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THE 2000
Information on Resources in Irish Drama
Librarian: Jennifer Boxen jboxen@fau.edu
September 13, 2006

A research guide on Theatre featuring print and online  resources is available at: http://www.library.fau.edu/depts/ref/rsguide/theatre/Main.htm

I. Locating books in the Library:

1. ALEPH (the Library's catalog): click on Catalog or Books. The following types of basic searches are available:

A. Keywords: This search looks for a word anywhere in the record. Keywords can be truncated with a ? For example, symb? will search for symbol, symbolic, symbolism etc. Also, you can search for 2 or 3 keywords next to each other this way: Irish adj drama (adj stands for adjacent).
B. Author's Name: last name first, you don't need to capitalize.
C. Title: if a title starts with "The," "A," or "An," omit that and skip to the next word.
D. Subject: This search looks for items classified by a subject heading and organizes the results into sub-topics. Subjects must be entered in a specific manner according to the Library of Congress subject headings. You may get a cross-reference to the preferred subject heading. 

Some subject heading examples that might be useful:

  • Plays (use DRAMA)
  • Playwrights (use DRAMATISTS)
  • Playwriting (used for drama--authorship)
  • Drama--20th Century--History and criticism
  • Theater (used for theatre)
  • Dramaturgy (use DRAMA TECHNIQUE or OPERA DRAMATURGY)
  • Theater--Ireland
  • English literature--Irish authors--History and criticism.
  • Ireland--In literature
  • Symbolism in literature
  • Irish Drama

An author's name may be spelled or abbreviated several different ways. Sometimes it helps to look them up with variations.

  • Synge J M John Millington 1871-1909
  • Synge, Edmund John Millington
  • Synge, John Millington
  • Synge, J. M.
  • Synge, J.
  • Synge, J. M. (John Millington), 1871-1909--Biography

*If you're not finding anything with a subject search try a keyword search instead*

E. Journal/Magazine Title: be sure to check the "Library Has" link to see which dates the Library owns. (Note: not all electronic journals we have are cataloged in WebLUIS. There is also a link to a list of all electronic journals available at FAU.)

Note the location box, which can be used to limit your search to a particular campus as well as sections of the library such as the Reference, Curriculum, Media Center, or Government Documents Collections.  The advanced search screen allows combination of search terms using AND, OR, NOT as well as ability to limit by format, language, and/or date.


II. Searching for articles in databases

To search for articles click on "Indexes/Databases" or "Articles". There are both alphabetical and subject listings of databases. Remember that many of the strategies that you use to search for material in the catalog can also be used in online databases. Note: when using these databases from off-campus you must log in through the EZ-Proxy link. You will need to enter the number from your Owl Card in order to do this.  The SFX feature allows you to link to external sources such as other databases holding the full text of the article, the Library's catalog, the list of FAU's electronic journals, etc.

Selected Library Databases

1. Academic Search Premier Academic Search Premier, designed specifically for academic institutions, is the world's largest scholarly, multi-disciplinary full text database containing full text for nearly 4,700 publications, including more than 3, 600 peer-reviewed publications.

2.  Arts and Humanities Search (AH SEARCH) (FirstSearch) Provides complete access to articles from more than 1,300 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals as well as access to relevant articles in over 5,000 social science and science journals. Covers 1980 to present. Available through FAU Electronic Collections.

3. Britannica Online Provides online resources based on the Encyclopedia Britannica print collection. Also provides images, timelines, sound files, and links to other resources available on the web.

4. Expanded Academic ASAP (1980-present) - Good general database that indexes articles from scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers in the arts, humanities, social sciences, science, and technology. Limit your search to "refereed publications" for citations from scholarly periodicals.

5.  Humanities Full Text (Use this in place of Humanities Abstracts) (1984-present) - Subject areas include archaeology, area studies, art, classical studies, communications, dance, film, folklore, gender studies, history, journalism, linguistics, literary and social criticism literature, music, performing arts, philosophy, religion and theology.

6. Literature Online (LION)  Provides access to more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose, 147 full-text literature journals, and other key criticism and reference resources.

7. Literature Resource Center - Delivers biographical and bibliographical information on authors and their works. Covers authors of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, history, and journalism. [Under 'Limit the current search,' select the desired database.]

Searching For Images

1. Academic Search Premier
 Academic Search Premier, designed specifically for academic institutions, is the world's largest scholarly, multi-disciplinary full text database containing full text for nearly 4,700 publications, including more than 3, 600 peer-reviewed publications. Make sure that you select images before you start your search.

2. AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archive - Contains the AP's current photos from their 50 million image print and negative library, as well as charts, graphs, tables, and maps from the AP's graphics portfolio.

3. Google Images - Contain images from all websites that Google indexes. CAUTION: be careful when using references from Google; be sure to cite them properly and verify validity before using.

 III. Print Resources

 Not every resource available for a project will be available electronically. Many valuable resources on  are available in print format in the Library's reference collection.  Some of these include:

A.  Information about Drama and Literature:

The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature REF PR8706 .O88 1996
Modern Irish Writers: A Bio-critical Sourcebook REF PR8727 .G66 1997
Cyclopedia of Literary Characters. REF PN44 .M2 1963
Encyclopedia of Folklore and Literature PN41 .E48 1998
Irish Playwrights, 1880-1995: A Research and Production Sourcebook REF PR8789 .I67 1997

B. Information on Definitions and Pronunciation

The American Heritage college dictionary REF PE1628 .A6227 2004
Concise Oxford English dictionary REF PE1628 .C68 2004
The World Book encyclopedia. REF AE5 .W55 2003

C.  Information on Symbolism and Geography

Elsevier's Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery REF BL600.V74 2004
The Facts on File Dictionary of Numerical Allusions REF AG5 .U73 1986
The Columbia Gazetteer of the World REF G103.5 .C645 1998
Illustrated Dictionary of Symbols in Eastern and Western art REF N7740 .H35 1994

D. Information on Religion and Folklore

Dictionary of Celtic Mythology REF BL 900 .M445 1998
Vision and Beliefs in the West of Ireland GR 147 .G7 1970
Mythology: An Illustrated Encyclopedia REF BL 311.M95
Religious Traditions of the World REF BL 80.2 R448 1993

See the research guide link at the top of this page for more print resources.

IV. Citing your References

MLA style is the way to format research papers based on the Publication manual of the Modern Language Association (New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003). This book is available in the Reference area  (LB2369 .G53 1988). Many quick reference guides to MLA & other styles are available on the Internet. An example from Purdue University is:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html

Need more help?

In -Person: at the Reference Desk

Reference Desk Phone Number: 561-297-3785

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