Finding a play or score that is published separately is easy--if the library owns it, a title or author search will lead you to it. Likewise, you should be able to locate plays published in collections or anthologies in the library catalog.
Visit the library website and click on Books & More. This will lead you to our library catalog.
Enter the title of work
On the results page, use the facets on the left-hand side to narrow to the format of the source you would like - ie. score, videorecording, etc.
It is not easy to search for plays as a genre. This "prefer to browse" tab shows some call number ranges for browsing the shelves, like where the monologue section is and general play collections. Otherwise, plays are under the individual author, and authors are grouped by nationality. PR = British authors, PS=American, PQ = a range of nationalities.
There are various strategies, though not all very efficient.
| Search for items that have "play" or "plays" in the title, but this will also often be collections of plays, and not all plays will have play in the title. | Click to try it. | This play, for example |
| Search for the genre heading of "--Drama" , though you will also find books about drama. | Try it in our classic catalog | This play, for example |
| Search for a publisher | Dramatists Play Service, for example |
Thank you to Literature Librarian, Melissa Hofmann, for the examples and description.
If you would like to browse the collection, use the following Library of Congress Call Number Ranges relevant to different aspects of theatre research:
| Musical theater | MT955-956 | 3rd floor, Stack 81 |
| Literature-General-The monologue | PN1530 | 3rd floor, Stack 87 |
| Drama | PN1600-3307 | 3rd floor, Stack 87-89 |
| History - Literature | PN1720-1861 | 3rd floor, Stack 87 |
| Motion Pictures | PN1993-1999 | 3rd floor, Stack 87 |
| Plays, scenarios, etc | PN1997-1997.85 | 3rd floor, Stacks 87-88 |
| Monologues | PN 2080 | 3rd floor, Stack 88 |
| The stage and accessories | PN2085-2091 | 3rd floor, Stack 88 |
| By period | PN2131-2193 | 3rd floor, Stack 88 |
| Ancient | PN2131-2145 | 3rd floor, Stack 88 |
| Medieval | PN2152-2160 | 3rd floor, Stack 88 |
| Renaissance | PN2171-2179 | 3rd floor, Stack 88 |
| Modern | PN2181-2193 | 3rd floor, Stack 88 |
| Special regions or countries | PN2219.3-3030 | 3rd floor, Stack 88 |
| The Jewish theater | PN3035 | 3rd floor, Stack 88 |
| Drama (Collections of General Literature) | PN6110.5-6120 | 3rd floor, Stack 90 |
| English Literature--Drama | PR621-744 | 3rd floor, Stack 92 |
| American Literature--Drama | PS330-353 | 3rd floor, Stack 97 |
| Textile industries | TS1300-1865 | 3rd floor, Stack 108 |
| Interior decoration | NK1700-2195 | 3rd floor, Stack 129 |
| Furniture | NK 2200-2750 | 3rd floor, Stacks 129-130 |
| English Language—Dialects. Provincialisms, etc. | PE1700-3602 | 3rd floor, Stack 84 |
| English Language—Slang. Argot, etc. | PE3701-3729 | 3rd floor, Stack 84 |
| Business of acting | PN2055 | 3rd floor, Stack 84 |
| Art of acting | PN2061-2071 | 3rd floor, Stack 84 |
The Moore Library Stacks are numbered.
View this Google spreadsheet to find the stack number for your subject area or call number. (sorted by call number)
View this Google spreadsheet to see the contents of each stack (sorted by stack number)
See the Moore Library Floor Plans
