Steps to Finding Plays:
If you know the the title of the play or the title of the collection or anthology in which the Play appears:
Do a Title Search for the play or the collection or anthology in the the Ely Library Catalog .

1. Subject Browse is the default. To search another field, click in the Find Results in drop down menu for Title.
2. Type the Title that you want to find. Omit punctuation and articles ("a", "an", "the") that appear at the beginning of a title. Enter as much of the title as you know. The system automatically truncates on the right.
3. Click the Search button to begin your search.
4. At the next screen, click on an appropriate Title to locate individual records.
5. Call numbers and location information will be listed under each title. Click on a title for more information.
6. For collections of short stories by an individual author, do an author search.
7. For collections of short stories by any author, do a subject search for short stories or short stories, american
8. See a full Guide to Searching the Ely Library Catalog at http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu/wvoy/wvoy.htm.

1. Return to the Simple Search screen.  Click on the Builder file tab to select a Builder Search.
2. Type in the title that you want to find in the Search For box. (Punctuation and case are ignored.) Search terms are automatically truncated on the right.
3. Default search criteria can be modified for your search:
• Select from the drop-down list that you want to search for the terms as a phrase (default).
• Click the Search button to begin your search. Click the Reset button to clear the search page.

Ottemiller's index to plays in collections. 7th ed. revised and enlarged by Billie M. Connor and Helene G. Mochedlover. Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press, 1988.
    (REF PN1655 .O8 1988)
An author and title index to plays appearing in 1350 collections published between 1900 and 1985.

Index to Plays in Periodicals, 1977-1987. Dean H. Keller. Metuchen, NJ : Scarecrow Press, 1990..
    (REF PN 1721 .K43 1990)
An author / title index to 4,605 plays published in 104 periodicals during the period 1977-1987.  The author index contains the full citation for the play.

Drury's Guide to Best Plays. 4th ed. James M. Salem. Metuchen, NJ : Scarecrow Press, 1987.
    (REF PN 1655 .D8 1987)
An author / title index to 1,500 full-length, non-musical plays covering all dramatic periods from 400 B.C to 1985. Includes plays published in the Best Plays of the Year series (PN 6112 .B45 1899-) located in the stacks. The author index contains the full citation for the play.

Play Index. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1953-1997
    (REF PN3373 .C6x)
Indexes thousands of anthologies and collections containing more than 36,000 plays. Each volume contains an index with author, title, and subject entries, and a List of Collections Indexed providing full information on the anthologies and collections that are indexed. The individual volumes each cover a specific time period.

Author entries for separately published plays include the name of the author, the title of the play, the publisher, date of publication, and pagination. If the play is contained in a collection, the title of the collection is provided.
    Example of Author Entry for a Play published separately, or in an Anthology or Collection:
        Albee, Edward
            Three tall women.  Dramatists  1994  57p.
             Dowager, her secretary, and her lawyer depict one woman at three stages of her life.
                2 acts 1m 3w 1 interior
            --Same
             In  Plays for actresses; ed. by E. Lane and N. Shengold
This entry shows that the play was published by Dramatists in 1994 and contains 57 pages.
Information on Plays for actresses edited by E. Lane and N. Shengold is in Part III, List of Collections Indexed.

Title entries are used to identify the author under whose name the source of the play can be found.
    Example of Title Entry for a Play published separately or in an Anthology or Collection,
        Three tall women. Albee, E.

Subject entries are used for plays published separately or in anthologies or collections. Subject Entries are printed in boldface letters. Consult the Author Entry for more publication information on the play.
     Example of Subject Entry for a Play published separately or in an Anthology or Collection.
           Christmas
                Lebow, B. Tiny Tim is dead.
           y   Levi, S.   Merry Christmas Miss Vickers
          c   Mahlmann, L. and Jones, D.C.  The Nutcracker Prince
The symbol y identifies material for grades 7-12; c indicatess the the play is intended for grades K-6.

Other sources for Plays
Inter-Play Database
Provides easy access to the locations of more than 16,130 plays published in collections, anthologies and periodicals. Most of the plays cited are not indexed in the standard printed play indexes such as Ottemiller's Index to Plays in Collections or H. W. Wilson's Play Index. For plays by the most familiar authors (e.g. Shakespeare), you should also consult Ely library's catalog. Separately-published plays are not included. All citations for the location(s) of each play are searchable by author and/or title. Full source information is provided to lead the user to the location of the desired play.

Page maintained by B. Hubbard
                                   Last Updated 6-28-06