LibKey Nomad
Research and Instruction Librarian for Music & Fine Arts
Karen Olson
she/her/hers
Catalyst vs. Article Databases
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).
Theater Research Databases
- International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance This link opens in a new windowInitiated by the American Society for Theatre Research, and since 1984, the Theatre Research Data Center (TRDC) at Brooklyn College, this is a prime research tool for students of theatre and the performing arts.
- Literature Online (LION) This link opens in a new windowFull-text primary and secondary sources in literary studies. Primary materials include British and American poetry from the eighth century to the contemporary period, drama from 1280 to 1915, and prose from 1500 to 1914, plus streaming video of poets reading poetry and dramatized audio recordings of Shakespeare's plays. Secondary materials include major dictionaries and encyclopedias in literary studies, author bibliographies, and scholarly journal articles.
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new windowScholarly journal articles, books, book chapters, book reviews, and dissertations in literary studies, folklore, languages, and linguistics. Covers materials published 1923-present.
- Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowFull-text articles from scholarly and popular journals and magazines on the performing arts. Covers materials published 1864-present.
Interdisciplinary Databases
These databases cover a wide variety of topics and can be a good place to start if you want a broad overview of your topic.
- Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new windowArticles on virtually every topic, drawn from scholarly journals, professional journals, trade magazines, news publications, and lifestyle magazines. Provides full-text access to over half of its 8000+ publications. Covers materials published 1975-present.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowFull-text scholarly journals articles in many disciplines. Dates of coverage vary by title, typically from the journal's first issue (sometimes in the eighteenth century or earlier) through about five years ago.
- Project MUSE This link opens in a new windowFull-text scholarly journal articles in the humanities and social sciences.