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Theater Arts

supporting research for actors, playwrights, directors, and performers

Database searching to find Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper Articles

Each database provides access to a unique group of publications, so search more than one in order to be comprehensive, but for most topics start with the International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance!

Using "Search for Item" button to find full text

When you find an article listed in a research database, and the article is not immediately available to read, use  to search all of Pace's holdings (print and electronic) to see if we have full text.  If full text is not available, you will get a link to Pace's Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad) service, where you can request a copy of the article.

Articles (scanned pdf files/photocopies from journals and magazines) can take anywhere from one day to 2 or 3 weeks to obtain. You'll receive an email from the library notifying you that the PDF article has been uploaded to ILLiad. Follow the link in the email to access the PDF and download it.

Search for Full-Text Journals that the Pace Library subscribes to

Use the Journal Title tab on the library website when you have a citation to a journal or magazine article but you need the actual article (the full text).  A citation is just a formal description of an article, for example:

Dawkins, Laura. “Family Acts: History, Memory, and Performance in Suzan-Lori Parks's The America Play and Topdog/ Underdog.” South Atlantic Review, vol. 74, no. 3, 2009, pp. 82–98.

When you are doing research, one good article will often point you to other article. You may want to find that article as well. You might also encounter relevant articles when reading a book or using Google Scholar or Wikipedia.

To find out if the library has the journal that published the article, follow this link and click on the JOURNAL TITLE tab. Then type the name of the journal (in my example above, the journal is South Atlantic Review).

Note: If you aren't looking for a particular article but are conducting research in general, it's better to search a database such as the ones listed above, e.g. JSTOR.

Another option when conducting research in general is to browse the journals about your subject and search them individually. You can view the journals about Drama and Theater Arts. Click on a title that looks relevant; you can then search within that one journal.  Note: This list of journal titles is most useful if you are familiar with some of the theater journals.

 

Search the Open Web via Google Scholar

Google Scholar provides the ability to search a selection of the scholarly literature available on the World Wide Web. However, Google Scholar is lacking in comparison with the library subscription databases: it lacks full-text content,  useful filters for search results, and advanced search tools. We recommend using Google Scholar in addition to but not instead of databases such as JSTOR.
 
You can configure Google Scholar to link to articles available in subscription databases at the Pace Library. Then, when attempting to access one of these documents, you will be granted access after entering your MyPace Portal username and password.
 
Go to Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/), and select the menu bars in the upper left corner; then click Settings, then Library Links.  Type in Pace University Library and check the box next to it; then type Pace University and check the box next to it. Then click Save.
Note: if you are on the Pace WIFI, you will automatically be connected to the Pace Library databases and won't need to configure.