Get background information
Start by finding background information on your topic. This will help you begin to understand the context of your topic (the who, what, when, where, and why), as well as the vocabulary typically used in the discipline. Context will also help you narrow the topic to a more manageable size and direct you to where to do more specific searches.
Encyclopedia-style databases (such as those listed below) offer short overviews of a topic and are good places to start.
Articles in databases
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowOver one thousand academic journals and other scholarly content.
- Humanities International Complete This link opens in a new windowFull text of hundreds of journals, books and other published sources from around the world. Covers all aspects of the humanities, with worldwide content pertaining to literary, scholarly and creative thought.
- Research Library (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowGeneral reference database from business and political science to literature and psychology scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and daily news content, accessible to readers and researchers at every level.
Theatre Studies journals
Some journals are not included in our general databases, but you can search them individually. To search one of these journals, click on the title below and select the link in the "Journal Title" column corresponding to the date range that best fits your needs. Then find the option to search within the journal.
Dialects
- IDEAThe International Dialects of English Archive was created in 1998 as the internet’s first archive of primary-source recordings of English-language dialects and accents as heard around the world. With roughly 1,400 samples from 120 countries and territories, and more than 170 hours of recordings, IDEA is now the largest archive of its kind.
- Dialect CDs* Dialect instruction for British Isles, Dutch, French, German, Irish, Italian, German, Russian, Slavic, and Spanish
* These CDs start with call number "CD 427" and are located on the 2nd floor
Improvisation
- Improv EncyclopediaImprov Encyclopedia is the largest collection or resources for improvization theater on the web. Here you will find tons of stuff related to improvization theatre, also known as 'improv' or 'impro'.
Plays
- New Play Exchange This link opens in a new windowA collection of new plays and monologues
* You can search the database for by play length, age, genre, subject matter, cast size, role gender (female, male, trans/non-binary, and gender neutral), and playwright demographics
- New Play Exchange: Every Featured List On NPX EverA thread of all NPX curated lists of different genres/topics/playwrights.
- Internet Broadway DatabaseShow histories including cast, awards won, length of run, and production team.
- Internet Off-Broadway DatabaseShow histories including cast, awards won, length of run, and production team.
Images & videos
- Academic Video Online (AVON) This link opens in a new windowOver 68,000 titles spanning a wide range of subjects: anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, music, and more. AVON includes a variety of video material with curricular relevance: documentaries, interviews, feature films, performances, news programs and newsreels, demonstrations, and raw footage.
- Films on Demand Video Collection This link opens in a new windowHigh quality videos on music & dance, business & economics, health & medicine, humanities & social sciences, and science & mathematics, as well as travel and fitness programming, home and how-to videos, indie films, and popular music performances. Includes Oscar, Emmy and Peabody award winning documentaries, interviews, instructional and vocational training videos, historical speeches and newsreels.
Search on either "theater" or "theatre" to find recordings of theatre-related videos. - Kanopy Streaming Video This link opens in a new windowFor off campus access, please sign in with your Elon username and password.
Large collection of video documentaries and movies from many producers covering many subjects; pop culture, nursing, public health, lgbt issues, social sciences, sciences, political science and events, the arts, global studies, education, etc. NOTE: Kanopy has changed to mediated access and films will only be available by faculty/staff request. Click here to order Kanopy Streaming Videos that we don't have access to already. - Artstor This link opens in a new windowMore than 2.5 million images related to art, art history, architecture, painting, photography, and visual and material culture.
Search for information
Search Belk Library's online system to find both library materials and articles in our databases. Use the search box below to do a basic search on library materials and databases.
Interlibrary loan (from other libraries)
Can't find a book or article through Belk Library subscriptions? Use our free Interlibrary Loan service and we'll get it for you from another library.