Library Resources for Introduction to Dramatic Literature (ENG105)
Reference Books & Databases
Electronic Reference Databases
If using databases from off campus, you will need your My Chemeketa user name and password.
- Literature Reference Center
- Includes biographies on more than 130,000 authors; more than 7,000 overviews of frequently studied works, Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature; and more. (Also includes literary criticism and reviews. See under Articles in magazines, journals, and newspapers, below).
- Oxford Reference Online Premium
- Includes ready-reference books on literature and the performing arts.
Reference Books
* Items marked with a star are also found in Literature Resource Center (above).
- Contemporary Literary Criticism * [R 809.04 C76]
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Includes criticism of works by authors now living or who died after 1999. Cumulative author index in last volume.
- Critical Survey of Drama [R 809.2003 C86]
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Organized alphabetically by name, each entry includes biographical and analytical information for selected works.
- Drama Criticism * [R 809.2005 D79]
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Multi-volume work covering five to fifteen dramatists per volume with biographical and critical information. Cumulative author index in last volume.
- Masterplots II: Drama Series [R 809.204 M39]
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Organized alphabetically by title of play with Title and Author indexes in last volume. Short plot summaries and criticism; a good place to start.
- Twentieth Century Literary Criticism * [R 809.04 T94]
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Includes criticism of works by authors who died between 1900 and 1999. Cumulative author index in last volume.
- Contemporary Authors * [R 810.9 C76]
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Divided into two man series, the original and New Revision series. Cumulative author index in last volume.
- Dictionary of Literary Biography * [R 803 D56]
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This is a multi-volume resource with a cumulative author index in the last volume. Some volumes that deal specifically with dramatists are listed below:
Twentieth-Century American Dramatists - volume 7 pt. 1 & 2
Modern British Dramatists, 1900-1945 - volume 10
British Dramatists Since World War II - volume 13 pt.1 & 2
Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists - volume 58
Elizabethan Dramatists - volume 62
Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Dramatists, 1 - volume 80
Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Dramatists, 2 - volume 84
Other Resources
- Contemporary Dramatists [R 822.91409 C76]
- The Crown Guide to the World's Great Plays [R 809.2 Sh6]
- Dramatists [R 822.009 D79]
- Shakespeare A to Z (Encyclopedia of Shakespeare on spine and cover)[R 822.33 Gbo]
- McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama [R 809.2 M17]
- Research Guide to Biography and Criticism [R 809.2 R31]
- The Shakespeare Handbook [R 822.33 Gsh]
- Shakespeare for Students [R 822.33 Gsha]
You can use Subject or Keyword searches to find books on your topic. The catalog uses special subject headings, which may be found in detail in: R 025.49 L61 Library of Congress Subject Headings. The catalog is accessible off campus at http://www.ccrls.org/ccc/whompup.htm.
Electronic books are available through to Chemeketa students through NetLibrary.
If the material you want is not in Chemeketa's library, you can change your search from Chemeketa to "All libraries" on the search page. For information about requesting books from other CCRLS libraries, see Requesting materials from another CCRLS library. If what you want is not in the local system, you can also click the "Summit" button in the library catalog, or search Summit directly. You can request books through Summit and pick them up at any one of 35 libraries in Oregon and Washington. For more information on Summit borrowing, see Borrowing Materials from Member Libraries.
If you do not find what you need in Summit, ask your local librarian to request an interlibrary loan. That way the book you need can be sent from Chemeketa or another library for you to check out and use locally.
Skip to ways to search for books about drama in library catalogs
If you live outside the college district, but in Oregon or Washington, you can search in the Summit Catalog. You can request books through Summit and pick them up at any one of 35 libraries in Oregon and Washington. For more information on Summit borrowing, see Borrowing Materials from Member Libraries.
If you do not live near a Summit library, you can search your local library catalog, or you can search in that of Chemeketa or a third library to find material you need. You will find all these options on the catalog page. If the material you want is not in your local library, ask your local librarian to request an interlibrary loan. That way the book you need can be sent from Chemeketa or another library for you to check out and use locally. A four-page guide to library research services for distant students contains more information on interlibrary loan.
Electronic books are available through to Chemeketa students through NetLibrary.
| Search Type | Method | Example |
Subject | Author’s name | Brecht, Bertolt, 1898-1956 |
| Subject | Author’s name, then scroll to subdivision “Criticism and interpretation” | Marlowe, Christopher, 1564-1593 -- Criticism and interpretation |
| Subject | Author’s name, then scroll to subdivision by title of play | Beckett, Samuel, 1906- Endgame |
| Subject | Library of Congress subject heading | English drama -- Restoration, 1660-1700 -- History and criticism |
| Keywords | Author’s name AND criticism | Wilde AND criticism |
| Keywords | Combination of words from playwright's name AND title of play | Chekov AND cherry |
- Literature Resource Center
- Includes more than 650,000 full-text articles, critical essays and reviews from over 300 scholarly journals and literary magazines. After searching, click the "Literary Criticism" tab. There is a sub-tab for Articles. See picture below.
To access Literature Reference Center, go to http://newterra.chemeketa.edu/library/information/database.htm. If using the database from off campus, you will need your My Chemeketa user name and password.
- Academic Search Premier
- Available through EBSCOhost, Academic Search Premier includes full text for more than 6,500 scholarly periodicals covering a wide variety of topics including literature. To access EBSCOhost, go to http://newterra.chemeketa.edu/library/information/database.htm.
If using databases from off campus, you will need your My Chemeketa user name and password.
Ways to search for articles in Academic Search Premier:
| Search Type | Method | Example |
Index Search | Click More, then Indexes, pull down "People" from the menu, enter author's name. Check the box next to the name on the resulting list. | Ibsen, Henrik |
| Index Search | Click More, then Indexes, pull down "Headings" from the menu, enter book title. Check the box next to the title on the resulting list.
Note: criticism of plays may be include the description (THEATRICAL PRODUCTION) after the title. | Glass Menagerie (Theatrical Production) |
| Keyword Search | Use "AND" between terms | Greece AND antiquities
Sophocles AND Electra |
Theatre in Video has full-length performances of plays in streaming video. If using from off campus, you will need your My Chemeketa user name and password.
Resources for Historical Context -- Ancient Greece
Reference Books
- Civilization of the Ancient Mediterranean: Greece and Rome [R 938 C49]
Covers historical, social and political aspects of ancient Greece. Includes a chronology in volume I. Use the table of contents to access broad topics or the index in volume III for specifics.
- Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World [R 938 Sa1]
Relatively brief entries for a variety of topics such as religion, politics, literature, science and daily life in ancient Greece.
Ways to search for books about ancient Greece in the library catalog:
You can do a Subject search in the catalog for "Greece" then scroll through and select subdivisions such as
- Greece -- Antiquities
- Greece -- History
- Greece -- Politics and government
- Greece -- Social conditions -- to 146 B.C.
You might also try a Keyword search for words and phrases such as
- women AND greece
- hellenis* AND culture [Note: * is the catalog symbol for truncation. This search will find the word "hellenism" and "hellenistic" with "culture."]
Web Sites
- Ancient Greece
- http://www.ancientgreece.com/
- The Ancient Greek World
- http://www.museum.upenn.edu/Greek_World/Index.html
- Internet Public Library Online Literary Criticism Collection - Greek: Classical
- http://www.ipl.org/div/litcrit/bin/litcrit.out.pl?pd=Greek:+Classical
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