Reference sources, like encyclopedias, dictionaries, and handbooks, provide great overviews. They help researchers contextualize their topics and begin to ask the right questions. They also help with generating search terms to use when later searching in research databases.
Moreover, reference works contain bibliographies that lead researchers to the most respected secondary and most useful primary sources on a topic.
In short, reference works are a great way to begin your research.
Biographies and autobiographies provide insights into individuals' lives and achievements. Biographies come in all shapes and sizes: some offer just factual information (full name, birth and death dates, place of birth, career history, etc.) while others provide more in-depth essays as well as references for further reading.
The sources below contain brief biographies or biographical overviews on individuals. Many also point to other resources about an individual, including related news stories, book-length biographies, and/or interviews.
Need some context? These are detailed guides to authors, composers, philosophers, genres, various literatures and other fields of study, providing context and analysis for a thorough introduction.
What Is the Theatre?
What Is Theatre?: An Introduction and Exploration
The Methuen Drama Dictionary of the Theatre
The Routledge Dictionary of Contemporary Theatre and Performance
The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance
The Cambridge Guide to Theatre
The Oxford Companion to American Theatre
Companion to Twentieth-Century American Drama
Historical Dictionary of Contemporary American Theater, 1930-2010
The Cambridge Companion to Theatre History
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Stage Actors and Acting
The Methuen Drama Handbook to Theatre History and Historiography
The Oxford Dictionary of Plays (2nd ed.)
The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (4th ed.)
