Databases /Arts /Performing Arts

Databases

Academic Video Online (AVON)VCU VIVA
Thousands of streaming videos covering a wide range of disciplines. Includes documentaries, interviews, feature films, news, and more distributed by PBS, BBC, CNN, CBS, Sony, A&E, Contemporary Arts Media, Royal Shakespeare, and many others.

African American Music ReferenceVCU
Comprehensive coverage of blues, jazz, spirituals, civil rights songs, slave songs, minstrelsy, rhythm and blues, gospel, and other forms of black American musical expression, with reference texts, biographies, sheet music, and other materials.

Artforum ArchiveVCU
An international monthly magazine covering contemporary art from 1962-2020. The archive contains feature articles, reviews, and interviews on artists, exhibitions, and publications.

Arts and Humanities Citation Index via ISI Web of ScienceVCU
Database of references cited in articles from the world's leading arts and humanities journals. Allows searching by subject, work, author, journal, and author address. Web of Science Tutorial

ARTstorVCU
Image database featuring a range of images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences. Collections have been contributed by leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists.

Black DramaVCU
Full text of thousands of plays written from the mid-1800s to the present. Includes published and previously unpublished works from Africa, as well as North America, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries.

Black Studies in VideoVCU
Documentaries, interviews, and archival footage covering African American history, politics, art and culture, family structure, gender relationships, and social and economic issues.

Black Thought and CultureVCU
Non-fiction writings by major American Black leaders -- teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, war veterans, entertainers, and other figures -- present an evolving and complex view of what it is to be Black in America.

Bloomsbury Fashion CentralVCU
Contains Berg Fashion Library, Bloomsbury Fashion Photography Archive, and Bloomsbury Fashion Video Archive, providing cross-searchable access to content on world dress and fashion. Includes e-books, reference works, images, and more.

Bloomsbury Video Library (formerly Artfilms)VCU
Digital video streaming collection of films for arts education and arts practitioners. Includes films produced by Contemporary Arts Media as well as independent artists, film producers, and arts organizations.

British Periodicals I-IIIVCU
Searchable facsimile images for journals dating from the 17th to the 20th century. This resource contains Collections I-III covering historical, artistic, and popular periodicals.

Broadway HDVCU
Broadway HD is a streaming collection of live theatrical performances from Broadway. An exclusive collection of nineteen performances from the New York Theatre scene, the productions in this resource will change.

Classical Music Reference LibraryVCU
From the ancient Greek modes to modern compositions, Classical Music Reference Library offers comprehensive coverage of all classical genres, spanning music from the medieval period to the 21st century.

Classical Scores LibraryVCU
Comprehensive database of important scores in classical music, ranging from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. Includes traditional composers as well as contemporary artists. Also features manuscripts and previously unpublished material.

Dance Collection Catalog
Search for citations in the New York Public Library's extensive collection of dance materials. To limit your search, select Dance Research Collection, one of the lowermost options, from the drop-down menu.

Dance OnlineVCU
This two-volume resource contains productions and documentaries related to influential companies and performers of twentieth-century dance, including ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, experimental, and improvisational dance.

Digital Theatre +VCU
A platform for the performing arts providing students with access to full-length productions, interviews, texts, rehearsals, and other educational resources.

Dissertations and Theses Full Text (ProQuest)VCU
Comprehensive and curated collection of dissertations and theses from universities around the world, with full-text availability for most titles.

Docuseek Complete CollectionVCU VIVA
Documentaries covering anthropology, area studies, the arts, criminal justice, education, environmental studies, global studies, health, history, political science, psychology, sciences, sociology, women's studies, and more.

Eighteenth Century Drama: Censorship, Society and the StageVCU
Hundreds of playbills, theatre records, and correspondence related to plays submitted for license between 1737-1824. Contains the archive of the Larpent Collection and two reference works on the eighteenth century London stage.

Eighteenth Century JournalsVCU
Rare journals printed between 1685 and 1835 in the UK and the US, covering all aspects of eighteenth-century social, political and literary life. Journals range from political journals to colonial newspapers, poetic reviews to fashion magazines.

Essay and General Literature IndexVCU
Citations to essays and articles contained in collections of essays and miscellaneous works. Focuses on the humanities and social sciences, with subject coverage ranging from economics and history to criticism of literary works, drama, and film.

Film & Television Literature Index with Full TextVCU
Comprehensive bibliographic and full-text database of journal articles and books covering the spectrum of television and film. Covers areas such as film and television theory, preservation and restoration, cinematography, and more.

Filmakers Library OnlineVCU
Award-winning documentaries and independent films presenting points of view and historical and current experiences from diverse cultures and traditions worldwide.

Films on Demand Master Academic CollectionVCU
Streaming films covering core academic subjects. Also includes archival films and newsreels.

Garland Encyclopedia of World Music OnlineVCU
Extensive resource devoted to music research of all world cultures. Contains full text of the print encyclopedia, with geographic overviews, musical heritage surveys, detailed photographs, drawings, maps, and audio recordings.

Humanities International CompleteVCU VIVA
Indexing and abstracts for articles, essays, reviews, and original creative works in all aspects of the humanities, with full-text for select journal articles, books, and other materials. Includes all data from the Humanities International Index.

International Index to the Performing Arts (IIPA)VCU
Citations and abstracts, and select full text covering dance, film, television, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, broadcast arts, comedy, opera, and more.

IPA SourceVCU
Extensive library of International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions and literal translation of opera arias and art song texts. Represents musical traditions across centuries, with the goal to promote comprehension and accurate pronunciation.

Jazz Music LibraryVCU
Comprehensive collection of jazz recordings covering thousands of artists, ensembles, albums, and genres from all over the world from the beginnings of jazz to today.

JSTORVCU
Searchable backfiles of core journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. (Backfiles end typically 3 - 6 years prior to the current date).

Kanopy Streaming VCU
Streaming documentaries, feature films, shorts, and more. Includes films from The Criterion Collection, California Newsreel, Media Education Foundation, First Run Features, Green Planet Films, Michael Blackwood, Kino Lorber and many more.

Literature Criticism OnlineVCU
Includes a range of modern and historical views on authors and their works across eras and genres, with scholarly and popular commentary from broadsheets, pamphlets, encyclopedias, books, and periodicals.

MLA International BibliographyVCU VIVA
The Modern Language Association of America's index of critical scholarship on literature, language, linguistics, folklore, and the dramatic arts.

Music IndexVCU
Citations and abstracts for international literature covering music, musicians, and the music industry. Includes periodicals, book reviews, obituaries, news, and reviews of recordings, tapes, and performances.

Music OnlineVCU
Music Online provides the most comprehensive database in streaming audio, video, reference, and scores on the web. Integrated searching by ensemble, genre, historical events and more provides in-depth context for music history.
Can be used for course content:Streaming audio and video that spans all time periods, with thousands of artists, composers, choreographers, and ensembles. More about affordable course content

National Theatre CollectionVCU
A collaboration with the U.K. National Theatre, this collection offers digital performance resources previously exclusive to the National Theatre's archive, including performances as well as digitized archival material.

Naxos Music LibraryVCU
Streaming classical and world music. Includes notes on musical works and biographical information on composers or artists.

New York Times AcademicVCU
Register for an account for current access to nytimes.com. Users must be connected to the RamsVPN for remote access. Install the VPN here.

New York Times via NYT.comVCU
Important source of reporting information, and opinion on politics, finance, health, science, culture, the arts, sports, and fashion in the U.S. and abroad.

Nineteenth Century Collections OnlineVCU
Digital archive of primary source collections from the "long" 19th century. Includes monographs, newspapers, manuscripts, diaries, letters, maps, statistics and more. Offers annotation and tagging tools.

Nineteenth-Century American Drama: Popular Culture and Entertainment, 1820-1900VCU
Virtually every play published in the United States from 1820-1900, including annotated copies of prompt books and manuscripts.

Opera in VideoVCU
Comprehensive collection of operatic performances, interviews, and documentaries, covering the most commonly studied operas in music history, opera literature, and performance classes.

Oxford Music OnlineVCU
Integrated searchable access to The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Grove Music Online, The Oxford Companion to Music, and more.

Play IndexVCU
Indexes classical and historical plays, along with the works of contemporary playwrights. Covers new editions and translations, with descriptive annotations to summarize plot and indicate musical requirements.

Popular Culture in Britain and America, 1950-1975VCU
Printed and manuscript sources, visual material, ephemera, and video clips covering 1950s to 1970s popular culture in Britain and America, and its intersection with major events of the period.

Project MuseVCU VIVA
Database of peer-reviewed academic journals and electronic books in the humanities and social sciences from university presses and scholarly societies around the world.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times with IndexVCU
Full image of articles published in The New York Times including illustrations and advertisements. Covers from the first issue in 1851 to three years prior to the current year.

RILM Abstracts of Music LiteratureVCU
Citations and abstracts of international literature on music and music-related subjects. Indexes journal articles, book chapters, reviews, proceedings, Festschrifts, and more.

Shakespeare in Performance: Prompt Books from The Folger Shakespeare LibraryVCU
Digitized prompt books from the Folger Shakespeare Library containing personal notes, sketches and cues for lighting and music, from set design and costume to music and acting. Materials date from the 1670s to 1970s, with most from the 19th century.

Shakespeare's Globe ArchiveVCU
Documents related to over 300 productions from 1997-2016 at Shakespeare's Globe, including architectural plans, photographs, prompt books, wardrobe notes, musical scores, oral histories, essays, and video interviews.

Shakespeare's Globe on Screen I & IIVCU
Diverse programs from Shakespeare's Globe and the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in London harness the power of performance, cultivate intellectual curiosity, and excite learning to make Shakespeare accessible for all.

SPORTDiscus with Full TextVCU
Bibliographic and full-text database covering international and interdisciplinary literature on sports medicine, nutrition, physical therapy, occupational health, exercise physiology, kinesiology, and related topics.

Theatre in VideoVCU
Hundreds of videos covering foremost plays worldwide. Includes footage of live performances, documentaries, and interviews with authors, directors, and actors.

Twentieth Century North American DramaVCU
Full-text plays from the United States and Canada, from major and lesser-known authors. Includes playbills, posters, and other ephemera.

University of Fashion
An online fashion design and business video library. Create an account with your VCU eID.

Victorian Popular CultureVCU
Objects, printed books, ephemera, posters, photographs, playbills, and other primary sources relating to popular entertainment in America, Britain and Europe from 1779 to 1930. Covers entertainment forms from stage magic to the advent of cinema.

Washington PostVCU
The Washington Post covers local, national and global news, national security and politics, business, technology, arts and entertainment, health and medicine, and sports. Opinion columnists focus on politics, economics, culture, and global concerns.

Yale Art and Architecture ePortalVCU
Authoritative scholarly eBooks by academic and museum publishers as well as unique peer-reviewed content, covering art history, architecture, decorative art, photography, and design. Includes searchable images along with supplemental audio and video.