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Drama and Theatre Arts

Recommended websites

  • University of Bristol Theatre collection
    The University of Bristol Theatre collection, based in the Department of Drama, has a library of theatre related books, periodicals and original archival material, including the Women's Theatre Collection.
  • East London Theatre Archive
    The ELTA website and its digitised theatre collections are currently not available. The University of East London is actively pursuing options for making these available again in the near future. In the meantime, if you have any questions please email library@uel.ac.uk. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
  • Hull History Centre
    The home for Hull City Archives, Hull Local Studies Library and Hull University Archives holds archive material on Alan Plater; John Godber; Out-Of-Joint Theatre Company; Approximately 6,000 playbills from 1760s to 1970s; and Hull Theatre Programmes
  • Scottish Theatre Archive
    Located within the Special Collections Department of Glasgow University Library, the  archive includes programmes, scripts, production notes, photographs, posters, and press cuttings.
  • University of Warwick Centre for the Study of the Renaissance
    Teaching and learning tool for contextualising the period and for engaging with the playtexts. Resources on Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, John Webster and Thomas Middleton.
  • Victoria & Albert Museum: Theatre and Performance
    Includes access to a wide variety of information and research resources.
  • Theatre Reviews Limited
    Reviews from New York, New Jersey, and around the US
  • Theatre Voice
    Online resource for audio material about British Theatre. Contains recordings of discussions with journalists, critics and practitioners from across the theatre industry in the UK.
  • Royal Shakespeare Company
    Explore a wide variety of information on current and past productions at the theatre.
  • National Theatre Archive
    A virtual showcase for the history of the National Theatre, displaying images of the various media held by the Archive. Contains link to the archive catalogue and bibliography on the history of the theatre.
  • Equity
    Website of the Performing Arts trade union.

The ABC of Evaluation

Here is a suggested set of questions to ask yourself when making an assessment of any published source of information, not just websites:

A - Authority

Who authored it, and what are his/her/their credentials?  In the case of a book, there may be something in the 'blurb' on the back cover about the author. In academic publications there are often notes about the author(s) and their qualifications and experience which enable them to speak authoritatively about their subject.  Are they affiliated to a university or a research institute?

Websites are often created by more than one person, but it is still important to check who the authors are.  See if there is an 'About Us' link giving information about the website, or the organisation and people maintaining it.  Are there any reliable contact details?  What are the stated aims of the organisation?

Does the book or website contain up-to-date references to source materials, particularly to original research or statistics, so that you can check whether the discussion or opinions are based on reliable facts?  Is it aimed at a popular audience, or is it more scholarly and reasoned in its approach?  What kind of language does it use: is it rhetorical or emotive, and does the author back up his/her/their arguments with appropriate facts and original sources?

B - Bias

Think about the possibility of any bias in the information you have found.  Is it possible that the organisation represented by the author or website has a particular standpoint to promote: is it a campaigning or pressure group, a government department, or public information service?

If the source is likely to have a bias, make sure you check any references or links provided, and find some other sources with a contrasting standpoint, preferably from an academic book or journal.  It is good practice to use a variety of sources of information so you can compare and contrast different viewpoints on a topic.

C - Currency

Check how up-to-date the information is.  A book or a journal will usually have a clear date of publication on its cover or title page. If it doesn't, check the date of the latest item in any bibliography at the end of the book or article.

In the case of a website, try to find the date when it was last updated.  In some subjects such as law or economics, the validity of information may change more rapidly than in others, so you will need to be careful.   Are any links from it to other sites still active?

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