Dance Research Tips Subject Guide

Overview

This is a guide to help you do a research paper or project in dance. It gives tips on finding background information, books, articles, and other information about a topic or person.

Basic Facts and Background Information

Reference sources such as encyclopedias, bibliographies, and study guides provide essential facts and background information about a person or topic. Often they list books, articles, and other sources, saving you time and effort. Some websites also provide such information or link to it.

The Subject Guide to Dance (below) lists many reference and information resources in the library and on the Web to help you start your research or complete an assignment.

International Encyclopedia of Dance Almost 2,000 historical and analytical articles on all aspects of dance. Includes bibliographies and an index, but does not include worklists of choreographers. Details

Subject Guide to Dance A guide listing library and internet resources useful for course assignments and research in dance. Organized by resource type as well as subject (Ballet, Modern, Education, Careers, etc.) Details

Books, Scores, Recordings, Videos

Use the library catalog to find books, periodicals, scores, sound recordings, videos and DVDs in the WMU Libraries. The catalog does not include articles from journals and magazines.

You may use WorldCat to identify materials in other libraries.

Classic Library Catalog WMU's Classic online catalog (also known as WestCat), is used to identify books (including electronic books), government documents, journals, audio and video, slides, music scores, and other items in the University Libraries' collections. The catalog can be searched by title, author, subject heading, keyword, call number, and more.
For books about a person, first try a Basic Search using the last name first, followed by the first letters of the first name. In the "Search by" box, select "Subject Heading." For books on a topic, it is usually best to combine two or three terms related to the topic (names, words from a title, subject terms) in an Advanced Search. Remember that even if you do not find a book that is devoted entirely to your topic, there is often useful information in general histories of dance and books about various types or styles of dance.

New Library Catalog In 2009 we added a new interface to our catalog. It still identifies books (including online books), journal titles, government documents, music, videos, maps, and other items in the University Libraries. It can still be searched by title, author, subject, but now you can choose the format and location in your first search. There are easy ways of narrowing your search in the left column, it offers "did you mean" spelling, favorite lists, and lets you tag items with your own labels.

Browsing for Books about Dance The dance collection is relatively small and easy to browse. Books are shelved in the General Stacks at the call numbers below.

GV 1588 Philosophy, study and teaching, etc.
GV 1600 Criticism and history
GV 1621 Dance by region or country
GV 1743 Folk and social dance, including jazz
GV 1753, GV 1784 Jazz
GV 1781- 2 Production, choreography, etc.
GV 1783 Modern dance
GV 1785 Biography
GV 1786 Ballet
GV 1788 Ballet - Technique and teaching
GV 1794 Tap
GV 1799 Dance for children and other special groups
RC 1220 Dance medicine and therapy

Additional books on dance education and therapy may be located in Waldo Library and the Education Library.

WorldCat Comprehensive catalog of books and other materials in libraries around the world. Contains millions of records in hundreds of languages. Nonbook materials include (among other publication formats) the titles of journals and magazines, manuscripts, maps, electronic resources, websites, computer programs, music scores, films, slides, sound recordings, conference proceedings, and videotapes. Items located through WorldCat must be requested through Interlibrary Loan unless they are also listed in the WMU Libraries catalog.

Articles in Journals and Magazines

Use these indexes and databases to identify articles in journals, magazines, and other periodicals and publications.

International Index to Performing Arts This database provides coverage of dance, film, television, drama, theater, stagecraft, and more, indexes more than 250 performing arts journals and provides full text for more than 100 journals. Coverage varies. IIPA indexes 35 dance journals.

ProQuest Research Library Indexes popular magazines, scholarly journals, newspapers and trade publications in a wide range of subject areas, including business, education, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Full-text available for over 2,500 journals. Coverage from 1971. Includes recent articles from Dance Chronicle, Dance Magazine, Dance Research Journal, Dance Spirit, Dance Teacher.

Wilson Select Plus Index to full text articles in science, humanities, social sciences, education and business. The index includes records from: Readers' Guide Abstracts, Social Sciences Abstracts, Humanities Abstracts, General Science Abstracts and Wilson Business Abstracts. Coverage: 1994 to the present. Updated weekly.

JSTOR Full-text access to selected scholarly journals in a number of humanities and social sciences disciplines. Search by individual title or in the whole collection. This database contains only back issues and does not include issues of the most recent 3 to 5 years. Includes articles from older issues of Dance Chronicle, Dance Research Journal, Dance Research.

New York Public Library Performing Arts Catalog Online catalog of NYPL's comprehensive performing arts collections. May be used to locate citations of books and articles (no full text). Select "Performing Arts--Dance" collection.

Physical Education Index Indexes more than 230,000 articles in health, physical education, recreation, athletic training and dance. Coverage: 1970-present. Updated monthly.

Medline (FirstSearch) The major index to medical research, from clinical medicine to cellular and biomolecular biology. Produced by the US National Library of Medicine. Coverage: 1965 - present. Updated daily.

RefWorks Info: Medline will export marked citations directly into your RefWorks account. (You will be prompted to login.)

Dance Reviews and Current Events A list of online sources for reviews of dance performances and current events in the dance world. Details

Finding Journals and Magazines in the Library

When you have identified an article you want to see, use these sources to find out if it is available in the WMU Libraries. They include information on print and online versions.

If you cannot find the journal (or other source) at WMU, you may be able to get the article through interlibrary loan .

Journal Finder (Find It @ WMU)
Find electronic and print journals available at WMU. Search for a journal title, browse journals by subject or collection, or look for a specific article if you have a citation (CitationLinker).

Classic Library Catalog WMU's Classic library catalog (also known as WestCat), is used to identify books (including online books), government documents, journals, audio and video, slides and other items in the University Libraries' collections. The catalog can be searched by title, author, subject heading, keyword, call number, and more.

Citing Your Sources

These sources show how to cite print and online sources and format your bibliography and footnotes. Be sure to use the style required or preferred by your instructor.

Guide to Writing Styles Contains links to many practical examples for formatting citations in APA, Chicago, MLA, Turabian, and other writing styles. Examples include citations to both online or print materials. Call numbers for printed manuals are also given. Ask your instructor which writing style is required for your class assignment.

Citing Music Sources in Your Essay and Bibliography Excellent guide to citing music sources (scores, recordings, videos and more) using Turabian style (based upon Chicago Manual of Style). Also: correct format of musical terms and titles for your essay and bibliography. Details

Online! Citation Styles How to cite Internet sources using MLA, APA, Chicago, CBE and other styles.

RefWorks This citation management software allows you to import citations directly from electronic indexes and create and manage your own bibliographies. Use with word processing software to cite and format references easily in a variety of writing styles. You will have to set up an individualized account the first time you use RefWorks. An excellent tutorial is available in RefWorks under Help. Tutorial

If You Need More Help

Explore the Subject Guide to Dance and the resources it offers.

The tutorial below will also help you understand the research process and become more familiar with the WMU Libraries.

Questions? Contact us in person, by phone, or email.

Searchpath Tutorial
This interactive library skills tutorial covers the research process from start (broadening or narrowing a topic) to finish (citation styles) and includes practice searching on our new library catalog, an article index, and the Web.
Searchpath is divided into six modules, each of which takes 10-15 minutes to complete. Each ends with a quiz, and the quiz results may be emailed to your professor or saved within Searchpath as proof of completion. Check with your instructor if the class and instructor's name is not listed.

Ask A Librarian

Greg Fitzgerald
gregory.fitzgerald@wmich.edu
269-387-5236
Last updated: June 2009