Start the slide show

Presentation for a theatrical design course. Explain what types of information we might be looking for, and how to find it. Follow with a demonstration of a variety of these tools and discussion about the merits of each.

Researching Theatrical Design

Jon Haupt
Fine & Performing Arts Librarian
February 10, 2006

Researching Theatrical Design

• What are we looking for?
• How are we going to use it?
• What tools can we use to find it?
• How do we use these tools?

What are we looking for?

• Images
• Critical information about:
  • Playwrights
  • Plays
  • Specific productions

Why are we looking for them?

• Lighting
• Scenery
• Costuming
• Architecture

What kinds of tools do we have?

• Sites on the free web
• Free web indexes
• Indexes the library pays for
• The library catalog

Library Catalog

• "Books and more"
  • Books, journals, media, web sites, etc.
• Journals, not articles
  • It can tell you we HAVE Newsweek, but not what’s in it
• Generally only contains items that we own
• http://www.lib.iastate.edu:81/

WorldCat

• 23,000 libraries in 63 countries, contains more than 50 million records
• Works a lot like our library catalog (books and more)
• Includes items we own and do not own
• http://www.lib.iastate.edu/collections/db/wldcat.html

Open WorldCat

• New version of WorldCat open to everyone
• Contains most of WorldCat
• Google, Google Scholar, or Yahoo!
• Familiar interface, easy to find the ILL links
• Search using site:worldcatlibraries.org
  • Example: http://www.google.com

The Free Web

• Search engines & directories: Google, Yahoo!, etc.
• Popular sources of all kinds
  • Web sites, magazines, etc.
  • How do we evaluate what we find there? (Quality?)

Free web indexes

• Google Scholar, Scirus
  • http://scholar.google.com
  • http://www.scirus.com
• Access to some copyrighted research journal literature and education web sites
• Good start, sometimes; but this does not constitute a complete source

Paid Indexes

• Articles specifically about theatrical design:
  • Design & Applied Arts Index (DAAI)
• Interdisciplinary indexes
  • General:
    • Expanded Academic Index
    • EbscoHost Academic Search Elite
  • Design:
    • Art Abstracts (online) / Art Index (paper)
    • Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
  • History:
    • America: History and Life
    • Historical Abstracts
  • Many, many others under "Indexes and Abstracts"

Aggregators

• Aggregators are not indexes, but rather places where journals are "aggregated" online and made available as a whole.
• Of particular interest:
  • JSTOR - back issues
  • Project Muse - recent issues
• They can be useful searching tools

How do I find these things?

• Library Web Site