Dance History Research Resources: Home

As you are working on research for your Dance courses, please let me know if I can help in any way!  Please feel free to email me and we can discuss your questions over email, or we can set up a virtual research session in Zoom, WebEx, or Google Meet.  View my calendar to set up a research appointment time.  

ZSR has access to thousands of ebooks and millions of online articles through our regular resources in the library catalog and databases such as Performing Arts Periodicals Database and JSTOR, as well as the International Encyclopedia of Dance.  Additionally, we have access to thousands of streaming films and online images if you need multimedia resources.  Get tips on finding and using these resources from the tabs above, and additional online resources are listed below.  

And last, but not least, remember to cite your sources!  The Chicago Manual of Style (use VPN) can help you with formatting citations for the sources you find.

Stay healthy and well!
Kaeley McMahan
mcmahak@wfu.edu

Two Tech Tips:

1. Download and use VPN: If you keep VPN running in the background while you access campus resources (ebooks, databases, etc...) it makes it look like you are on campus, so many of the authentication issues you might otherwise have will go away.
2. ProQuest Ebook Central: If you get this error message, don't fear!  Just do as it says and reload the page and it will take you to your book:
   

Online Reference Resources

Use reference resources to find background information, define terms, understand the historical context of an individual or event, and start building a bibliography to consult.

Scholarly Ebooks

You will find many scholarly ebooks on dance topics in the library catalog.  For some examples, see the results of this search. 

To search for titles in the library catalog, make sure you have selected "Libary Catalog" as shown below.  Use an asterisk (*) at the end of a root word to find multiple endings: danc*=dance, dancer, dancer, dancing, danced, etc... You can use OR to combine synonyms or varient spellings, such as danc* OR choreograph* or greece OR greek, when either term is appropriate for your topic.

You may also find some good resources via the New York Public Library guide and the Public Books Database below.

Scholarly Journal Articles

Scholarly journal articles can be located through the Performing Arts Periodicals Database, as well as through history and multi-subject databases.  If you are looking for scholarly/peer-reviewed/academic articles, look for these features:

• at least 8-10 pages in length
• author is an academic (professor, PhD, researcher, etc....) or in some cases a practitioner (dancer, choreographer, designer, etc..)
• published in an academic journal (Dance Chronicle, Dance Research Journal, Performance Research, etc...)
• the bibliography is appropriate for the article length

Streaming Films

Streaming films can be located through the library catalog by limiting results to "video" and "available online" and through various databases.

Websites

The Websites tab has a listing of dance and theatre companies and organizations that share videos and other documentation of contemporary and historical performances, performers, and traditions.