Library: THA 114: Theatre Appreciation: Find Resources

Reviewing Resources

Scholarly or peer-reviewed journal articles are written by scholars of a particular subject, whom are considered experts in their field.

Tip: Scholarly articles usually have an abstract (description of what you'll find in the article), charts/graphs, and a full biography or citation list.

Substantive news articles are reliable sources of information on events of the day/time or issues of concern for the general public or world. Articles from these sources are usually vetted (or double-checked) for credibility.

Tip: Substantive new articles included a date and time posted with a byline (name of the writer of the article) at the top of the article. If a correction is made to the article, it will include a revision date and time. The correction is noted fully at the bottom of the article.

Popular articles are articles relating to entertainment for the general public, usually these articles are produced by corporations for profit.

Tip: Popular articles include advertisements (ads), usually, more ads than articles. These ads and the articles themselves are colorful Revisions are noted with date and time, but corrections aren't often noted. The byline is included at the bottom of the articles.

Tabloids "articles" relate to entertainment news but are used to generate a reaction from the general public. These "articles" are often false.

Tip: No byline is included. No sources. Often linked to an opinion on a current social issue, no other sources mentioned.

EBSCO Discovery Search Tutorial

Video Credit: EBSCO Tutorials, April 2, 2025.

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Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources

What the difference between a primary, secondary, and tertiary source?

Primary sources are created as close to the original event or phenomenon as it is possible to be. For example, a photograph or video of an event is a primary source. More examples: Data from an experiment is a primary source, letters, journals, articles, speeches, video recordings, works of art, and books.
Secondary sources are one step removed from that. Secondary sources are based on or about the primary sources. For example, articles and books in which authors interpret data from another research team's experiment or archival footage of an event are usually considered secondary sources. More examples: Books written about an original event, artwork, or literary resources, biographies, essays, literacy criticisms, and commentaries.
Tertiary sources are one further step removed from that. Tertiary sources summarize or synthesize the research in secondary sources. For example, almanacs, fact books, textbooks, bibliographies, dictionaries, indexes, textbooks, and reference books are tertiary sources (Text in this section is from Suny Empire College's guide: Research Skills Tutorial).

Why is this important?

For your research assignments, you are asked to find primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. You'll need to be able to recognize the difference between all three. Remember primary sources are about the event. Secondary sources analyze the event and interpret another author's work. Tertiary sources summarize events from other authors after the event has occurred.

How Useful is my Source?
When evaluating a source, consider its rhetorical function for you as an author. How can you use the source in your writing? Consider the different ways to incorporate what you find into your written work

Library Databases

American Film Scripts Online
What's included: More than 1,000 movie scripts by hundreds of writers together with detailed information on the scenes, characters and people related to the scripts. Uses include: View scenes in films by decade, genre, and/or character.
Digital Theater Plus
What's included: High quality films of leading theater productions, discover how plays are brought to the stage in interviews with the creative teams, learn about interpretive choice through detailed analysis of play texts, and teach key plays with stimulating and relevant support. Uses include: Reviewing stage plays and interviews with writers, directors, and actors to enhance your research.
Films on Demand
What's included: More than 20,000 streaming educational films on every academic topic. Uses include: Watch a documentary on human nature or dance history while on the go.
JStor (including Artstor)
What's included: Journal articles in humanities, history, culture and the sciences and artwork from some of the most famous museums in the world. Uses include: Full-text books, scholarly articles, conference proceedings, images focused on historical and present-day art topics. Artstor's content includes millions of images and multimedia across disciplines, which is free to use for educational and research purposes.
Kanopy
What's included:Streaming Independent films and Documentaries. Uses include: Watch one of the hundreds of films already in our collection or request a new one for the library.
Literary Reference Center Plus
What's included: Stories, poems, and novel criticisms and author analysis. Uses include: Review more than 150,000 poems and short stories by region, language, and style.
Newspaper Source
What's included: Articles from more than 160 American and international regional newspapers. Uses include: Review updated TV and radio news transcripts and syndicated content.
New York Times (Gale)
What's included: National and international news combined with strong regional coverage from 1985 to today (via Gale).
Opposing Viewpoints In Context
What's included: Provides information on social issues from diverging points of view. Uses include: Utilize featured issues to explore multiple topics for research starters.
Philadelphia Inquirer (Newspaper Source)
What's included: Inquirer news, feature and sports articles since 1997. Uses include: Review newer articles on the history of the Philadelphia area.
Religion & Philosophy Collection
What's included: Covers world religions, major denominations, biblical studies, religious history, epistemology, political philosophy, philosophy of language, moral philosophy and the history of philosophy. Uses include: Reviewing indexes, abstracts, and links to full text articles.

Library Journals & Magazines

American Theatre Magazine
Articles, commentary, review articles, theatre reviews on all aspects of national theatre.
Asian Theatre Journal
Official journal of the Association for Asian Performance within the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Peer-reviewed articles covering the performing arts of Asia, focusing on both traditional and modern theatrical forms (Note: 1-Year Delay for Issues).
Contemporary Theatre Review
Concerned with all aspects of theatre - from text-based drama & current developments in international theatre, to work of an interdisciplinary or cross-culture nature.
The Drama Review: TDR
TDR provides scholarship on performances and their social, economic, and political contexts. With an emphasis on the interdisciplinary, experimental, and avant-garde, the journal covers dance theater, performance art, popular entertainment, media, sports, and rituals in politics and everyday life.
Intellect
Intellect is a fiercely independent academic publisher for scholars and practitioners working in the arts, media and creative industries. The press publishes and encourages original thinking and seeks to widen critical debate in new and emerging subject areas. Intellect is committed to creativity, innovation and excellence, and to working with our authors and editors to provide an outstanding service that takes their work to a global audience.
Renaissance Drama
Renaissance Drama is dedicated to the investigation of traditional canons of drama and the exploration of the significance of performance in early modern cultures. Each issue presents essays that question or apply newer forms of interpretation to the study of early modern plays, theater, and performance. Articles also address works written in traditions other than the English, the discourses that shaped and were shaped by varied institutions of drama across Europe and beyond, and manifestations of performance and performativity both on and off the theatrical stage.

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(Note: Current issues are now on the Chicago Journals website. Read the latest issue: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu.ezproxy.mc3.edu/toc/rd/current)
Theatre History Studies
Presents critical, analytical, and descriptive articles on all aspects of theatre history since 1981.
Theatre Journal
For over five decades, Theatre Journal's broad array of scholarly articles and reviews has earned it an international reputation as one of the most authoritative and useful publications of theatre studies available today. Drawing contributions from noted practitioners and scholars, Theatre Journal features social and historical studies, production reviews, and theoretical inquiries that analyze dramatic texts and production (Note: 6-Year Delay in Issues).
Theatre Notebook
Theatre Notebook is a journal of the history and technique of the British theatre. It interprets theatre widely covering theatrical activities inside and outside theatre buildings, professional and amateur theatre, the business of theatre, stage design, the history of theatre buildings, acting technique, and theatre outside the British Isles that relates directly to the history and technique of British theatre (Note: 1-Year Delay of Issues).