 1665 - present
Why? To find resources to support literary response and analysis from a diverse range of critics and viewpoints
What? Topic guides, literary works, reviews, and criticism
Why? To discover potential sources by exploring 1M+ records from international periodicals covering the performing arts industry, from musical theater and opera, to magic and pantomime, to television and film
What? Abstract and indexes, with some full-text availability
When? 1864 - present
You can find all of our databases in our A-Z List, but here is a list of some databases of particular interest:
Why? To explore full-text plays from Aeschylus to the present day as well as information on historical context, playwrights, analysis, and production images
What? Play scripts, contextual information, analysis, and production images
When? 500 BCE - present
Why? To listen to 1,700 recordings of authentic English-language dialects and accents spoken by people from 135 different countries
What? Recordings of spoken language
When? 1998 - present
Why? To find word-for-word International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions and translations of 15,000+ songs and arias in Latin, Italian, German, and French
What? Translations and transcriptions of songs in PDF format
Why? To research topics in the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics
What? Journal articles
Why? To explore Victorian cultural selections from the British Library including playbills, scripts, and scores
What? Primary sources
When? 19th century
Why? To browse a select collection of eBooks covering the history and critical reception of theatre
What? Playbills, eBooks, posters, photographs, and related ephemera
Electronic script collections can be found on the Drama Subject Guide here.
You can use open access resources from any computer, anywhere, whether or not you have a UNCSA affiliation--they are free to all!
If we don't have access to a title you are looking for, please consider making an interlibrary loan request or purchase request. Interlibrary loan means we will look for another library that owns the title that might be willing to loan it out to us for a limited period of time. A purchase request means that the UNCSA library will purchase a copy to add to our collection.