Communication Arts: Dramaturgy

In academic research we distinguish between scholarly and non-scholarly sources.

Scholarly sources are those that are written by subject-matter experts who ensures the information provided is reliable, accurate, and credible.

Sources can include journal articles, books, conference publications and many others. Peer-review is an editorial process designed to assess the validity and quality of research, which is a way of identifying scholarly materials. However it is important to remember that all peer-reviewed sources are scholarly, but not all scholarly sources are peer-reviewed. [1]

We can look at a number of key differences to assess whether a source is scholarly or not:

Adapted from content created by Chee, M. and Waver K. Introduction to Academic Information, Information Seeking, and Evaluation, University of Waterloo Library. https://lib.uwaterloo.ca/online_learning/introduction-academic-information-information-seeking-and-evaluation

Not all information is created equal. As you gather sources for your research it is important to pause and critically assess the information sources.

RADAR is an evaluation framework that uses categories to determine the quality, credibility, and usefulness of your information sources. As you apply RADAR, its important to consider the source as a whole.

You can use the Library's Evaluating Information Sources guide to assess information for relevance and reliability based on different types of sources. The chart below goes through some basic questions you can think about. 

Additional Resources

• University of Waterloo, Evaluation Information Summary (RADAR)
• Need more practice? Check out the interactive course from the University of Waterloo: RADAR Framework https://lib.uwaterloo.ca/online_learning/radar-framework 

Research starts with curiosity, an interest to know more, to investigate and analyze, to challenge assertions, and to contribute new ideas into our scholarly communities.

We narrow our research topic so that it is:

• Manageable: the topic falls within the scope of your assignment and timeline. For instance, are you writing a book, a thesis, a 10-page position paper, or an annotated bibliography with 4 sources?
• Clear & Focused: the topic should have a clear direction and objective, not only to help bring the reader along, but also to ensure you have structured to explore and argue specific subtopics and themes.
• Arguable: there is enough evidence to support for analysis, evaluation, and the development of arguments. 

Narrowing a topic is a balancing act between being too broad and too narrow. You may need to refine if you can easily answer the question (yes, no, or a short description) or when there is too much or too little information.

Need More Help?

Develop and Narrow a Topic, Writing and Communications Centre, University of Waterloo

A search strategy prepares us for effectively tracking down the sources and information needed for our research and provides an action plan of the different terms that can be applied to databases.

The Library has a three-step guide for creating Effective Research Strategies, which begins with isolating the main research concepts and building a list of relevant/useful search terms, using a table like this:

Topic: Rome roads - construction materials and appearance

Additional Resources

• Search Statement Worksheet, Writing and Communications Centre, University of Waterloo

Another important piece of the search strategy is creating the search string we will use in various databases.

Here we identify some basic elements important for your searches: Boolean Operators, Phrase Searching, and Truncation.

Boolean (capitalization counts) which are used to connect terms in a search string.

Phrase Searching

We use double quotation marks to keep terms together so that are searched as a unit or phrase, otherwise terms will be searched individually and can return a lot of unrelated results. For instance,

Example    romeo and juliet return results where search individual terms appears in article

Example    “romeo and juliet” returned results where the terms appear together

Truncation

Each database might use slightly different characters for wildcards, but generally speaking we can use the * to search for variations of a word through character replacement.

Example    femin* → feminine, feminist ; wom*n → women, woman

It’s important to be cautious of over using * , for instance, temp* → temptation, temple and temporary

Hint: Most databases provide a search tips page which identifies all of the advance search functions and operators available for use. 

Additional Resources:

Boolean Searching, Learning Module, University of Waterloo Library

Reference resources like encyclopedias, dictionaries, and bibliographies, can be a good starting point for researchers to learn more about a topic or to start to understand themes related to a broader topic.

The Library has access to over 100 encyclopedias, that are broad in scope (e.g. Canadian Encyclopedia Online) and others that are specialized (e.g. Water Dictionary, Encyclopedia of Evolution). It’s important to consider that encyclopedias provide summaries of knowledge and can be specific to topics as well as time periods! For instance, Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages.

Suggested Reference Resources:

• Oxford English Dictionary: Provides definitions, history, and pronunciation of 600,000 words— past and present—from across the English-speaking world
• Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
• Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance
• Cambridge Histories Online
• Oxford International Encyclopedia of Peace
• Oxford Research Encyclopedia: International Studies
• Gale Virtual Reference Library
• World Factbook

A comprehensive list of all encyclopedias the Library has access to can be found from the Library's homepage, under find resources on the "dictionaries, encyclopedia and more" page.

To find databases, start at the Library home page (lib.uwaterloo.ca). In the left-hand "quick links" menu, click "databases."

Browse by title or subject area. Read the descriptions below each to find one that will work for you.

• Drama Online: Premier database for theatre and performance studies. Access play texts, videos of productions, and much more.

• Theatre Performance and Design Collection: Covers all aspects of theatre from production and design to performance, including, set design, lighting design, sound design, costume design, makeup. Video collections include the National Theatre Collection, Royal Shakespeare Company, Theatre in Video 1-2
  Coverage: 17th century – present

• Theatre in Context Collection: Find images, playbills, postcards, scrapbooks and other ephemera resources relating to Canadian and American theatre.
  Coverage: 16th century – present

• Project MUSE: Scholarly journals covering the fields of literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and more.

• Playwrights Guild of Canada

There is a recognition that much of the research we do is interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary. While your course is very much focused within the area of theater, based on the theme or topic of the play you are providing dramaturgic support for, it will be important to think about the other areas or fields of study your research topic crosses over.

Suggested Interdisciplinary Databases

• Europeana: International database of books, music and artworks from thousands of European archives, libraries and museums.

• JSTOR: Provides access to back issues of journals in the humanities, social sciences, and physical sciences, many of which date from the 1800s.

• Scopus: Peer-reviewed literature from scientific journals, books and conference proceedings, covering the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities.

• Web of Science: Articles and citations in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.

Based on discussion around research questions, these databases may also provide a more focused approach. the Library subscribes to over 400 databases, so please browse descriptions!

• World Protest & Reform Movements: Global Perspectives, 1945-1996: English translations of and English-language radio and television broadcasts, newspapers, books, and United States government documents, relating to global reaction to major protest and reform movements.

• LGBTQ+ Source: Find magazines, journals, books and news sources, and also coverage for grey literature such as case studies and speeches.

Other Useful Research Guides

Selected Sources

• BBC Sound Effects: 16,000 sound effects, which are BBC copyright, but they may be used for personal, educational or research purposes, as detailed in the license.
• Free Sound: Collaborative database of Creative Commons licensed sounds and effects covering a wide range of subjects.
• Bensound: Royalty-free music. You can use Bensound’s music available under the Free License (with the black download button) in your multimedia project (e.g., online videos, websites, animations, online courses, etc.) for free as long as you credit Bensound.com. This license, which is viewable on the Terms of Use page, is only applicable to educational projects that do not create revenue. You can adapt the music to your project by making cuts, loops, and adding voiceovers; however, you cannot make a song, a remix, or produce your own.

• Pixabay: Photos, illustrations, vectors, video, sound effects and images. The site license permits you “to use, download, copy, modify or adapt” the content for commercial and non-commercial use except in the cases mentioned in "What is not allowed." You must log in to verify the terms for music.

• Videvo: A vast database of free stock video and audio sorted by genre. Videvo licenses clips in a number of different ways.

The University of Waterloo's Center for Extended Learning has an extensive list of Suggested Resources for Free Images, Audio, and Video, which is designed to provide suggestions for sources of legitimate, verifiable media (images, sound, music, video) that can be used in University of Waterloo courses with minimal copyright restrictions. Check the terms of each site for more information on these restrictions.

The University of Waterloo's Center for Extended Learning has an extensive list of Suggested Resources for Free Images, Audio, and Video, which is designed to provide suggestions for sources of legitimate, verifiable media (images, sound, music, video) that can be used in University of Waterloo courses with minimal copyright restrictions. Check the terms of each site for more information on these restrictions.

Reminder: historical images can exist in a variety of locations, from databases to organizational catalogues to National Archives, Libraries, or Museums.

Selected databases and catalogues

• JSTOR: Features over 2.5 million digital images and media, related to architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative art, design, and various forms of visual culture. Artstor's high-quality collections and key functionality are now on JSTOR.
• Europeana: International database of books, music and artworks from thousands of European archives, libraries and museums.
• World Bank Photo Catalogue: The World Bank Group Archives’ Historic Photographic Collection contains over 500,000 photographs documenting project work in member countries, official signings, as well as other historic events and personalities.
• Art Gallery of Ontario: The AGO provides digital images of a number of items in its collections.
• Art Institute of Chicago: Images of 50,000 items in their collection are available under a CC0 license. From the main search page, select the “Public Domain” filter to view the relevant items.
• Getty Open Content Program: Over 80,000 images from the Getty Museum's collections and over 70,000 images from the Getty Research Institute's collections are available through the Getty Open Content Program.
• Smithsonian Open Access: Smithsonian Open Access allows you to download, share, and reuse millions of the Smithsonian’s images. This includes images and data from across the Smithsonian’s 19 museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives, and the National Zoo.

Additional sources for images

• Creative Commons Search Engine: The CC search engine facilitates searching of collections held by participating institutions and organizations.
• Pexels License means all photos and videos are free to use. Photos and videos can be modified.
  Restrictions: Identifiable people may not appear in a bad light or in a way that is offensive.
  Unaltered copies of photos or videos may not be sold in print or redistributed electronically.
• Pixabay License means all photos and videos are free to use, except in cases mentioned in "What is not allowed." Content can be modified.
  Restrictions: Identifiable people may not appear in a bad light or in a way that is offensive.
  Unaltered copies of content may not be sold in print or redistributed electronically.
  Images may not be used with identifiable brands to create a misleading association with a product or service.

The Library has many primary source databases and guides. 

As we begin our research it can be helpful to think about: 

• what type of source (peer-reviewed articles, diaries/letters, biographies, etc.) are you interested in?
• what topic/lens the research will be focused on (historical, philosophical, social issues, political, etc.)

to determine where and what resources are going to be most valuable.

Recommended Sources

• Primary source databases: A full list of the primary source databases available via the Library. There are 110 databases which cover a wide range of topics, geographies, and time periods. For instance:
  • Apartheid: Global Perspectives, 1946-1996
  • Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa
  • World Protest & Reform Movements: Global Perspectives, 1945-1996
  • World News in Indian Newspapers

• Primary Sources: European/worldwide: provides guidance on analyzing primary sources and lists resources like magazines and news sources, government and statistical sources, diaries and letters, as well as provides collection recommendations based on historical period, geographical area, and theme.

• Special Collections and Archives (University of Waterloo): Special Collections & Archives holds early editions and rare books, collections of archives and manuscripts, and other material. Rare book collections have particular subject strengths in the following areas: women's studies, local history, the history of mathematics (especially Euclid's Elements of Geometry), architecture, dance and ballet, fine printing, spiritualism and theosophy, and urban planning. The University Archives houses official records of the University of Waterloo. Included are correspondence, reports, minutes, publications, architectural and building plans, photographs, ephemera, and memorabilia.

Access the Archives database: https://archives.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/ 

There are a variety of citation styles/manuals, so it’s always best to check with your instructor on the preferred citation method. Typically, students in humanities and social sciences will use MLA, APA, or Chicago.

Many citation guides are freely available online, and the Library provides access to style guide resources and examples through the Citation /Styles Guides page.

Key resources for citing using MLA include the MLA Style Centre and other MLA style guides.

The University also has a number of infographics on the Online Learning Object Repository (OLOR) that walk through examples of citing journal articles, books, book chapters, and more.

Print copies of the MLA Handbook are available in the library. The University also has an overview of the MLA Style Citation:

View full guide: MLA (Modern Language Associate) Style Citation Guide, Writing and Communications Centre, University of Waterloo

Did you know?

If you have found an article through Library catalogue, you can generate a citations directly from the catalogue, by navigating to the record of the article you wish to cite, and selecting "Citation," and choosing MLA 8th edition. Always be sure to double check your manually and automatically generated citations for errors!

Reference managers (or citation management software) helps you to organize, save, and use citations for your sources. There are a variety of reference manager available (RefWorks, Endnote, Mendeley) compatible with UW subscribed databases and the Library catalogue. Using a citation manager allows you to efficiently save and use formatted citation information and removes the manual process of entering citations.

As of January 2023, the University of Waterloo now has institutional access to Zotero. When you are signing up for a new Zotero account, please ensure to use your Uwaterloo email so that you can access the institutional storage. 

We offer support through our Zotero Guide, including how to install, import citations, and create bibliographies through Word and Google Docs…and so much more!