THEA 100: Introduction to Theatre (Reeder)

Welcome, Theatre 100 students!

Students in Matthew Reeder's THEA 100 class: You have two assignments which require you to use sources outside of your required readings.  You'll need to do some research for these assignments.  This guide aims to provide suggestions for resources and techniques for doing that research.

The physical library buildings are currently closed on Ball State's campus in Muncie, Indiana.  But, fortunately, there's a wealth of information available online that you're able to get to because you're a Ball State student and therefore have access to databases you wouldn't be able to use otherwise.

This guide will cover:

• general research tips and techniques
• research tips specific to your ​On Broadway Musical Review Assignment
• research tips specific to your Design Assignment

In addition you'll find:

• an introduction to OneSearch, Ball State's library discovery tool
• an introduction to the article database International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS as you're searching:

• If you need quick, immediate help: Use the Chat or Call options on the Ask a Librarian page.
• If you have a little time or a more intricate question: Email me (Susan Taylor at setaylor@bsu.edu), describing your topic and what you're having trouble with.  I'll write you back as soon as I can.

There are really lots of ways you can get help, even though the physical library building is closed.  Just reach out!

As you search in library databases, here are a few tips which may be useful:

• Understand the difference between OneSearch and other library databases:
  • OneSearch (linked below) lets you cast a very broad net and find lots to look through, searching through many of our article databases all at the same time as you also search for the physical items we own in our libraries.
  • International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance (linked below) is one of our subject-specific databases.  It has an obvious focus on the theatre, limiting your results to that field.
• Bear in mind these two spellings: theatre       theater and consider searching using both
• Put titles, and names, and other phrases in quotation marks.  (ex. "robert redford", "waiting for godot")
• Consider using the CHOP, DROP, and OR technique for searching when you have more than one idea involved in your search.  It allows you to cast your net wide, so you bring up titles which might be related to your topic -- closely or tangentially -- so that you can consider them.
  • First you CHOP your topic up, identifying the important words.
  • Then you DROP each search word into a separate search box.
  • Finally you consider if there are other synonyms or related terms which might be wise to search on, using OR between them.
• The "Subjects" field in a record is helpful in finding good terms to use as search terms.

Your assignment: For Part 1, you need to find information about four current shows: two on-Broadway and two off-Broadway.  You'll need to learn about what each show's about, how it's done at the box office, and what theatre critics have said about it.  (See your assignment for all of the requirements.)

Here are some links to consider as you look up the information you need:

Your assignment: For Part 2, you need to answer several questions, reflecting on what you learned about your four shows.  You may find it useful to do more research on the history of Broadway shows.  Consider looking for articles in one of the databases linked here:

As you use either of these databases, if you don't see a direct link to the PDF or HTMl full text of an article you want, use the Find It @ BALL STATE button.  See more information about how Find It @ BALL STATE works..

Your assignment: "Using A Midsummer Night's Dream, choose a design area that interests you (sets, lights, costumes, sound, props, scenic painting) and create some initial ideas about how you might go about designing for this particular play."

OneSearch allows you to search through all of the titles the library has access to -- both in print, and electronically.  So it includes books, ebooks, and PDFs of journal and magazine articles.

As you look for ideas for your chosen area of design, you may want to consult our online titles.

If you do this search on the Advanced Search page in OneSearch...

...and apply the "Full Text Online" and "Book/eBook" limiters on the left...

...you get a list of results, all of which are electronic books.  Some cover lighting, some scenic design, and other design areas.  Explore the chapters to get ideas you can apply to your project.

To focus on costumes, you could change that second box to "costume design," as shown here:

And if you limit it to "Full Text Online" and "Book/eBook" (as above) you get these results.