Databases
Below is a list of key databases with a specific focus on topics in Theatre and Performance. Read their descriptions to get an idea of content coverage and relevancy to your research.
- Arts & humanities citation index (A&HCI) via Web of Science This link opens in a new windowArts & Humanities Citation Citation Index is a multidisciplinary index to the journal literature of the arts and humanities. It fully covers 1800+ of the world's leading arts and humanities journals across 28 arts & humanities disciplines. It also indexes individually selected, relevant items from major science and social science journals. Coverage is from 1975 to the present.
- AusStage : the Australian live performance database This link opens in a new windowAusStage provides an accessible online resource for researching live performance in Australia. Development is led by a consortium of universities, government agencies, industry organisations and collecting institutions with funding from the Australian Research Council and other sources. AusStage enables research on live performance as a wealth-producing creative industry. AusStage is committed to collecting and sharing information about Australian live performance as an ongoing, open-access and collaborative endeavour.
- AustLit : the resource for Australian literature This link opens in a new windowAustLit is a collaboration between eight Australian Universities and the National Library of Australia providing authoritative information on hundreds of thousands of creative and critical Australian literature works relating to more than 75,000 Australian authors and literary organisations. Its coverage spans 1780 to the present day. AustLit indexes and describes Australian literature published in a range of print and electronic information sources. It also makes available selected critical articles and creative writing in full text.
- AustralianPlays.org This link opens in a new windowSet up and managed by the Australian Script Centre in collaboration with PlayWriting Australia ... AustralianPlays.org offers the combined catalogues of Australia's leading theatrical publishers together in one place ... search for plays by title, writer, category, subject, length, cast size or target audience.
- Bloomsbury drama online This link opens in a new windowDrama Online is a fast-growing study resource which features playtexts, audio plays, streaming video, and scholarly books from leading theatre publishers such as Methuen Drama, Arden Shakespeare and Faber. The focus is on the most studied, performed and critically acclaimed plays from the works of Aeschylus to works of the present day. Collections available include; Globe on screen; Stage on screen; Acting masterclass with Patsy Rodenburg; Maxine Peake's Hamlet; Critical studies and performance practice (ebooks); Hollow Crown (filmed performances of Shakespeare); Nick Hern streaming videos, Oberon books collection, and more.
- Dance in video This link opens in a new windowSearchable database containing streaming video files covering the full scope of 20th and 21st century dance. The collection includes performances, documentaries, interviews, and instructional videos from the most influential performers and companies. The diverse content supports a wide range of courses, from dance history and dance appreciation to choreography, dance composition, and improvisation.
- Digital theatre plus This link opens in a new windowOnline access to a digital streaming video collection of unique films of current, leading British theatre productions. Includes behind-the-scenes documentaries as well as teaching and learning resources to facilitate a deeper understanding of the productions and texts. Learning resources include a detailed introduction, plot summary, character biographies, a relationship map, language analysis, scene study, performance background and historical context for each play.
- Film index international (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowFilm Index International is a major online resource focusing on entertainment films and personalities. Produced in collaboration with the British Film Institute (bfi) it is based on the Summary of Film and Television (SIFT) database collated by the bfi over the past 70 years. It provides in-depth indexing of 1000s of films - from the first silent movies to the latest blockbusters - and also related biographical information. International film awards and prizes as well as searchable plot summaries and full cast and crew lists are also included.
- International bibliography of theatre & dance with full text (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowA database for the study of theatre and the performing arts. It was initiated by the American Society for Theatre Research, and since 1984, the Theatre Research Data Center (TRDC) at Brooklyn College has published 14 volumes of the IBTD. These volumes comprise a fully indexed, cross-referenced and annotated databank of journal articles, books, book chapters and dissertation abstracts on all aspects of theatre and performance in 126 countries. The database also contains contains 100s of full-text titles, including up to 200 full-text journals, and 100s of full-text books & monographs.
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowTo log into Kanopy:
- Click on 'Log In to Monash'
- Enter your Monash credentials in the popup window
- Click on 'Skip' for "Create Your Account"
Kanopy is an on-demand streaming video service for educational institutions, providing them with a dedicated and customizable website through which their users can stream films. The service includes features such as captions, transcripts, clip creation, and playlist creation. Kanopy works directly with filmmakers and film distribution companies to offer award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases including titles from Criterion Collection, Universal Paramount, The Great Courses, New Day Films, California Newsreel, Kino Lorber, PBS, BBC, Media Education Foundation, Ronin, Documentary Education Resources, and more. More than 20,000 films and documentaries are available, and many cover a wide range educational disciplines. - MLA international bibliography (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowProduced by the Modern Language Association (MLA), the MLA International Bibliography is the definitive index for the study of language, literature, linguistics, rhetoric and composition, folklore, and film, covering scholarly publications from the early 20th century to the present. International in scope, it includes citations to journal articles, books, articles in books, series, translations, scholarly editions, websites, and dissertations. The database also includes the MLA Directory of Periodicals and the MLA Thesaurus, a proprietary, searchable collection of thousands of subject terms, and personal names used in indexing the bibliography.
- Nineteenth century collections online. British theatre, music and literature : high and popular culture This link opens in a new windowThis database features a wide range of primary sources related to the arts in the long nineteenth century, from playbills and scripts to operas and complete scores. These rare documents, many of them never before available, are sourced from the British Library and other institutions. The collection provides a detailed look at the state of the British art world with, for example, not only manuscripts and compositions, but also documents such as personal letters, annotated programs, meeting minutes, and financial records.
- Routledge performance archive This link opens in a new windowInterviews, master classes and documentaries from theatre makers and actor trainers around the world spanning 50 years. Material from the British Library's Experimental Theatre and Live Art Collection are included.
- Trove This link opens in a new windowThe Australian National Library's Trove service helps users find and use resources relating to Australia. It provides integrated access to over 45 million items from a range of the National Library's collaborative services and from elsewhere. Metadata is aggregated from Australian sources including: The Australian National Bibliographic Database - containing location information from more than 1,200 Australian libraries, The Picture Australia program, The Australian Research Online program, The Music Australia program, The Register of Australian Archives and Manuscripts, and The People Australia program, and some overseas sources.
Editions and Adaptions of Shakespeare contains eleven major editions from the First Folio of 1623 to the Cambridge edition of 1863-6, twenty-eight separate contemporary printings of individual plays and poems, selected apocrypha and related works
The Shakespeare Collection from Archives Unbound is a primary sources with over 200 prompt books (annotated working texts of stage managers and company prompters) from the 17th to 20th centuries. It includes the extensive diaries of Shakespeare enthusiast Gordon Crosse documenting 500 UK performances from 1890 to 1953 as well as editions and adaptations works from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. It includes more than 80 works Shakespeare is thought to have been familiar with, as well as works composed by Shakespeare's contemporaries.
Monash University Library offers students and researchers access to thousands of journals in comprehensive databases of academic literature and research information.
Along with books, the academic journal articles you find in these databases are the best and most reliable resources to reference in your assessments.
Click the tabs above to see some of the best databases to use for assignments and study in Theatre and Performance.
- Theatre and Performance Database ListingView all databases relating to Theater and Performance
- A-Z Listing of DatabasesAn A-Z listing of all databases available from Monash University Library
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowTo log into Kanopy:
- Click on 'Log In to Monash'
- Enter your Monash credentials in the popup window
- Click on 'Skip' for "Create Your Account"
Kanopy is an on-demand streaming video service for educational institutions, providing them with a dedicated and customizable website through which their users can stream films. The service includes features such as captions, transcripts, clip creation, and playlist creation. Kanopy works directly with filmmakers and film distribution companies to offer award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases including titles from Criterion Collection, Universal Paramount, The Great Courses, New Day Films, California Newsreel, Kino Lorber, PBS, BBC, Media Education Foundation, Ronin, Documentary Education Resources, and more. More than 20,000 films and documentaries are available, and many cover a wide range educational disciplines.
- Digital theatre plus This link opens in a new windowOnline access to a digital streaming video collection of unique films of current, leading British theatre productions. Includes behind-the-scenes documentaries as well as teaching and learning resources to facilitate a deeper understanding of the productions and texts. Learning resources include a detailed introduction, plot summary, character biographies, a relationship map, language analysis, scene study, performance background and historical context for each play.
- Bloomsbury drama online This link opens in a new window
- Routledge performance archive This link opens in a new window
- Kanopy This link opens in a new window
- Theatre in video This link opens in a new window
Multidisciplinary databases are those that cover a wide range of academic subject areas. They are a great place to search if you have a topic with a broad focus.
- Alexander Street Press This link opens in a new windowThis portal provides access to Monash University library's Alexander Street Press collections on a single cross-searchable platform (Select the My collections dropdown, and then one or more collections). Video, audio, and text collections, covering a wide variety of subject matters, are included. In addition to secondary sources, the portal also contains significant primary source material. Additional tools let users make custom clips, create playlists, see synchronized scrolling transcripts, share clips and playlists, view and copy clips and playlists already created, see a visual table of contents of the video for easy navigation, and other tools.
- Amsterdam University Press [collection] This link opens in a new windowA searchable database of over 700 electronic books published by Amsterdam University Press, with special emphasis in the areas of the humanities (language and literature, history, film studies, art) and social sciences.
- EBSCOhost research databases This link opens in a new windowPortal to full text and/or bibliographic EBSCOhost databases (Monash University Library current subscriptions are displayed). Databases are sourced from leading information providers, and subject coverage is multi-disciplinary.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowJSTOR is a comprehensive library of important scholarly literature, built by over 1,700 worldwide participants, including major Australian universities. It includes thousands of academic journals, books, and primary sources from a wide range of academic publishers and university presses. Titles span across disciplines, including core areas such as business & economics, social sciences, education, history, language & literature and science. Current journals are linked and cross-searchable with archival journals and ebooks.
- ProQuest This link opens in a new windowThe Proquest platform is a leading multidisciplinary portal allowing cross-search access to many key online databases, both full text and bibliographic. Databases cover academic and professional disciplines such as business, law, education, computing, science, technology, engineering, arts, and medicine, and consist of scholarly journals, books, video & audio, dissertations & theses, newspapers and more. Search multiple databases simultaneously or select from amongst individual database titles. A complete list of database titles available to Monash University students and staff is available at the site.
Journals
- Action researchAn interdisciplinary quarterly journal which is a forum for the theory and practice of action research.
- Research in drama education: The journal of applied theatre and Performance.An international forum for research into drama and theatre conducted in community, education, developmental and therapeutic contexts.
- Theatre, dance and perfomance trainingInternational and interdisciplinary in form and focus, it publishes research from practitioners, academics, creative artists and teachers on all aspects of performance training.
- Theatre surveyPublishes performance-centered and historiographic studies from historical, cultural, and methodological perspectives.
Monash University Library has tens of thousands of journals available online and in print.
Journals publish the best articles from top researchers, and recent volumes from major journals are the most up-to-date academic information in your field.
Click the tabs above to see some of the best journals publishing new research in Theatre and Performance.
- Journals by Subject - BrowZineBrowse through journals in your subject area, to create a self-curated list of your top journals.
- A-Z eJournalsSearch and browse all of the journals Monash University Library has available online.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar is another way of searching Monash University Library resources.
If you use the link below or the links in Library Search and the A-Z Databases page to access Google Scholar, you'll be able to use the Check for full text link to go straight to many of the articles contained in the Monash University Library databases - all while using the familiar Google interface.
- Google ScholarAs an additional research option, use the familiar Google interface to search for academic articles and reports from Monash University Library.
- Google Scholar Search TipsSearch tips from Google.
Remember, Google Scholar should NEVER be the only place you look for your resources, but it can be a good place to start.
Using Google Scholar:
Grey Literature for Theatre & Performance
Grey literature is informally published material that usually has not been peer reviewed or formally published.
It can however be invaluable for use in your research. This is because it will often be more current that traditional published sources and can be a better source of information on things like policies and programs.
It is produced from a variety of sources such as governments, businesses and organisations often making it a challenge to find.
The Monash Grey Literature Library Guide is an excellent resource that provides more detailed information on how to find and evaluate grey literature for use in your research.