Performance Reviews: There are a number of places to look for performance reviews. The online newspaper indexes are especially helpful for recent reviews.   You will find that the dates covered varies from newspaper to newspaper but the indexes often cover about the last fifteen, sometimes twenty, years.  Most of the online newspaper indexes will contain full-text information, which means the actual review will appear on the computer screen. The article indexes also contain reviews.  However, some of the indexes are a better source of reviews than another.   The following is a list of some of the places to look for performance reviews and some hints on how best to limit and focus your search in each of these databases.

• Art Abstracts
  This database is an especially good source for scholarly research in the arts; including of course the performance arts.  There are quite a few performance reviews in this database and they will tend to come from the more scholarly sources.

1. Do a keyword search, type in the play, performer, performance, playwright or the like

2. Limit the record type to "form review" (this is a choice on the menu next to record type)
    Note: It is also possible to limit to book reviews using the same process.

• Academic Search Elite
  This database has a very popular and current focus, though it does go back to 1980.   It contains a few newspapers, and a large collection of magazines and journals. 
  
  1. Do a subject search, type in the name and "theater reviews"
  
  2. Also, a search using the phrase "sound recording reviews" will result in a large number of recorded music reviews.

• AisleSay
  This is an online source of theater reviews from the The Internet Magazine of Stage Reviews and Opinions, covering New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Melbourne and more.  It contains frequent updates and additions.

 

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Book Reviews: Books reviews can be found in all of the above sources, except for AisleSay, which is strictly theater. In addition, there are some specialized sources that will lead the student to specifically reviews of books. See below for list of these sources:

• Book Review Digest
  This is an online database which covers about 100 leading periodicals written in English.  The database goes back to 1983.  For books written before 1983, look in the paper edition of Book Review Digest which in found in Reference Z1219 C96.  The paper version goes back to 1905.
  
  1. Online Version: Search by the title of the Book and limit record type to "Book Review"

2. Paper Version: Search the year the book was published and the following year. Reviews are listed alphabetically by the name of the author.
Sample search "A Life on the Stage"

• Book Review Index
  We do not own an online version of this index, only paper.  It is kept in Reference stacks by the call number of Z1035.A1 B7.  We own back to the year 1966.