| LOCATING PLAYS IN THE LIBRARY |
| Plays are often difficult to locate because they can be published as an entire book or as part of a collection of plays in a book. Use the following steps to help you find a play in the library. If you do not get results from one step then try the next step. If you still can not locate the play ask a Reference Librarian for help. |
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| 1. Plays that are published individually as books can be found listed in the Library Catalog. Try both an AUTHOR and TITLE search in the catalog |
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NOTE: If you do not have a specific author or title in mind you can browse collections of plays in the library. Use the EXACT SUBJECT HEADING search type and type in one of the following:
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AMERICAN DRAMA |
DETECTIVE AND MYSTERY PLAYS |
DRAMA - COLLECTIONS |
ENGLISH DRAMA |
MOTION PICTURE PLAYS |
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| 2. Some plays are published only as part of a collection of plays and often are listed in the Library Catalog by a different title or author/editor. For example the play titled Taming of the Shrew by the author William Shakespeare is found in the collection called The Complete Works of Shakespeare by the author/editor David Bevington. |
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| Search for a play published in a collection or anthology using the Keyword Search tab of the Library Catalog. You must change the search type to TABLE OF CONTENTS and then search for the title of the play. |
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| 3. Many plays available in the library cannot be found through the Library Catalog alone. You can locate these plays by using the PLAY INDEX. |
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USING the PLAY INDEX |
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| The PLAY INDEX is a set of reference books that lists plays by author, title, and/or subject. The Play Index lists the contents of collections of plays. You look up the play you want in the INDEX to be directed to a COLLECTION in which the play can be found. |
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Go to the Reference Area of the library and locate the Play Index (Ref/PN/1625/.P43/) |
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Look up the author’s last name in the Author, Title and Subject Index |
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If you do not have the author’s name, look up the play under title. You will then be directed to the author’s name. |
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Look under the author’s last name and then look for the title of the play you want.
 Check under Miller, Arthur to locate his play The Crucible. |
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When you find the title of the play look for an entry beginning with the word In followed by the author and title of a book. This is the information for the collection in which the play can be found. The index may list one or several different collections In which a copy of this play can be found. |
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Miller, Arthur, The Crucible. In Contemporary Drama: Fifteen Plays edited by E. Bradley Watson. Scribner. N.Y. 1959. 577 pp. $3.75 Paperbd.
Miller, Arthur, The Crucible. In Arthur Miller's Collected Plays Viking. N.Y. 1957. $6.00 Hardbd The Crucible.
Miller, Arthur, The Crucible. In American Dramatic Literature: Ten Modern Plays in Historical Perspective edited by Jordan Y. Miller. McGraw-Hill. N.Y. 1961. 641 pp. $7.95 Hardbd.
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NOTE: The back of each volume of the Play Index has a section called "List of Collections Indexed." If you look up the author or title of the collection in this list you may find a call number written in. If so, use this number to locate the book on the shelf and skip step 6. |
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Search the Library Catalog by the author or title of the collection which contains the play to see if the library owns the collection. If it appears, write down the Library & Location and the Call Number. Use that information to locate the collection on the shelf. |
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| Used in this way the PLAY INDEXES can lead you to hundreds of plays not otherwise accessible. The library has many of these indexes, covering different time periods, and types of plays. All are in the REFERENCE AREA and the librarians will be happy to help you use them |
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