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History of Dance Research Guide:
Find Dance Books

 



Use the Library Catalog and MOBIUS Catalog to find:
Find terms for your catalog search in your:
Borrow from other libraries outside of Missouri through Interlibrary Loan:
Books on your topic in the Owens Library collection and other academic libraries in the state of Missouri.
Course syllabus
Books found in the WorldCat other catalog not in the Owens Library collection or available through MOBIUS
Videos on your topic in the Owens Library collection
(Use a keyword search and select VIDEO/FILM under Material Type:)
Textbook Books mentioned in textbook notes and bibliography not in the Owens Library collection or available through MOBIUS
Music CDs for your topic in the Owens Library collection
(Use a keyword search and select MUSIC AUDIO under Material Type:)
Encyclopedia and dictionary articles Books listed in further reading lists in encyclopedias and dictionaries not in the Owens Library collection

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Subject Searching Tips:
      Subject headings classify the content of books and other materials.
  Subject searches can save you time and trouble because you locate select, relevant results.
  Dance is the most pertinent general subject heading for dance topics.
  There are a variety of related subject headings for Dance. Below is the catalog entry for the subject heading Dance:
Dancing. (About) (34 titles)
Search also note: names of dances, e.g. Quadrille (Dance), Waltz.
Search also under: Aerobic dancing.
Search also under: Art and dancing.
Search also under: Ballet.
Search also under: Ballroom dancing.
Search also under: Choreography.
Search also under: Country-dance.
Search also under: Dance companies.
Search also under: Dance music.
Search also under: Dancing for the aged.
Search also under: Disco dancing.
Search also under: Folk dancing.
Search also under: Improvisation in dance.
Search also under: Jazz dance.
Search also under: Line dancing.
Search also under: Modern dance.
Search also under: Movement notation.
Search also under: Music and dance.
Search also under: Music in physical education.
Search also under: Musico-callisthenics.
Search also under: Pavan.
Search also under: Play-party.
Search also under: Round dancing.
Search also under: Sexuality in dance.
Search also under: Square dancing.
Search also under: Tap dancing.
  Dancing can be further narrowed with these subdivisions:
   Dance -- Geographic location -- Event, Time Period or Subdivision of Topic
   Example: Dance -- England -- History --17th century
  Omit punctuation and upper case when entering subject searches:
Entering this subject search

Finds this subject heading catalog entry
dance asia Dance -- Asia
dance Italy history 16th century Dance -- Italy -- history -- 16th century

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      Dance forms and names of famous dancers and choreographers also appear as subject headings:
Dance forms

Famous dancers and choreographers
Ballet Baker, Josephine, 1906-1975
(To find this subject heading, enter baker Josephine as a subject search.)
Jazz dance Graham, Martha
(To find this subject heading, enter graham Martha as a subject search.)
Tango Ailey, Alvin
(To find this subject heading, enter ailey alvin as a subject search.)
Waltz Diaghilev, Serge, 1872-1929
(To find this subject heading, enter diaghilev serge as a subject search.)

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Keyword Searching Tips:
      Combine specific words and phrases with connectors and, or, not.
Example: dance and Greek and civilization
  Use the words or phrases listed in the table on the first page of this guide to find sources about culture and society that are dance-related. For instance, if you wanted to find books on festivals in the renaissance you could try the following search: festivals and renaissance
  Omit upper case and punctuation when you enter searches


Type of Information you seek
Keyword Search Examples
Geographic area (region, nation, city, etc.)
Asia and dance

France and dance

new York and dance
Form of dance ballet and history
(Using the word history allows you to find sources that discuss the development of that dance form over time.)
Ethnic, racial, or tribal group Irish and dance

Navajo and dance

(You might need to try more than one term or phrase to describe an ethnic or racial group. For instance, to find all sources for African American dance you could try:
black and dance or
afro Americans and dance
)
Time period dance and middle ages

dance and 1500

dance and 20th

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Techniques to refine your keyword searches:
Keyword Search Technique
Keyword Search Examples
Truncation
(Place the * mark at the end of a word stem.)
danc* (Finds dance, dances, dancer, dancers, dancing.) Truncating too far up a word stem will retrieve irrelevant results. For instance truncating dance after the n, Dan*, will not only retrieve dance but also danger, dangle, dandy, dante, and Danube)
Nesting
(Place nested terms in parentheses. Most often the nested terms will be combined with the connector, or)
ital* and (ceremon* or festival* or procession*) and renaissance*

(afr* America* or black) and (theat* or music* or danc*) and hist*

Qualify a search
(Locates information in a specific field of a catalog record such as the author, title, subject or note field.)

s:social life and s:customs and s:Indians
(The "social life and customs" subheading locates books discussing the aspects of a culture in a time and place, including discussing food customs, dress customs, social interactions, holidays, festivals, etc. "Indians" is included in the subject heading, Indians of North American. The search above is intended to locate books about the social life and customs of the various North American Indian groups.)

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More Tips:
  The International Encylopedia of Dance (1st Floor, Reference 792.803 I615i) is the most comprehensive source of historical and theoretical information on dance topics. This multi-volume set contains articles on:
        Many lands and peoples
        Ritual and religion
        Folk, traditional, and popular dance
        History of dance
        Theatrical dance
        Dance as popular entertainment
      You might need to use a more general book to find the specific information you need. For instance, the book Ballet & Modern Dance: A Concise History contains a chapter on dance in ancient Greece and Rome, dance in the middle ages and the renaissance as well as chapters on the professionalization of dance, romantic ballet, imperial Russian ballet, and the rise of ballet in America.
  Use the table of contents and index in books you find to locate specific pieces of information. For instance, the table of contents in the book, Black Dance, indicates that there are chapters on sacred dances, plantation dances, Juba, minstrels, medicine shows, gillies, and carnivals in addition to chapters on dance halls, Broadway, and black ballet. The index contains entries for Congo Square, Jitterbug, Savoy ballroom, Dance Theater of Harlem, and the Metropolitan Opera House.
  Use endnotes, further reading lists, or bibliographies in relevant books you locate to find other books or periodical articles that relate to your topic.
  Check the Northwest Missouri State University Library Catalog to find out whether Owens Library has any of the books or periodical titles listed in the endnotes, further reading lists, or bibliographies.
  If you do not locate books on your topic in the Northwest Missouri State University Library Catalog, try searching the MOBIUS Catalog to locate books in over fifty university and college libraries in Missouri. Search WorldCat to locate books in college, university, and public libraries outside of Missouri. Interlibrary loan those books not available in Owens Library.

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Revised (April 7, 2009)
Created (November 2002)
Current Author: Frank Baudino
Links Verified (October 2008)