Dance: A Research Strategy

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Dance A Research Strategy

• Anne Harlow
• Reference and Information Services
• Samuel Paley Library
• Temple University

October 4, 2004
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Goals and Objectives

• To provide a research strategy for writing
  scholarly papers
  
• To familiarize students with scholarly print and
  electronic resources in dance
  
• To enable students to effectively locate and
  retrieve materials in the field of dance

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Getting Started

• Start Early!
• Do research when you are well-fed, rested, and
  can spend a few hours exploring!

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Groundwork

• Find information sources in dance
• Find background information in dance
• Find books in dance

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Research Guides in Dance

• Bopp, Mary S. Research in Dance A guide to
  resources. Z7514.D2B6 1994
  
• Edsall, Mary, ed. A Core Collection in Dance.
  GV1594.C674x 2001
  
• Overby, Lynnette. Dance Current selected
  research. GV1594.D34x 1989
  
• Spain, Louise. Dance on Camera a guide to dance
  films and videos. GV1595.D342 1998

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Finding Background Information in Dance

• Check Reference Works and Circulating Collection
  for Overviews and Background Information
  

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Search Tip!

• Located with other materials on the same topic
  within the Reference Collection, subject
  encyclopedias concentrate on specific areas of
  knowledge or subjects.
• They provide information on dates, terms, key
  people, and major theories.
  
• You may also find selective bibliographies of
  both primary and secondary sources within these
  books.

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Areas of Interest May Include

• GV1580-GV1799.4 Dancing
• GV1585 Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
• GV1601 Dance History
• GV1743 National Dances. Folk dances and
  dancing
  
• GV1751-1753.5 Social Dancing. Ballroom
  Dancing.
  
• GV1763 Square dances. Quadrilles. Country
  dances.
  
• GV1781-1783.5 Theatrical dancing
• GV1785-1786 Dance - Biography
• GV1787 Ballet
• GV1799 Dance for children
• ML3400 Dance music

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Note

• Key terms which you find in your background
  reading
  
• Authors and texts which are of interest or are
  cited often
  
• Copy relevant bibliographies

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Finding Books in Dance

• Temple University Samuel Paley Library Homepage
  http//www.library.temple.edu
  
• Diamond The Online Catalog
• Keyword Search

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A Useful Search Strategy

• Start with a keyword search
• Examine the list of materials to find one that
  seems to match your topic
  
• Once you have the record for this one item on
  your screen, look at the subject heading that
  matches your topic
  
• Click on that subject heading to find other
  materials on the same topic.

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Keyword Searches

• Use only important words
• Use Boolean Operators
• Great for beginning a research paper

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Boolean Operators

• AND - requires that both words are present in
  the document
  
• OR - requires that at least one word is present
• NOT - excludes the word it precedes

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Finding Articles

• Use computerized indexes

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Useful Databases for Dance

• Academic Search Premier
• America History and Life
• Arts and Humanities Citation Index
• Biographies Illustrated
• Education Abstracts
• ERIC Education Database
• Historical Abstracts
• International Index to Music Periodicals
• International Index to the Performing Arts
• Lexis-Nexis (New York Times full-text)

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Use the Internet

• Online journals
• Resource sites
• Search Engines and Subject Directories

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Resource Sites

• Britannica The Webs Best Sites Dance
• CyberDance. http//www.cyberdance.org/
• Dance Heritage Coalition. http//www.danceheritag
  e.org/
  
• Dance Notation Bureau. http//www.dancenotation.o
  rg/
  
• New York Public Library Dance Collection.
  httpwww.nypl.org/research/lpa/lpa.html
  
• Society of Dance History Scholars.
  http//www.sdhs.org
  
• Sapphirre Swan Dance Directory.
  http//www.SapphireSwan.com/dance/
  
• Yahoo Dance http//dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Performing
  _Arts/Dance/
  

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Finding Dissertations

• For dissertations done at Temple, type a Library
  of Congress subject heading and - Temple
  University in the Online Catalogue
  
• For dissertations from other institutions, use
  the database Digital Dissertations

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One Last Step...

• Make note of journal titles that appear
  frequently during your search, then check the
  most recent issues of those titles in the Current
  Periodicals section of the Library.

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Ask at the Reference Desk for Assistance in ...

• Developing Search Strategies
• Using Resources
• Finding further information on your topic

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A Final Reminder...

• Have fun!
• Focus!
• Evaluate resources as you go.