Wozworld’s Weblog

Along with dance and opera, theatre rounds out the trio of subject areas benefitting from the newest purchase of research resources for the performing arts.  Like its’ dance and opera sisters, Theatre in Video captures classic performances on film for 250 plays plus documentaries and interviews with directors and actors.  Browsing indexes allows users to select material by play title or director/ performer name. Cook Library’s license allows for three simultaneous users, whether on or off campus.  While users can sign in and create an account to save selected plays and create film clips of specific sections of scenes,  the clip creation tools are not as high tech as those offered in the other two databases.  Some of the icons used for adding items to playlists and editing clips do not look exactly like those used in the dance and opera video databases, but a quick hover with your mouse will quickly orient you to the usage for that tool.  Registered users can keep playlists and clip lists private or share with TU members or all database users.  System requirements are easy to find, and like all the Alexander Street video products, you have the ability to stream your video in a quarter, half, and full screen mode for better visibility.  Shakespeare productions are particularly plentiful in number,  and Alexander Street expects to add a greater variety of play titles by world playwrights as copyright agreements with distributors are reached.  If productions are not in English, subtitles appear directly on the film.  One drawback is that very few productions beyond the Shakespeare titles allow users to stream by specific scene location within the film; most allow you to stream the entire video production, rather than select a specific scene.  As this was the first of the three Alexander Street video streaming products created, maybe this feature was a later added option in the newer products.  I enjoyed eating my lunch watching Derek Jacobi plot to gain the crown of England in Richard II – I bet you will find lots of fav films as well.

Along with the previously mentioned Alexander Street video product, Opera in Video makes it appearance this week for both on and off campus use by TU researchers.

Like its dance counterpart, TU has access for three simultaneous users both on and off campus.  System requirements on the home page of the database will describe hardware, software, and bandwith requirements.  This database is still in growing with a total of 49 full length opera productions currently available for streaming with a target collection of 250 films.  Film types include documentaries, editorials, interviews, filmed live productions, and videotaped performances of operas and related material.  English subtitles are available for operas, and in many cases, liner notes from a DVD package are also included.  The general search box will allow you to search for a specific aria, or you can browse by composer or work title.  Users can sign in for free as a registered user to create a playlist of favorite scenes or operas that can be kept private or shared with others.  Registered users can also create customized film clips, highlighting a particular aria or scene within a film, then save it for quick reference.  A wide variety of productions are included ranging from classic Pavarotti performances of traditional repertoire to modern staged versions of Orfeo ed Euridice with blue jean and leather jacket clad singers.  Check it out!!

The Alexander Street Press product, Dance in Video, is a video streaming service for dance research now available through the Cook Library web page as well as through ResearchPort.  The database has a three simultaneous user limit, which includes both on and off campus access.  System Requirements (browsers, bandwith, etc) are listed on the database’s home page.  The database currently contains 150 dance videos with a target collection of 250.  Clips include documentaries, performances, interviews, and instructional films.  Genres covered range from ballet to contemporary, and advanced search indexes allow for searching by performers, venues, companies, composers, choreographers, and work titles.  Sign in to become a registered user and create a free account which allows you to save films to a playlist and create your own personally designed clips from films for future use and to share with others.  Instructors can imbed a link to a flim or a clip to their Blackboard accounts for use by classes and add notes for students.  Personal preferences allow registered users to set playlists and clips to be kept private, shared with TU users, or available to all database users.  Altogether a nifty product – you will be lost for hours investigating the wealth of filmed material present.

Up and running this week are four new video streaming databases that will assist faculty and students in performing arts research.  All are currently available from the Cook Library web page for on campus use and through ResearchPort for off campus access.  The databases are:  Dance in Video, Opera in Video, Theatre in Video, and American History in Video.  The three performing arts based databases will all receive separate posts with descriptions.  The American History in Video  has unlimited user access both on and off campus and can be used for dramaturgical research, or background information relating to ethnomusicology, and sociohistorical issues relating to dance.

The Research in Dance Education database (RDEdb) has undergone a makeover with a new, user friendly interface and a new name, to boot.

The database is now called the NDEO Dance Education Literature and Research Descriptive Index.  It remains linked in the Subject Gateway for Dance on the Cook Library web page, but in the A to Z listing of Databases, remember to look under the letter “N” for “NDEO.”  One of the nicest changes you will notice is a easier keyword search with up to three search terms.  Smack center in the screen is a box titled “Search Instructions” which gives some advice to novice searchers.