Books - Theatre History - Theatre - UVM Libraries Research Guides at UVM Libraries

Locate Books in Howe Library

These call number ranges hold a variety of books on acting and various aspects of theatre and drama.

PN 1560-1590 : Performing Arts	PN 2000-3307 : Dramatic representation. The Theater	Z 5781 : drama, plays, theatre bibliographies
PN 1600-3307 : Drama	PN 2061-2071 : Art of Acting

Books that may be checked out of the Library are on the 3rd floor (Call # PN). Reference Books (main/1st floor): ROW 10 (Call #: PN)
Browse the Stacks : Find a useful book in the stacks? Browse in that area to discover other books that might be useful.

Use the Library Catalog to Search for Books in the Library

The Library Catalog locates books, journals (not articles), microfilm, dvds, cds, and U.S. documents (1976->) owned by the UVM Libraries. There are two versions of the catalog:
CATQuest version and the Classic Library Catalog. Each version has its advantages and disadvantages.
Because the CATQuest search box is front and center on the Library homepage, find instructions for using the CATQuest version below. If something confuses you, use the Classic Library Catalog. To find this link on the Library homepage, click the "Research" link at the top of the page and find the link in the "FIND" column.

Theatre History - Find Books by Subject

*Subject Headings Standardized words or phrases assigned to a subject (e.g., etiquette not manners). Library subject headings are similar to tags. We attach these special terms to library catalog records in order to describe the intellectual content of an item more precisely. Subject terms are categories of information; click on one and you'll retrieve a list of similarly tagged items. Allows books on a similar subject to be grouped together in the book stacks.

Use Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)* in the Library Catalog to locate books on your topic. Click image below (live link!) to be brought to the Browse search function in CATQuest.

Theatre History - LCSH examples

theater i.e., works on drama as acted on the stage	drama	commedia dell'arte
theater history	drama history and criticism	theater greece
theater england history	american drama history and criticism	theater rome
theater great britain history	english drama [look for time periods]	classical drama
theater united states history	english drama history and criticism	latin drama
theater [region or country] history	theater audiences	greek drama
musical theater	theater and society	theater and state
playwright's name [look for subheading "stage history"] (e.g., shakespeare william.....stage history)

Books Beyond Howe Library

Enrich your research by searching for books beyond the UVM Libraries.

Hathi Trust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
This resource provides access to millions of digitized titles that are in the public domain. Use it to locate historic or primary source materials from around the world. Use is open to everyone but UVM affiliates can log in to download texts for offline use.
WorldCat This link opens in a new window
This resource is a searchable database of library collections across the United States, Canada and many other countries. Well over a billion records describe books, multimedia, serials, maps, and other information resources. Materials identified through WorldCat can be ordered through UVM's Interlibrary Loan Service.

In addition to the databases above, consider:
Book Reviews: Article databases frequently index book reviews. If you find a review (or citation for a review) for a book that looks useful or interesting, check the library catalog to see if the library owns it. If the library doesn't own the book, borrow it through Interlibrary Loan.
Bibliographies: Scholarly journal articles, scholarly encyclopedia essays, and academic-oriented books will provide bibliographies or lists for further reading. If you find a book that looks useful or interesting, check the library catalog to see if the library owns it. If the library doesn't own the book, borrow it through Interlibrary Loan. These are indeed the "low hanging fruit" during the research process!