Try searching International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance by following the steps outlined below. You’ll practice using some of the most common functions and be ready to search for information for your assignments.
1. Search for the topic contemporary dance. How many results do you find? Quite a lot, I’m guessing.
2. Using the left-hand panel, limit your search results to those published between 2015 and the current day. How many results do you find now?
3. Look at the source types listed in the left-hand pane and decide which material is suitable for you. If your assignment is industry-focussed you might want to look at a Magazine, but if it’s a scholarly critique of contemporary dance you might prefer articles in Academic Journals.
4. Apply more limits to make your search meaningful. This can either be by adding more keywords in the search box or by choosing the ones available in the Subject box in the left-hand pane.
5. Try an Advanced Search e.g. contemporary dance AND history. Are the results different from the ones you would find in a Basic Search? Why do you think this is?
6. Find an interesting article from your results list and see if you can access the full-text of the the article. There will be PDF Full Text links to those items available via the CCCU subscription.
7. Reflect on the type of information appearing in your search. The results are organised by relevance, but do they seem relevant? If not, then try synonyms of your search terms. Are there other ways you can describe contemporary dance e.g. modern dance?