Use the Library Catalogue to search for books, A-V materials (including films on DVD) and government publications.

You can also use the catalogue to search for magazines and journals, but not the articles within those magazines and journals. So, you could use the catalogue to find out that we have Macleans Magazine, but not to search the contents of the latest issue.

To search for articles, you'll need to use a Journal Index (more on that below).

For more details, see:

• How do I search for a book?
• How do I find a book in the Library?

Note: The Library also has a card catalogue!
The online library catalogue contains records for alll library materials acquired since 1980 as well as many older works that have been re-catalogued, but older materials remains accessible via the card catalogue only. Please check the card catalogue for works published before 1980 that do not appear in the online catalogue. The card catalogue is located next to the Research Help Desk.

Subject and Keyword Searching:

When searching the library catalogue for books *about* an author and his/her works (secondary sources), you may search by Keyword or by Subject.

What's the difference?

Subject searches use Library of Congress SUBJECT HEADINGS. These are standardized headings assigned to a book after it is published to describe what the book is about. A single book may have just one or, more likely, several different Subject Headings.

Useful Subject Headings when searching for information about an author/playwright/theorist and his or her works include:

• Name of author (Last name, first name)
• Name of author (Last name, first name) -- Criticism and interpretation.
• Name of author (Last name, first name). Title of a specific work.

For example:

• Miller, Arthur, 1915-2005.
• Miller, Arthur, 1915-2005 -- Criticism and interpretation.
• Miller, Arthur, 1915-2005 Death of a Salesman.

Note: in some cases (as in the examples above), the author's date of birth (and date of death) is also part of the subject heading. You're not expected to know when an author was born and died -- simply typing in an author's last and first name and clicking on Subject is usually enough to identify the revelant subject headings in the catalogue. From there, you can click on the headings that seem most relevant to what you're looking for.

Additional examples of Subject Heading searches that may help you get started:

• Theater -- Philosophy
• Performing Arts -- Philosophy
• Acting -- History
• Feminist Theater
• Women in the Theater
• Drama -- History and Criticism
• Experimental Theater
• Brecht, Bertolt, 1898-1956
• Stanislavsky, Konstantin, 1863-1938

KEYWORD searches work very differently. A keyword search allows you to search for a word, words or a phrase anywhere in the library catalogue record (for example, words from the author, title or subject fields, etc.).

Unlike subject searches, keyword searches allow you to combine words and phrases using AND, OR, NOT (these are referred to as "boolean operators").

Examples: Any of these three keyword searches would find the title below:

acting AND theories (all words in title)
acting AND (theatre or theater) AND history (words in title, series & subject fields)
gordon AND performance AND history (words in author, title and subject fields)

title: The purpose of playing : modern acting theories in perspective author: Gordon, Robert series title: Theater--theory/text/performance subject headings: Acting. Acting History.

Note that a search for "theory and perfomer and history" would not find the above title since the word "performer" does not appear in the record.  Catalogues and databases do not interpret your searches -- they simply retrieve results based on the exact words you specify.

Search Tips:
It's always a good idea when searching for information on a topic to use multiple search strategies and to account for variations in language, terminology, spelling, etc. Note the inclusion of both the Canadian and American spellings of "theatre/theater" in the second example.

Another way to account for variations in spelling/terminology is to use the truncation symbol. In the Mt.A Library Catalogue, the symbol is "$". Used at the end of a word, or part of a word, the truncation symbol allows you to search for various forms of a word beginning with the root word you type in. For example: theor$ will search for theory, theories, theorist, theorists, etc.

Note that the character used as the truncation symbol can vary -- in many catalogues and databases, the truncation symbol is "*". On-screen help pages will tell you which symbol to use.

The following guide offers tips on how to prepare an effective search strategy:

• Preparing a Search Strategy guide

And this guide explains how to use boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT):

• Boolean Searching on the Internet, L. Cohen, U. of Albany

Journal Indexes or Databases are used to search for articles, reviews, etc., in newspapers, magazines & scholarly journals. Certain indexes and databases also include essays and chapters published in multi-authored works.

The Mt.A Libraries subscribe and have access to several dozen electronic indexes and databases. Many of these are full-text databases that provide electronic access to the full article; others are just indexes that will help you identify articles relevant to your topic.

The Library's Journal Indexes and Databases are listed by Title and are also grouped together by Subject.

The indexes and databases most useful for finding articles about a play are listed on the Indexes and Databases: Drama page.

First listed on that page is the MLA (Modern Language Association) International Bibliography (aka: the MLA Database). This is the primary research tool in the fields of literature and drama. It's usually the first place to look for articles about a literary work.

Reminder: Not all electronic Journal Indexes provide the full-text of the indexed articles. The MLA Database, for instance, is not a full-text database, but will help you identify and find items available electronically via other, full-text library databases (such as JSTOR, Project Muse) or available in print in the library.

To find out if the library has access to an article, use the Library Catalogue to search for the journal/magazine/newspaper in which the article is published. The Catalogue will direct you to the appropriate full-text database or provide the call number if the journal is available in print in the library.

You can also use Journal Finder to find out if the library has electronic access to a journal. Access: On-campus | Off-campus

For more details, see: How do I search for articles?

The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers provides the guidelines for the proper formatting of literary research papers.

Brief MLA Citations Guides (covering the basic guidelines only) are available on the Research and Citation Guides page.

Multiple copies of the MLA Handbook are available in the Library's Reference Collection at LB 2369 .G53 2003.