(Re)Search

(Re)Search is a six part series by Bree Windham a current graduate student in dramaturgy. It details her experiences as a young dramaturg navigating different resources and the ways she has come utilize them through trial, error, and advice from others. Find the full series here.

After graduating I realized I missed having unlimited access to the resources I had found through my university’s library. Immediately I thought, I could remedy this by subscribing to everything. I found myself saying things like, “It’s for my work, I can get it on my own, and it’s a tax write off.” While this is true, I also realized I wasn’t going to be able to afford all of the resources I wanted. My dad is a financial advisor, so I asked him what to do. He said I needed to analyze the cost benefit. After I made him explain what that was, it boiled down to one idea, “wants vs. needs.” With that in mind, this post is dedicated to weighing the cost benefit of subscription based resources.

My “wants” list looked something like this:

1) Academic periodicals

2) National newspaper

3) Career specific resources

4) Hard copy information (books, journals, magazines)

5) Digital resources

The following are the specific resources that made my “needs” list:

The most important subscription based resource that I use as a dramaturg is my membership to the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA). My first understanding of LMDA was that it was the closest thing I would ever have to a theatrical union. While LMDA does have a set of suggested work standards and supports Literary Managers and Dramaturgs without fail, I see it now as more of a “dramaturg support group.” What I mean is this, if I want to know anything about my job description, I go to LMDA. If I can’t find the answer to a question, I post it to their discussion thread. If I need to access a play online immediately, I take advantage of the Alexander Street membership my LMDA membership allows.  Being a member of LMDA is like having a giant “think tank” of dramaturgs and literary managers 24/7 and access to other resources as well. So how do you navigate LMDA?

After graduating I realized I missed having unlimited access to the resources I had found through my university’s library. Immediately I thought, I could remedy this by subscribing to everything.

First, let’s talk numbers. What I like about LMDA is that they approach their subscription on a scale. For example, a one-year subscription is seventy-five dollars, however a student or intern membership is only thirty dollars per year. The only thing that is lost by applying as a student is your eligibility to vote as a member and your eligibility to run for office within the organization. Otherwise, you have full access to the site and its numerous resources.

So what to do if you’re not a literary manager or a dramaturg? First, you don’t have to be a member of LMDA to access the LMDA discussion thread. You simply need an email address, and can sign up to access the discussion thread here. So, no matter what your job description may be, if you are in need of an answer to a research related question, this think tank is available to you.

The second most important subscription based resource that I decided I needed was a subscription to a national newspaper. One of my jobs as an intern was to stay up to date on reviews of new shows. It became a habit to read reviews of new shows and to look at what shows were the most popular at any given time. I wanted to stay up to date not only on the theatrical world, but the world around me.

Most newspapers have digital subscriptions. They are great assets not only because you can access the current paper, but also you can also usually access digitized historical newspaper articles. When looking up subscription costs, research if that paper offers discounts that might apply to you. Several offer student and educator discounts.

Lastly, my final subscription was a local library card.  When I was an intern, I was fortunate enough to be provided with a local library card by my company. Some people become disheartened when they cannot find the book they need at their local library. But a local library is not limited to that specific library’s catalogue. Don’t forget that most local libraries offer interlibrary loan and they also employ very knowledgeable librarians who have great ideas on how to help you find what you are looking for.

Something I have found is that my resources change not only project-to-project, but also company-to-company, and school-to-school. I found that making my “wants vs. needs” list was just as important as settling on the resources. 

So what about periodicals? They originally fell on the wants side of the list for me. Now that I am a graduate student, I have access to them again for free through my library. The three academic periodicals I use most often are Theatre Topics, Theatre Journal, and The Drama Review.

Theatre Topics publishes articles that have to do with issues concerning theater practitioners. It’s really geared towards the academic and theoretical side of theater. The individual price for a one-year print subscription is forty dollars, the student price is thirty dollars, and a digital subscription is forty dollars.

Theatre Journal publishes reviews as well as scholarly articles. They focus on theater history and the analysis of dramatic text as well as productions. A one-year individual subscription is forty-five dollars, the student pricing is forty dollars, and a one-year digital subscription is fifty dollars.

The Drama Review is not limited to theater—it incorporates dance and performance art as well. They focus on current goings on in theater and performing arts. It is published quarterly. A one-year individual subscription (both print and digital) is forty-nine dollars, the student is twenty-five dollars, and the digital alone is twenty-three dollars.

As you can see, there are many options that one can use to stay in the loop. In the end I knew I would be attending graduate school and would have access to academic journals, so I decided on an LMDA membership and a digital newspaper subscription. However, once my access to academic periodicals is no longer available, I believe I will actively subscribe to one or more that I have listed. As a dramaturg and researcher, I find that the more I know not only about what’s happening in theater, but also in the world around me, the better I can communicate my ideas.