Tips for finding articles
Online Databases:
- Discovery cross-searches a large number of databases. Use the Advanced Search for the best results.
- Proquest Central is similar to Discovery, searching across multiple databases.
- Google Scholar is a convenient search tool but you need to set up your Google Scholar preferences to search effectively. When linked, Google Scholar will display Find It@UniMelb links next to articles that are available online.
The most relevant subject-specific databases and journals are listed below.
- Online version not available? Print journals are listed in the Library Catalogue.
- If you know the name of the database or journal you want, you can search directly in individual databases or journals.
- Staff and students may request document delivery through interlibrary loans.
Use the BrowZine app to follow journals and get notifications on new issues and published articles.
Music Theatre databases
Databases aggregate content from many journal titles, and can be an excellent place to conduct your searches. Databases like Google Scholar or Discovery, do not focus on a specific topic, and can return quite broad search results. The discipline specific databases listed below, will be much more likely to return relevant results for the study of Music Theatre.
The list below is in no way exhaustive, and more can be found by searching in our catalogue, or databases.
- Performing Arts Database (Proquest)This database provides indexing and abstracts for more than 260 international periodicals, plus full text for more than 100 of the indexed journals. IIPA covers a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry - including dance, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, circus performance, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, performance art, film, television and more.
- Digital Theatre PlusDigital Theatre+ collaborates with with world-class theatre companies, industry associations, practitioners and scholars to provide access to a growing collection of full-length theatre productions and educational resources. The database contains recordings of hundreds of live captured performances across theatre, ballet, opera and classical music; interviews with actors, directors, and backstage crew providing an often unseen insight into the workings of a theatre and what it takes to stage a play; study guides accompanying curricula mapped plays, written by leading academics to help students get to grip with dramatic texts; relationship maps, plot summaries, theme and context analysis, glossaries and much, much more.
- Theatre in Video
Theatre in Video contains more than 250 definitive performances of the world's leading plays, together with more than 100 film documentaries, online in streaming video - more than 500 hours in all. This release contains 279 titles, representing hundreds of leading playwrights, actors and directors. The collection aims to begin in the 1930s and will progress through the 20th century with videos covering the work of the Group Theater and Brecht's Berliner Ensemble. Performances from the 40s and 50s will cover works by William Saroyan, Thornton Wilder, Maxwell Anderson etc.
- Academic Search Complete (EBSCO)Academic Search™ Complete is a multidisciplinary full-text database, providing access to more than 8,600 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,500 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text it offers indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals and a total of more than 13,200 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc.
- JSTORJSTOR is a digital library of thousands of academic journals, books, and primary sources from a wide range academic publishers and university presses. Titles span across disciplines, including core areas such as business & economics, social sciences, education, history, language & literature and science. Current journals are linked and cross-searchable with archival journals and ebooks on JSTOR, helping patrons discover, use, and build upon a constantly expanding range of academic content.
- Oxford ReferenceOxford Reference is the home of Oxford’s quality reference publishing. The collection provides quality, up-to-date reference content at the click of a button. The University of Melbourne subscribes to selected titles from this large collection of materials.
- ProQuest CentralAccess news reports editorials, advertisements, stock tables, cartoons, and more. Indexes more than 3,000 of the world’s news sources, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian & Observer, The Globe and Mail and The Times of India.
- MLA International Bibliography (EBSCOhost)Produced by the Modern Language Association the International Bibliography is the definitive index for the study of language, literature, linguistics, rhetoric and composition, folklore and film, covering scholarly publications from the early 20th century to the present. It includes citations to content published in journals, books, series, translations, scholarly editions, websites and dissertations. The database also includes the Directory of Periodicals and the Thesaurus.
Music Theatre Journals
Journals are continuous publications issued regularly (daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly), and are the standard for scholarly communication. They can be published in print, microform and electronic formats.
Our collections include many journals relevant to the study of Music Theatre.
The list below is in no way exhaustive, and more can be found by searching in our catalogue, or databases. For comprehensive tips on searching for journal articles, please visit the Research Essentials guide.
- American TheatreArticles, commentary, review articles, theatre reviews on all aspects of national theatre
- International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital MediaA forum to energise, innovative and inspire creative thinking and practice surrounding the combination of digital technologies with the performance arts (theatre, dance, music, live art)
- PAJ : a Journal of Performance and ArtIntegrates theatre and the visual arts in charting the directions of new work in performance, video, film and music. Featured in the issues are artists' writings, critical commentary, interviews and dialogues, historical documents, critical commentary, performance texts and plays.
- Performing Arts & Entertainment in CanadaArticles on all aspects of the Canadian performing arts, including music, festivals, theater, dance and the screen
- Studies in Musical TheatreA refereed journal which considers areas of live performance that use vocal and instrumental music in conjunction with theatrical performance as a principal part of their expressive language
Using Advanced Google Search
Use the site or domain limiter in Google Advanced Search to quickly find information on websites and online publications.
For example:
Limit search results to only show results from e-flux by including site:e-flux.com or Frieze using site:frieze.com in your search.
Article Requests
Found an article that looks great? Can't find it online? It's not available in print at the Southbank Library? It is available in print at another branch library? You can request a scanned copy via:
- Intercampus Copying RequestsRequest a copy of an article or book chapter held at another University of Melbourne campus.
Post-graduate students and staff are also eligible to request resources via Interlibrary Loans