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Research Methods for the
Theatre
Department of Theatre and Dance
University of Mary Washington
Research Methods
I. Developing a research topic and thesis
statement
II. Forming a search strategy
III. Identifying, Locating and Evaluating
information sources
Developing a Research Topic
•
•
•
A clearly defined research topic is the first
step in successful research.
Can develop your research topic into a
thesis statement.
Finding a Research Topic—a tutorial on
how to develop a research topic
Research Topic vs.
Thesis Statement

Research Topic
–

Statement of research subject
Thesis Statement
–
–
Completed after research
Statement includes research subject, how you are
going to prove or disprove your research subject,
and brief indication of findings.
Research Topic vs.
Thesis Statement


For a fashion history paper (Can you identify the difference?)
Topic Statement:
–

Within the institution of slavery in America from 1770-1865 there
existed a social hierarchy among slaves manifest in the different
quality of clothing of each caste.
Thesis Statement:
–
Within the institution of slavery in America from 1770-1865 there
existed a social hierarchy among slaves manifest in the different
quality of clothing of each caste. An investigation of the clothing
worn by slaves at the Ballyman Plantation illustrates each segment
of the social hierarchy, suggesting a sartorial rigidity as defined as
those of the plantations non-slaves.
Research Topic vs.
Thesis Statement


For a fashion history paper
Topic Statement:
–

At the end of the 18th century in Europe, the foppish style of the effeminate
Macaronis fell out of favor as men like Beau Brummell standardized a new
style, commonly known as ‘dandyism’, which primarily focused on the art of
dressing impeccably.
Thesis Statement:
–
At the end of the 18th century in Europe, the foppish style of the effeminate
Macaronis fell out of favor as men like Beau Brummell standardized a new
style, commonly known as ‘dandyism’, which primarily focused on the art of
dressing impeccably. This paper examines the history of the English and
French 19th century dandy with a particular emphasis upon how they
dramatically altered fashion while challenging the concepts of male vanity
and social class., ultimately leading to a new definition of masculinity.
The Assignments:
1: Write a research paper on some aspect of
contemporary theatre.
2: Complete a character analysis of Emma
Goldman.
3: Design scenery, lights and costumes for The
Game of Love and Chance by Marivaux.
I.
Developing a Research Topic:
Defining a specific
research question &
research topic
Assignment # 1:
Write a research paper on some aspect of
contemporary theatre.

Need idea of what information is available
before you write.
–
Broad topic, too many options


–
Narrow topic, too few options


Difficult to find relevant sources if topic is
broad/ambiguous
What if there is nothing new to say?
What if you choose a topic with no information?
Literature Review?
What is a Literature Review?

Generally, the purpose of a literature review is to
analyze critically a segment of a published body of
knowledge through summary, classification, and
comparison of prior research studies, other literature
reviews, and theoretical articles.
– “Review of Literature.” The Writer’s Handbook. The Writing Center, UW at Madison.
2004, 15 Feburary 2006 <http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/
ReviewofLiterature.html>. Path: Home; Writers Handbook; Common Writing
Assignments; Review of Literature.
How to construct a Literature Review
(http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/literature-reviews/)
Literature Review--Example
•
The next slide is the introduction and literature review for
a paper on queer readings of musical theatre.
•
The second paragraph—the literature review—briefly and
clearly explains the findings of previous studies of the
same or similar subjects.
•
Examples from the paper: “You’ve got that thing”: Cole
Porter, Stephen Sondheim, and the Erotics of the List
Song. Theatre Journal. 64 (2). December 2012.
Literature Review—Example
First Paragraph--Introduction
The ascendance of queer theory effected a sea change in theatre studies and
musicology. Beginning in the 1990s, scholars in both disciplines started using
its methods to study the histories of theatre and music, paying particular
attention to those writers, composers, and performers most likely to have
savored homoerotic fantasies and practices and to those genres most
associated with lesbian or gay subcultures. Music theatre has been especially
alluring to queer theorists and historians, in part because of the adulatory
cults that have developed around opera and the Broadway musical. Indeed,
the opera queen and the musical theatre queen are routinely imagined to be
the most visible and fervent of fans. From Philadelphia to Smash, gay men
can be pinpointed by their adoration of Maria Callas or Ethel Merman.
Despite this preponderance of queer devotees, however, the assignment of
sexual provenance to either genre is problematic. As Judith Peraino notes:
“Music is notoriously resistant to legibility,” especially in regard to sexuality,
and even music theatre, complete with text, plot, and characters, defies
sexual classification.
Literature Review—Example
Second Paragraph—Literature Review
Music theatre’s resistance to classification has not stopped a number of critics
since the 1980s from claiming the Broadway musical as a gay theatrical genre,
albeit one that has been closeted for most of its history. Gerald Mast, for
example, writing in 1987, epitomizes post-Stonewall, gay-positive criticism by
noting the attraction of “gay people” to the musical’s “masquerade of
extravagant excess and outrageous frippery.” Believing that both musicals
and “gay people” practice a subversive double-coding, he argues that musicals
“translate their alternative vision of human and social relationships into
forms that both disguise it as societal critique and allow its implications to be
clearly read.”
•
•
This sentence is the ultimate finding of the literature review
This and the following entries in blue, summarize the history of scholarship
supporting the ultimate finding of the review.
Literature Review—Example
Second Paragraph—Literature Review
John Clum elaborates a similar approach a decade later while making even
more sweeping claims: “Musicals were always gay.” Having absorbed the
lessons of queer theory about the intractability of sexual desires and
identities, D. A. Miller and Stacy Wolf develop more nuanced, circumspect,
and historically specific arguments. Miller’s Place for Us is a theoretical tract
cum memoir that mines his own experience to argue that musicals—
especially Gypsy (1959), his master text—represent privileged sites for gay
men to rehearse and perform their identifications and desires. Wolf,
meanwhile, in A Problem Like Maria and Changed for Good, offers both a
provocative lesbian reading of the musical and a much-needed feminist
history of the form.
My assignment says to write an
abstract of my paper—What is it?
•
An abstract is a self-contained, short, and powerful statement
that describes a larger work.
•
Components vary according to discipline.
•
An abstract of a humanities work may contain the thesis,
background, and conclusion of the larger work.
•
An abstract is not a review, nor does it evaluate the work being
abstracted.
•
While it contains key words found in the larger work, the
abstract is an original document rather than an excerpted
passage.
•
UNC Writing Center—https://http://writingcenter.unc.edu/?s=abstract
Abstract—Example
Critics have long noted the association between the Broadway
musical and gay men as both producers and consumers. But
rather than claim that musicals are gay, lesbian, or queer, this
essay analyzes the circulation of desire in the work of two
composer-lyricists, Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim, by
focusing on their mastery of the list or catalog song, a form that
requires only that its lyric contains an inventory of people,
places, or things. The essay argues that the list song functions
as a kind of desiring-machine, an assembly line of words that
represents a musical consequence and signature of the Fordist
means of production. The list songs of Porter and Sondheim,
which herald the beginning and end of Broadway’s so-called
Golden Age, divulge in their differing ways the contrasting sets
of desires and anxieties that swirl around the closet—and the
Broadway musical—in the decades before and after the
Stonewall riots.
Assignment # 1:
Write a research paper on some aspect of
contemporary theatre.

Research Question: How did American
theatre and theatre artists respond to the
events of 9-11? Were any plays written that
dealt with the events? If so, what were the
themes of those plays?
Assignment #2:
Complete a character analysis of Emma
Goldman.

Research Question: Research and write a
complete, detailed biographical study of
Emma Goldman relative to developing her
as a character for the play Emma by
Howard Zinn.
Assignment #3:
Design scenery, lights and costumes for The
Game of Love and Chance.

Research Question: Complete an analysis
of 18th century French style in order to
design costumes, lights, and scenery for The
Game of Love and Chance.
Integrity:
Inspired by..or..Copy of…


http://www.playbill.com/news/article/mantelloand-caldwell-theatre-settle-lvc-case-issuesstill-unresolved-81475
Plagiarism in Theatre
Integrity:
Inspired by..or..Copy of…




Needs of script and be challenging
Understand what you respond to in the
inspiration-an idea? a specific image?
Don’t look
Just too many choices to copy
Integrity:
Common Types of Plagiarism





Direct: word for word
Self: using your work again without credit
Mosaic: borrowing phrases without quotes
and changing words with synonyms
Accidental: neglecting to cite sources without
intent
Structure: similar organization of ideas and
argument
Integrity:
Common Types of Plagiarism
Tutorial
II.
Determine a Search Strategy
How will you search
to find the
information you are
looking for?
Determining a Search Strategy



Identify subject and key concepts for your
search topic
Identify potential information sources
Identify where those information sources are
located in the library, and how to use them
Determining a search strategy:
Identify subject and key concepts for topic


Purpose
Subject Area
• Focus
• Topic

Topic
• Concepts
• Subject & Key
Word
How did American theatre and theatre artists respond to the
events of 9-11? Were any plays written that dealt with the
events? If so, what were the themes of those plays?




Purpose: Scholarly
research paper
Subject: 21st century
theatre history
Focus: American
theatre after 9-11
Topic: How did
American theatre
respond to the events of
9-11.

Concepts:
• Theater/re, response to
9/11

Subject & Key
Words:
• Theatre: plays, drama,
theatre
• Response: reactions
• 9-11: terrorism
Research and write a complete, detailed biographical study of
Emma Goldman relative to developing her as a character in
the play Emma by Howard Zinn.




Purpose: Scholarly
research paper.
Subject: Emma
Goldman
Focus: Biographical
Study
Topic: Life, times, and
beliefs of Emma
Goldman.

Concepts:
• Emma Goldman,
Biographical information

Subject & Key
Words:
• Goldman: anarchist,
suffraget
• Biographical
information: life, death
Complete an analysis of 18th century French style in order to
design costumes, lights, and scenery for She Stoops to
Conquer.




Purpose: Scholarly
research for design.
Subject: 18th C.
France.
Focus: Period style
Topic: What were the
architecture, décor,
dress, and art of the
18th c France?


Concepts:
• 18th c French architecture,
décor, dress, art, history.
Subject & Key Words:
• 18th c: eighteenth century,
Rococo
• Dress: Clothes, costume.
• Art: Painting, sculpture
• Architecture: Domestic,
Religious, Versailles
• Décor: Interior decoration
• History: Government
Determining a search strategy:
Identify potential information sources

Research needs determine which information
sources to search!
Identifying Potential Source Options

Subject & Related subject areas
–




Subject Librarian--Subject Areas
Source Content & Level
Source Scope
Identification of possible sources
Search strategy
Identifying Potential Source Options

Source Content:
–
–
Scholarly—those created by persons taking a scholarly
approach to the subject.
Popular—those created by persons taking a non-scholarly
approach to the subject.


Criteria to tell the difference
Source Level:
–
–
Primary—generally, those created at the time of the event or
person’s life that you are studying.
Secondary—generally, those created after the time of the
event of the person’s life that you are studying.

Criteria to tell the difference
Assignment #1:

Principal Subject Area:
–
Humanities



Theatre
Related Subject Area:
Source Content:
–
–
1st Choice: Scholarly—need analytical opinions from theatre
scholars.
2nd Choice: Popular—may provide reviews of plays and
opinions as to their value, or the plays from the audience’s
point of view.
Assignment #1

Source Level:
–
–

Primary: necessary because they will capture the
immediate response of the theatre community.
Secondary: necessary because they will evaluate,
compare and analyze the theatre of the event.
Source Scope:
–
Comprehensive and specialized sources are
acceptable.
Assignment #1

Source Identification:
–
1st Choice: Periodicals will be best for primary sources as
most will still be available in electronic indexes. It will be
best source for theatre periodicals (scholarly), and it will
also have human interest stories (popular) in papers like the
New York Times.



Carlson, M. “9/11, Afghanistan, and Iraq: The Response of the
New York Theatre”. Theatre Survey, May 2004.
Cameron, B. “When 9/11 is History”. Theatre Survey,
September, 2002.
Salmon, J. “A Response to 9/11, So Unheroically Human”.
New York Times, December 15, 2002.
Assignment #1

Source Identification:
–
–
–
2nd Choice:
Books will be helpful, particularly if they are a compilation of
articles on the subject or books written about the subject. (Too
early for them to have been written?)
Play Scripts written about the events of 9/11 will give insight into
the theatre’s response.
 Mueller, L. Voices from September 11th.
 Thomas, A. & Batra, T. With their Eyes: September
11th—the View from a High School at Ground Zero.
 LaBute, N. The Mercy Seat.
Assignment #1

Search Strategy:
–
Begin with a general search of journal databases
looking for scholarly and popular articles with a
subject of theatre and 9/11. Then move to see if
there are any books or plays that have been
written about the topic specifically, or that hold
essays on the subject.
Assignment #1



Research Question: How did American theatre and theatre artists
respond to the events of 9-11? Were any plays written that dealt with
the events? If so, what were the themes of those plays?
Research Topic: The events of 9/11 had both an immediate and
lasting affect on American theatre, not only in New York City and
Washington, DC, but across the country.
Thesis Statement: A study of American theatre from September 11,
2001 to September 11, 2009, shows the affects of the 9/11 events on
theatre. While an immediate, visceral theatrical response appeared
in New York City, but waned after a few months, an investigation of
new plays written since the attack, shows a more lasting affect in
both plays dealing specifically with the tragedy, and plays with
subject matter informed by the 9/11 events.
Assignment #2

Principal Subject Area:
–
Humanities


Related Subject Area:
–
Social Sciences



History
Women’s studies
Political science
Source Content:
–
–
1st Choice: Scholarly—need biographical sources explaining
her place as an anarchist, feminist, and social activist.
2nd Choice: Popular—look in contemporary periodicals for
articles written about her.
Assignment #2

Source Level:
–
–

Secondary—Contemporary authors who have written about
her will be most prevelant.
Primary—Did she write an autobiography? Is there an
annotated autobiography? Popular news sources written
during her lifetime?
Source Scope:
–
Comprehensive and specialized are acceptable:

Comprehensive:
–

Marsh, M. Anarchist Women, 1870-1920.
Specialized:
–
–
Goldman, E. Living My Life.
Wexler, A. Emma Goldman: An Intimate Life.
Assignment #2

Source Identification:
–
–
–
Books--as she is a historical figure most of the information
about her will be in books.
Periodicals--there may be articles written about her in
contemporary publications as well as copies of primary
articles.
Reference Materials--because she was a historical figure
she will be in most encyclopedias, general and subject.
 The Encyclopedia of Women in American History
Assignment #2

Search Strategy:
–
Begin with biographies of Goldman as well as her
autobiographical writings. Then move to books
and periodicals that write about her place as an
anarchist, woman, and social activist.
Assignment #3

Principal Subject Area:
–
Humanities



Related Subject Area:
–
Social Sciences


Art History
Architecture
Anthropology (Costume & Dress)
Source Content:
–
–
1st Choice: Scholarly—need sources that explain & analyze
18th century French style.
2nd Choice: Popular—photographs in periodicals
(Architectural Digest)
Assignment #3

Source Level:
–
–

Secondary: authors who have written about 18th century style, after
the 18th century will be most prevalent.
Primary: those who wrote about the 18th century while living in it
(diaries/letters); also paintings of architecture and dress.
Source Scope:
–
Comprehensive and specialized sources are acceptable.

Comprehensive:
–
–

Ribero, A. Dress in Eighteenth-Century Europe.
Summerston, J. The Architecture of the Eighteenth Century.
Specialized:
–
–
Delpierre, M. Dress in France in the Eighteenth Century.
Kalnein, W. Architecture in France in the Eighteenth Century.
Assignment #3

Source Identification:
–
–
Books most of the material will be in books.
Periodicals


–
Scholarly journals such as Dress and Eighteenth Century
Studies.
Popular periodicals such as National Geographic
Reference Materials some reference sources may have
articles on famous people, architecture, and behaviors of the
period.
 “Rococo” in Encyclopedia of Interior Design
 “Rococo Style” in Encyclopedia Americana
Assignment #3

Search Strategy:
–
Begin with general, comprehensive secondary
sources that describe elements of 18th century
style. Then look for specialized secondary sources
covering specific aspects of the same period. Look
for visual images that define the period.
End Part I & II
I. Develop a research topic
II. Form a search strategy
III.
Identifying, Locating & Evaluating
information materials
-What
specific type of source has
the information?
-Where it is located in the library?
-Authority of information source?
Identifying, Locating & Evaluating
information materials
Identifying different types of information
sources in the Simpson Library
Which type is most likely to have the information that I
want?
Types of information materials
available in the Simpson Library

Reference Sources
Books
Periodicals
Databases

All are accessible via the Library Web



–
The CONTENTS of each may not be electronically
available
Reference Sources







Encyclopedias
Dictionaries & Thesauri
Almanacs
Yearbooks
Handbooks
Atlases
Indexes
Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias contain brief overview
articles on a wide range of subjects.
Encyclopedias are frequently sets of multiple
volumes and may cover a broad range of
subjects or focus on a single subject area.
–
–
General: Encyclopaedia Britannica,
Britannica Online
Subject: McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World
Drama
Subject Encyclopedias



Assignment #1:
-The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre & Performance
-Critical Survey of Drama
-Drama Criticism
Assignment #2:
-Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers
-Activists, Rebels, and Reformers
-Women in World History
Assignment #3:
-The Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion
-Encyclopedia of Interior Design
-The Dictionary of Art
Dictionaries & Thesauri

Dictionaries & Thesauri provide definitions of
words and phrases. Some include the origins and
histories of terms. Some include general terms in a
particular language, whereas others may define
jargon in a particular field of study.
–
–
–
Language dictionaries provide definitions for words in
multiple languages.
Biographical dictionaries give information about
people's lives and accomplishments.
Thesauri identify other words or terms with the same or
similar meaning.
Dictionaries & Thesauri

Assignment #1:
–

Assignment #2:
–

International Dictionary of Theatre: Plays
Larousse Dictionary of Women
Assignment #3:
–
Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture
Almanacs & Statistical Sources


Almanacs are compilations of facts and
statistics and in the case of Theatre research
can be useful to look up statistics related to
the arts. Most almanacs are updated
annually or according to another regular
schedule.
Statistical Sources just include
compilations and summaries of numeric
data.
Almanacs & Statistical Sources

Almanac:
–

World Almanac and Book of Facts
Statistical Source:
–
–
LexisNexis Statistical.
Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2004-2005


–
Statistics available: Theatre Attendance and Receipts; Federal
aid to theatres; personal expenditures on theatre.
Available electronically
http://www.census.gov/library/publications/timeseries/statistical_abstracts.html
Yearbooks

Yearbooks provide annual updates of
current events, facts, statistics, new
discoveries, research or other timely
information. Some reference book publishers
issue yearbooks to update and supplement
their publications until a new editions are
available.
Handbooks, Manuels & Guides

Handbooks, manuals, and guides to a field of
study provide a detailed overview of or a general
introduction to a subject area.
–
–
–
Handbooks are similar to encyclopedias only with more
in-depth entries.
Manuals provide instruction on how to do something.
Guides to a field of study are designed to teach researchers
or students about the sources and research methodology in
the field.
Atlases, Gazetteers & Guidebooks

Atlases, Gazetteers and Guidebooks are
geographical sources.
–
–
–
Atlases are composed primarily of maps but may
contain additional geographic information.
Gazetteers are dictionaries of place names and
landmarks, both natural and man-made.
Guidebooks give important travel and other
descriptive information about places
Indexes, Abstracts & Bibliographies


Indexes, abstracts and bibliographies
provide access to books, the contents of
periodicals (magazines and journals),
research reports, chapters in books,
dissertations, and other materials.
The majority of people use these types of
sources to locate periodical articles on a
particular topic.
Indexes, Abstracts & Bibliographies

Indexes are alphabetical subject-based listings of items.
–
Periodical Index (database)

Author and Title and Subject access points
–
–
A single item may be listed under several subject headings.
Index in a Book

Includes the content of that book only

Abstracts are indexes that include summaries of the contents of the listed
materials. These summaries are called abstracts as well.

-Bibliographies are compilations of sources on a particular topic, by a
particular author or in a particular library collection.
–
Subject Bibliography


–
Author, Title, and broad Subject access points.
Unlike an index, entries usually appear once.
Bibliography in a book


List of sources used to write that book
To find other sources on same topic
Indexes, Abstracts & Bibliographies

Assignment #1:
–
–

Assignment #2:
–
–

Index: Expanded Academic ASAP
Bibliography: American Theatre History: An Annotated
Bibliography.
Index: Expanded Academic ASAP
Bibliography: Anarchist Thinkers and Thought: An
Annotated Bibliography.
Assignment #3:
–
–
Index: Expanded Academic ASAP
Bibliography: Architecture: A Bibliographic Guide to
Basic Reference Works, Histories, and Handbooks.
Books

Generally, scholarly books (as opposed to fiction) are either
written on a single topic or are a collection of many articles,
written by one or more authors on a single subject.
–

A collection of essays on a subject might be as helpful as a single
topic book, as it will often give different perspectives on the same
topic in one place
Books are shelved by subject. That means that books with a
similar subject should be next to each other on the shelves.
–
However, this may not always be the case, so if you do not find
more than one book on the same subject, do not assume that there
are no more, as they just may be shelved in another place—under
another subject.
Books

Assignment #1:
–

Assignment #2:
–
–

None available
Solomon, M. Emma Goldman
Watson, M. Lives of Their Own: Rhetorical Dimensions of
Autobiographies of Women Activists.
Assignment #3:
–
–
DeLorme, E. Garden Pavillions and the 18th Century
French Court.
Adams, Censer & Graham. Visions and Revisions of
Eighteenth-Century France.
Periodicals

Journals and magazines are periodicals. This means that
they are published at regular intervals. Both are numbered in
volumes which correspond to a specific year and most journals
have issue numbers.
–
–
A Journal is a scholarly publication in which researchers report
findings of studies relative to a specific field. Most journal articles
are evaluated by a panel (jury) of experts for accuracy and
relevance before being published.
Magazines are written by a staff of writers for a more “popular”
audience and the articles are not evaluated by a jury. There are
Magazines and Journals covering most disciplines.

How do you tell the difference?
Periodicals

Theatre Journals
–
–
–
–
–
Theatre Journal
Modern Drama
Theatre Topics
Theatre Survey
Women in Performance

Theatre Magazines
–
–
–
–
American Theatre
Magazine
Live Design
Shakespeare Magazine
TD&T
Assignment #1

Journal:
–

Gomez-Pena, E-Mael, & McKee. “Re: Group/No
homeland: A Post-9/11 Intercultural Poltergeist.”
TDR, 47(4), 2003.
Magazine:
–
Shandell, J. “Authors! Authors!”. American
Theatre, 22(3), 2005.
Assignment #2

Journal:
–

Falk, C. “Emma Goldman: Passion, Politics, and
the Theatrics of Free Expression”. Women’s
History Review, 11(1), 2002.
Magazine:
–
Auleta, B, Goldstone, B. “Happy Birthday,
Emma”. Off our Backs: A Women’s Newsjournal.
1, 1970
Assignment #3

Journal:
–

Riberio, A. “The Art of Dress, Fashion in England
and France 1750-1820”. Eighteenth Century
Studies, 29(4), 1996.
Magazine:
–
Rosenau, H. “Functional & the Ideal in late
Eighteenth-Century French Architecture”. The
Architectural Review, 140, 1966.
Databases


Free & Subscription
Free databases are those that anyone can
access.
–
–
Most of the databases available on the web are
free.
Be sure to check the authority of the information.

Records of Early English Drama
Databases

Subscription databases are those that you
can only access for a fee, in this case paid by
the University.

Databases are differentiated by
– Subject scope
– Citation, Abstract, &/or Full-Text
Subscription Databases


Broad Scope--Arts and Humanities Search
Narrow Scope--ArtStor: Decorative Arts or
Fashion
–

Use advanced search
Most of the information in these databases is
compiled from other sources by editors.
– Basic search and an Advanced search option
 The basic search is usually just a “keyword”
search. The advanced search allows very
specific searches using different search terms.
Subscription Databases

Broad
–
–
–

Art Full Text
NYPL Digital Gallery
Project Muse
Narrow
–
–
–
–
ARTStor
Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective
English Verse Drama
Harp Week

Find these here
Subscription Databases

Citation, Abstract, &/or Full-Text Indexes
– A Citation Index only gives you the information
you need to locate an article: the title, author,
publication, and date. Some Citation Index’s also
include:
 An Abstract which is a short synopsis of the
article.
– A Full-Text Index gives you the citation along
with the complete text of the article as it was
originally published.
– Databases may be any combination of the three.
Subscription Databases

Citation
DRESS IN 18TH-CENTURY EUROPE, 1715-1789 - RIBEIRO,A
Author: KORSHIN, PJ Source: EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY STUDIES 21,
no. 1 (FAL 1987): 147-151
Abstract
– DRESS IN 18TH-CENTURY EUROPE, 1715-1789 - RIBEIRO,A.
Author: KORSHIN, PJ Source: EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY STUDIES 21,
no. 1 (FAL 1987): 147-151. (Book Review)
Riberio’s thesis for her new book is “ clothes played the most vital role in
defining man and his part in society, to an extent which we cannot
contemplate today”. The book is a development of this theme by
investigation dress, social factors for dress, and the heavy influence of
French Court society on clothing.
–


Full Text
–
Provide full text copy of the article with citation.
Subscription Databases






Arts and Humanities Search
Expanded Academic ASAP
Humanities Abstracts
Humanities & Social
Sciences Index
Retrospective: 1907-1984
Literature Resource CenterLCR
Project Muse

Citation
Full-Text, Abstract, Citation
Citation, Abstract

Citation

Citation, Abstract, Full-Text
Citation, Abstract, Full-Text



Subscription Databases

How do I find which databases we have?
–
Simpson Library Home Page
Identifying, Locating & Evaluating
information materials
Finding materials in the Simpson
Library.
UMWLibGuides
Identifying, Locating & Evaluating
information materials


Finding different sources in the library

using Simpson Library Web Page

While you can find all materials electronically using the web
page, you may not be able to access the content of all materials
electronically.
Finding different sources outside the library



Use the WorldCat database
Google Scholar
Item you want not in the library? Try an Interlibrary Loan
Request. (Remember: no guarentee of arrival time)
Reference Sources & Books

Use the library web page to locate
Reference Sources and Books by title,
subject, or author.
–
–
–

The catalog will not search the text in either
source.
E Books
-Naxos Music/Video Library
OED
When you find one book that you like, try
finding others like it by clicking on one of the
“subject” links in the book’s record.
Periodicals

Use the databases link from the Library web page to
access a full-text or citation database to locate
articles in Periodicals.
–
When you find the title of an article that you want, there
may be a “locate journal article” link in the citation will
let you see if the library has a copy of the article available for
you.

–
The library does not have access to all the periodicals included
in every database.
When you find one article that you like, you can also click
on a “subject” link for related articles. Even though each
database calls the subject links something else, they all
provide that option to search for related articles that way.
Databases

Use the databases link from the library web page to
find information in a Database, go to that database
and use the search tools provided.
–
–
–
–
Almost all subscription databases default to a keyword
search that searches the title, text, and subjects of the entry.
You may also be able to click on a “subject” link for related
articles.
Not all databases use the same search techniques. If you are
having trouble finding information in a specific database,
then look for a help box that will explain how to search the
specific database using an advanced search.
OR see a Reference Librarian.
Identifying, Locating & Evaluating
information materials
Determining which information sources
are acceptable for your research.
–
–
Generally an academic library chooses
authoritative sources offering contrasting
opinions
YOU SHOULD NEVER ASSUME AUTHORITY
Identifying, Locating & Evaluating
information materials

Evaluation of source materials
–
Generic Criteria for Evaluation




Stated Criteria for inclusion of information
Authority of author(s)
Comparability with related sources
Stability of information
–
Edited from: Tilliman, Hope N. “Generic Criteria for Evaluation.”
Evaluating Quailty on the Net. March 28,
2004.<http://www.hopetillman.com/findqual.html>.
Evaluating information: Print

Criteria
–

Authority
–

What qualifications merit the author as a source? Why is their
opinion valid?
Comparability
–
–

The author should tell you why they included and excluded what
they did.
How does their scholarship compare to the total written on the
subject?
Are they writing with a bias?
Stability
–
Is what they are writing based on established research methods?
Evaluating information: Web Sites


Five criteria for evaluating Web pages
USC-Chico guide to evaluate information
sources
–
–
–
–
–
Accuracy
Authority
Objectivity
Currency
Coverage
Evaluating information: Web Sites

Acceptable
–
–
–
–
–
British Drama
Federal Theatre Project
Costume
Clothing of the 18th
Century
The Emma Goldman
Papers

Questionable
–
–
–
–
–
Kabuki Theatre
Burlesque
TheatreHistory.com
Historical Boys Clothing
Goldman Archive
Further Questions?






Research Resources by Subject--Simpson
Library (Click on Guides)
Reference Librarians and subject areas
Internet Public Library
Purdue University's Online Writing Lab
UMW - Writing Center
UNC-Writing Center

Presentation updated 9/9/16