Performing and Creative Arts

Biography Reference Center is an easy to use database of more than 460,000 full-text biographies. In addition to standard search by name or occupation, the database allows for browsing by categories including actors, authors, composers, explorers, figures relevant to U.S. & world history, inventors, musicians, Presidents of the United States, or current world leaders.

Digital reference collection containing over 400 full text encyclopedias, almanacs, handbooks, and specialized reference books. Search for articles across all the books in the database or browse through specialized subject specific encyclopedias. All articles are also indexed in the library's primary catalog, OneSearch.

A master index to literature reference books published by Gale. Find citations to author biographies and literary criticism published in books such as Dictionary of Literary Biography, Contemporary Authors, Novels for Students, and Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Search by author or title of work. It combines and cross-references author names, including pseudonyms and variant names, and listings for titles of works into one source.

A comprehensive music reference work covering all aspects of popular and classical music. Find artist/composer biographies, definitions of key terms, descriptions of major musical works and instruments, and encyclopedia articles on musical genres, styles, and traditions.

Digital collection of online reference books in all fields of study including dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, and subject reference works. Search by keyword or browse titles by subject.

This free database was run by the University of no longer supported by University of Indiana, which no longer hosts the resource. Please check out our research guide on Media Culture for alternative resources on film and television.

Full text access to complete back runs of scholarly journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Coverage for most journals does not include the last 3-5 years. Users can search across the entire database or limit their search to journals in specific subject disciplines. Click here for a search tutorial. Many scholarly eBooks are also available on the platform.
Coverage Dates: 1665 to present

The MLA Bibliography is now provided on the EBSCOHost platform! Produced by the Modern Language Association (MLA), the MLA International Bibliography is an index for the study of language, literature, linguistics, rhetoric and composition, folklore, and film, covering scholarly publications from the early 20th century to the present. It includes citations to journal articles, books, articles in books, series, translations, scholarly editions, websites, and dissertations  To check IF full text is available, click on the "Find it! @CUNY." This resource has the same citation content as the print MLA bibliography, not all the articles it references are instantly available in full text. If you need a particular article that is cited in the Bibliography and cannot find it in CUNY resources, you may need to use InterLibary Loan.
Coverage Dates: 1926 to present

Full-text articles from scholarly journals in the humanities, arts, and social sciences primarily covering the fields of literature, history, cultural studies, political science, religion, and the arts.