North American Theatre Online

North American Theatre Online (NATO) is a comprehensive reference work covering all aspects of the Canadian and American Theatre, from colonial times to the present. It includes some 40,000 pages of major reference materials, together with records to more than 30,000 plays, over 57,000 people, 5,400 theatres, nearly 22,000 productions and 2,500 production companies. The file also includes some 10,500 images, playbills, postcards, scrapbooks and other resources. Approximately 20,000 records are added annually.

Oxford Reference Online Premium

Oxford Reference Online Premium contains language and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. Searches can be conducted within the whole database, within a specific subject, or within a specific reference book. The Performing Arts section features several Oxford Companions, such as the Oxford Companion to American Theatre, as well as the Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance. The Literature section provides information on playwrights and specific plays.

Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia

Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia is hosted by Arthabasca University with an editorial board comprising members of the Association for Canadian Theatre Research. The Encyclopedia provides information about Canadian actors, playwrights, directors, producers, designers, theatre organizations and institutions, and composers and plays.

Broadway: Its History, People, and Places: an Encyclopedia

Broadway: Its History, People, and Places: an Encyclopedia, now in its 2nd edition, was published by Routledge in 2004 and is available electronically through MyiLibrary, a collection of e-books bought buy Concordia Libraries.

Literature Resource Center (LRC)

Literature Resource Center contains Contemporary Authors (CA) and Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB), both of which include biographies of playwrights.

• Contemporary Authors: shorter biographies
• Dictionary of Literary Biography: longer biographies

Literature Online (LION)

Literature Online includes major literary reference works, such as the Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature and Literature Online biographies.

• Access: from the LION home page, click on criticism and reference, then reference.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB)

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography features authoritative biographies of the men and women who shaped all aspects of the British past from the earliest times to 2004. It covers people who died up to 2004; one year is added each January. Most biographies include lists of sources, archives and likenesses.

• Tip: searches require the comma between last name and first name, such as Shakespeare, William.
• Only one user at a time.