Brief Guide to Research for Theatre: Catalogs(OPACS)

Two catalogs are recommended: one the University at Albany Libraries' catalog and provides access to titles in the Libraries; and, two, WorldCat, which is an extensive catalog-of-catalogs and provides access to important titles not owned by the University Libraries, but easily obtained via interlibrary loan (ILL).

Note: the OPAC like many indexes and databases uses specific terms for subject headings (referred to as controlled vocabulary). For assistance, check the Library of Congress Subject Headings volumes [REF Z 695 U4752x] or ask a Reference Librarian. [Note: When doing theatre research, be aware there are two forms of the word: theatre and theater. For research purposes, it would be wise to use both since the Library of Congress Subject Headings uses theater not theatre, except for special instances.]

• Primo Delivery Service The Library’s OPAC is an excellent resource for finding Theatre resources. Following are some suggestions for using the catalog:
  • Browse search with “Subject heading begins with...” This allows you to search broader topics. For example, if you were searching for a general topic, you could search on:
     
    • Theater
    • You can then find headings like: Black theater, Feminist theater, Melodrama, and more. Note: for exact terms, see Library of Congress Subject Headings volumes [REF Z 695 U4752x] or ask a Reference Librarian
     
  • keyword search "Subject." For example, if your topic is women and Theatre, possible search terms might be:
     
    • women and theater
            or
      women and theatre
    • feminism and theater
            or
      feminism and theatre
    • search related works. When you display a record, open the full record and examine the links listed under “Subjects -- Lib. Cong.;” these will take you to related works.
    
     
• WorldCat: . This is an extensive collection of resources that are available through interlibrary loan. Use the same search strategies mentioned above. If you have an ILL account set up, just click on the "Submit Request to UAlbany" icon, enter your ILLiad username and password, and the request is complete. Remember to start early, because loan items may take up to 2 weeks to arrive.