Simpson Library: Theatre and Dance: Databases &amp; Articles

Using Databases

Simpson Library subscribes to more than 200 databases.

In these databases, you'll find...

magazines
newspapers
scholarly journals
books
videos
and other valuable information sources

Most of our databases, but not all, are included when searching the library website.

Magazines vs. Journals

Magazines are periodicals that are generally popular in nature, unlike journals, which are usually more scholarly and specialized. Here are some differences between the two:

♦ Appearance

Magazine: Glossy; pictures often in color.

Journal: More serious look; few pictures, if any.

♦ Content

Magazine: Current events; general interest.

Journal: More specialized; research topics.

♦ Audience

Magazine: General public.

Journal: Scholars and researchers in a particular field.

♦ Style

Magazine: Written for the average reader.

Journal: Written for others in the field; shows research.

♦ Foot / Endnotes and Bibliographies

Magazine: Few notes, if any. No bibliographies.

Journal: Includes notes and sometimes bibliographies.

♦ Advertisements

Magazine: Many ads, often in color.

Journal: Few or no ads. If any, they are usually for books.

Theatre and Dance Databases

Theatre Performance and Design Collection
Includes access to Audio Drama: The L.A. Theatre Works Collection, National Theatre Collection, Performance Design Archive, The Royal Shakespeare Company Collection, Theatre in Context Collection, Theatre in Video Volumes I-2, and BBC Literary Adaptations in Video. Most films on the Alexander Street Press platform have closed captioning and transcripts. A small, but growing, number of films have audio description.
Gale Literature
(Previously known as Literature Resources from Gale)
Provides access to critical and biographical information on living and deceased authors from around the world.
MLA International Bibliography with Full Text
(1926 to date)
A comprehensive index to articles and books on language, literature, and the dramatic arts.

Records of Early English Drama
Provides citations to pre-1642 documents relating to London-area theatres, showing "how information produced at the time of the early London theatres was transmitted in later years."

Other Useful Databases

American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection
Provides digital access to more than 6,500 American magazines and journals published between 1691 and 1877. (Because all issues of bound volumes were digitized, some periodicals beyond 1877 are included.)
American Periodicals Series Online
(1741 to 1940)
Provides digitized images of more than 1,000 American magazines, journals, and newspapers.
Art Full Text
(1984 to date; full-text coverage begins in 1995)
Indexes a broad range of some 600 magazines and journals in the arts. See also Art Index Retrospective.
Art Index Retrospective
(1929 to 1984)
Predecessor to Art Full Text.
Artstor
A collection of images "from some of the world's leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists in one easily-navigated repository.
Biography and Genealogy Master Index
An index to millions of biographical sketches in hundreds of reference books and other sources. To use the index, 1) Look up your name. 2) Note the various titles that contain information on the person. 3) Use the Library's online catalog to locate the reference works. An excellent place to begin biographical research on living and deceased persons from around the world.
Dissertations & Theses Global
"Offers full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997 and strong retrospective full text coverage for older graduate works."
Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective
(1907-1984)
Indexes nearly 1,200 periodicals.
Humanities International Complete
(coverage varies; approximately 1985 to date)
Provides the full text of hundreds of magazines, journals, books, and other works.
JSTOR
(archived publications from the 1800s to the last 1-5 years)
A full-text collection of scholarly journals in a wide variety of disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. To focus your search, use the Advanced Search and the "narrow by discipline" and "language" limiters.
MasterFILE Premier
(coverage varies by publication)
Furnishes full-text coverage of thousands of reference books, biographies, and primary source documents.
Project MUSE
(coverage varies; mostly 1995 to date)
Provides online access to more than 400 scholarly journals in the humanities, arts, and social sciences.
ProQuest Databases
(coverage varies)
By clicking on "view by subject" and then de-selecting all of the selected databases, users can pick and choose resources or search by broad categories.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
(coverage varies)
Provides full-text and full-image articles for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune. Users can search the newspapers separately or together.
New York Times: ProQuest Historical Newspapers
(1851 to within the last several years)
Washington Post: ProQuest Historical Newspapers
(1877 to 2003)