Primary Sources
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Shakespeare's Globe ArchiveSourced from Shakespeare’s Globe Archive, this unique resource offers insights into performance practice in the particular space and playing conditions of the reconstructed Globe Theatre.
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Shakespeare in Performance : Prompt Books from the Folger Shakespeare LibraryThe resource features prompt books from the world-famous collection at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC. These prompt books tell the story of Shakespeare’s plays as they were performed in theatres throughout Great Britain, the United States and internationally, between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries.
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Eighteenth Century Collections Online (1701-1800)Use Eighteenth Century Collections Online to access the digital images of every page of 150,000 books published during the 18th Century in the United Kingdom. Among the subjects covered are history, literature, religion, law, fine arts, and science. Click here to search this database with other primary source databases.
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Eighteenth Century Drama: Censorship, Society and the StageFeatures the John Larpent Collection from the Huntington Library – a unique archive of almost every play submitted for license between 1737 and 1824, as well as hundreds of documents that provide social context for the plays.
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Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO) 1780-1925Books, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, photographs, statistics, and other kinds of documents in both Western and non-Western languages from the world's preeminent libraries and archives, including the British Library, Cornell University Libraries, and the National Archives (both U.S. and and United Kingdom). Focus is British. Click here to search this database with other primary source databases.
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London Low Life : Street Culture, Social Reform and the Victorian UnderworldContains color digital images of rare books, ephemera, maps and other materials relating to 19th and early 20th century London. Also includes secondary sources such as maps and essays.
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Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture 1790-1920Full-text collection of documents, primarily from the US and Britain, on the evolution of crime and punishment. The archive's focus is on the most rapid period of evolution for crime and its associated legal/penal systems: the long nineteenth century, a period of major social upheaval and technological development.
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Popular Culture in Britain & America, 1950-1975: Rock and Roll Counterculture, Peace and ProtestExplores the dynamic period of social, political and cultural change between 1950 and 1975 in Britain and the U.S. Full-text of documents, images, and video.
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ARTStorMore than one million digital images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences. With a registered account you can also curate groups of images, share them, and download them directly into PowerPoint presentations.
Logging In: You do not need to log in to ARTStor on campus.
However, to download images you must register for an account. After you have registered for an account, you will have 120 days of remote access. After 120 days you will need to log in to ARTStor from a computer on campus--or through your library’s proxy--in order to reset your remote access for another 120 days. -
Design & Applied Arts Index :DAAI (1973-present)Bibliographic access to design, craft and applied arts journals and newspapers, and data on designers and studios.
Triadic Ballet, designed and created by Oskar Schlemmer. Photo by Karl Grill, c. 1922
Current Database Trial
Streaming Performances
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Digital Theatre PlusA collection of British theater productions with interviews and detailed text analysis, Digital Theatre Plus captures the moments before the curtain rises and after the curtain falls, providing valuable insight into the play making process. By revealing the world of the rehearsal room, dressing room, backstage and beyond, their documentaries and interviews introduce theatre as a vibrant, exciting art form through a familiar and accessible medium.
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Drama Online: National Theatre CollectionDrawing on 10 years of National Theatre Live broadcasts, alongside high-quality archive recordings never previously seen outside of the NT’s Archive, the National Theatre Collection is complete and contains 30 filmed performances.
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Drama Online. Shakespeare’s Globe on Screen Collections 1 & 2These collections feature films recorded live on the Globe stage from 2008-2018.
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The Library has access to the following collections:
Shakespeare’s Globe on Screen 1 (2008-2015)
Shakespeare's Globe on Screen 2 (2016-2018)
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Theatre in Video 1930-From the most important productions of Shakespeare to rare in-depth footage focusing on the work of Samuel Beckett, Theatre in Video, when complete, will offer more than 500 hours of online streaming video, available electronically for the first time. With live television broadcasts of New York productions from the 50s, revivals of classic works and experimental performances from the 60s and 70s, as well as important contemporary performances, Theatre in Video covers a wide range of 20th century theatre history. Unlike Hollywood adaptations, these are the actual original productions, captured and recorded while performed for a live theatre audience. This collection is a channel on Alexander Street Video.
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Opera in VideoOpera in Video is a streaming video database that will contain 250 of the most important opera performances, captured on video through staged productions, interviews, and documentaries. This collection is a channel on Alexander Street Video.
Suggest a Purchase
Anyone in the UTK community can "request a purchase": https://www.lib.utk.edu/collections/suggest-a-purchase/
Subject Guide
Associate Professor
Rare Books & Humanities Librarian
Special Collections
University of Tennessee Libraries
865.974.0019
Starting Points
For Books:
Check the library catalog.
Browse the PN1600-3307 areas in the circulating collection on 4th floor of the library.
For Articles:
For all areas of the Performing Arts: Performing Arts Periodicals Database (International Index to the Performing Arts)
For American and Canadian Theatre: North American Theater Online
For recent articles and reviews: Academic Search Complete
To watch a video:
Or find a DVD or VHS in our library catalog and watch it in The Studio or at home. Also investigate our streaming media guide.
Pro Tips
Make sure that you are signed in to OneSearch to get full results: https://www.lib.utk.edu/access/accounts/
Make sure that you are signed up for Interlibrary Services (ILS) to easily borrow materials from other libraries: https://www.lib.utk.edu/request/
Anyone in the UTK community can "request a purchase": https://www.lib.utk.edu/collections/suggest-a-purchase/
Use the "My Account" feature to renew books and keep track of items pinned from OneSearch: https://libanswers.utk.edu/faq/206395
Many databases will offer citation export. This is a handy feature when dealing with a large number of items, but make sure to double check the formatting: https://tiny.utk.edu/owl
Investigate the "recall" feature if a physical item that you need is checked out. (N.B. the other user has ten days to return the item, so make an ILS request if you need something more quickly): https://libanswers.utk.edu/faq/110102
If you are trying to access an ebook, but the item is "in use," simply wait for a few minutes and try again.
To get the most out of Google Scholar, authenticate via the UTK Libraries' link: https://libguides.utk.edu/databases/490
The Studio is a great resource for multimedia projects: https://www.lib.utk.edu/studio/