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Drama Research Guide:
Library Catalog and other Databases

• Cameo (Library Catalog)
  • Quick Guide: How to browse plays and monologues in Hunt Library
• Full-Text Databases
• Play Index Online
• Periodical Indexes Online and in Print
• Archives

Cameo (Library Catalog)

Cameo is the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries catalog. It is a list of publications that our libraries own including books, periodicals, and media such as CD-ROM's or recordings. Begin here to see what is available on campus. Two other major accessible online catalogs in the area are Pittcat (The University of Pittsburgh), and Caroline (Carnegie Public Library). An entire list of links to these as well as some national library catalogs are available via the Carnegie Mellon Libraries front page link: Other Library Catalogs.

Note: To find the actual content of periodical articles, rather than a list of periodicals that the libraries own, go to the appropriate periodical indexes.

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Full-Text Databases

• Twentieth Century North American Drama is a growing full-text database, currently containing 850 plays including the complete works of major playwrights as well as plays by emerging playwrights. Searchable by keyword, author, play title, characters, scenes, subjects, years, productions, theaters, and companies. Additional information on playwrights, theaters, companies, productions and performances is included along with a selection of playbills, posters and other ephemera.

• Asian American Drama
  Contains the full-text of 250 plays by Asian American playwrights. It is searchable by author, play title, characters, scenes, subjects, years, productions, theatres, and companies. The database also contains playwright biographies, details on productions, theatres and theatrical companies, as well as production photographs, selected playbills and other information related to the plays.

• Black Drama
  Contains the full-text of 1200 plays by black playwrights. It is searchable by author, play title, characters, scenes, subjects, years, productions, theatres, and companies, including related resource and biographical information.

• Eighteenth Century Collections Online
  Scanned images from a diverse collection of 18th century printed material including books, directories, Bibles, sheet music, advertisements, sermons; collections on the French Revolution and works by woman writers; editions of the works of Shakespeare.

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Play Index Online

Indexes plays in published sources (1949-present) by subject, author, title, style, genre, cast type and more with plot summaries and musical, cast and scenery requirements. Includes one-act plays, pageants, plays in verse, radio and television plays and classic drama. Links to selected full-text plays on the web.

To see if a play in Play Index is accessible via Carnegie Mellon Libraries check Cameo (library catalog). Other plays may be requested online on Interlibrary Loan via Illiad.

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Periodical Indexes

Reading periodicals is one of the best ways to keep current on a particular topic. Periodical indexes, also known as magazine or journal indexes, provide citations and sometimes abstracts and the full-text of articles. The following major drama periodical indexes are available at Carnegie Mellon. For a complete list and access to arts related indexes and databases link to Carnegie Mellon Libraries: Arts Databases.

• Theatre Research Center. International Bibliography of Theatre. Brookyln, N.Y.: The Center, 1982-1999.
  FA-REF-4 016.792 I612 (Hunt Library Arts Reference, 4th floor)
• International Index to the Performing Arts
  Database indexes articles (1988-present) from more than 140 international performing arts periodicals from 9 countries, and also indexes feature performing arts articles and obituaries appearing in The New York Times and The Washington Post. Covers all aspects of the world of the performing arts, except music. Both scholarly and popular subjects are addressed. Most entries include an abstract in addition to the citation. The retrospective database draws citations from 46 periodicals and dates back to 1864.
• Carpenter, Charles. Modern Drama: Scholarship and Criticism, 1981-1990. An International Bibliography. Toronto, Buffalo and London: University of Toronto Press, Inc, 1997.
  Indexes books and periodicals; focus on plays and playwrights.
  FA-REF 016.809 C29M (Hunt Library Arts Reference, 4th floor)
• Lexis-Nexis Academic (full-text)
  Business, legal and general medical/health information; continually updated news items, background information on current issues, industry news and financial information, law reviews, federal case law; access to quick information through online reference resources and directories.
• Music Index Online (full-text)
  1979-1999
  Index to music-related scholarly and popular periodicals. Citations from over 640 international music periodicals cover a broad range of topics, including performance and recording reviews, obituaries, and first performances.
  The Music Index is also available on the 4th floor of Hunt Library in paper format (1949-1978 and 1983-2000).
• MLA:International Bibliography (Distributed in FirstSearch)
  A reference database for the critical study of language, literature, and folkore. Provides citations to books, book chapters, periodical articles, and dissertations in all languages for all periods beginning with the Middle Ages. Look for the SFX button to find full-text and related resources in each bibliographic source cited.
• Musical America
  A business source online for the performing arts. Contains information on thousands of artists, managers, orchestras, opera companies, dance companies, festivals, performing arts series, service organizations, competitions, music schools and more.
• Proquest Direct (full-text and PDF)
  The quickest way to find performance reviews from major newspapers and journals in this general periodical database. Most articles are displayed in full-text and/or in PDF format.
• RILM Music Abstracts
  Database of international music sources. All scholarly works are included: articles, books, bibliographies, catalogues, dissertations, Festschriften, films and videos, iconographies, critical commentaries to complete works, ethnographic recordings, conference proceedings, reviews, etc.. (formerly known as RILM, The Repertoire International de Litterature Musicale Abstracts of Music Literature.

Archives

• AHDS Performing Arts (Arts and Humantities Data Service)
  

  AHDS "collects, documents, preserves and promotes the use of digital resources to support research and teaching across the broad field of the performing arts: music, film, broadcast arts, theatre, dance" ; rich archive for all researchers, though UK researchers, teachers and students in higher education are the target audience; includes the Digital Performance Archive

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