Theater Subject Guide

You can search for articles in Catalyst or in research databases.

The pros for searching in Catalyst are that you already are familiar with the user interface and that Catalyst defaults to showing you material to which we have immediate access. 

The pros for searching in research databases is that most databases are subject-specific, so your searches are automatically limited to a particular topic. Also, if you are interested in finding materials beyond what is at St. Olaf, the research databases can show you other articles we can acess through Resource Sharing (Interlibrary Loan).

Books about theater and drama in general have call numbers beginning with the letters PN and are located on level 2 of Rolvaag Memorial Library.

Useful call number ranges include:

• PN 2131-2193  Theater (Ancient)
• PN 2152-2160  Theater (Medieval)
• PN 2171-2179  Theater (Renaissance)
• PN 2181-2193  Theater (Modern)
• PN 2219-2020  Theater (Special Regions or Countries -- this is where books about African American theater are shelved, for example)

Scripts are shelved in the sections for literature for that place/language. This is also where you will find biographies of playwrights, commentaries on individual plays, and similar works tied to specific people and plays. These are located on level 2 of Rolvaag Memorial Library.

PLEASE NOTE: The call number system for literature is very complicated, so I cannot easily recommend call number ranges to peruse. If you like browsing the stacks to find books, your best bet is searching in Catalyst for a book on your topic, heading to the appropriate stack, and looking at what else is shelved nearby.