The Arts library is where you can find your drama and theatre librarian and the librarian who specializes in art, art history, and architecture. You can also find amazing visually rich books of art, images, and other creatively rich work. There is also a special collections with grad theses from the David Geffen School of Drama.
Sterling is the main library, and most of the humanities librarians are here. If you want to ask a specific question about a certain country's history or culture, this is where you'd go for a meeting with them. Sterling also has the largest collection of circulating materials = lots and lots of books. There are also drama and theatre materials here as well! They have a special collection called Manuscripts and Archives where they hold recordings of past DGSD productions. There are many other mini libraries and collections throughout Sterling, including the Film Archive, International Collections, and Fortunoff Archive!
The Marx library has social science librarians at hand! Are you trying to figure out the psychological state of your character? They'll be able to help you! Marx also has Yale's map collection!
I like to look at this little web of research when approaching a show.
Psychology: What is the psychology of the main characters? What psychological discussions were prevalent during this time period? Freud? Talk therapy? Stiff upper lip and shut up? What are popular philosophies of the time, and how does that inform characters' trajectories, politics, and goals? Do any of the characters exhibit symptoms of mental illnesses you can research? How do these things affect physicality? Their dress? What they surround themselves with? The lighting?
Time: What time -period is it? What types of technology were prevalent, what types of medicines, drugs, libations were around? What was the government pushing propaganda-wise, and how does that show up? What types of diseases were prevalent? What were the major goods being traded at this point, and how did that affect what characters had access to (ex: color dyes, types of food, paper, etc).
Themes: What are the major themes? War? Love? Family? Faith? Good/Evil? Check out more examples. How can you incorporate these major themes in your design / character development / direction / writing?
Place: Where are we? What is the history of this house, city, state, country, continent? What type of jobs are available, what color dirt is on the ground? Is there pollution? What is easily accessible? What type of materials are there to build with and what are the characters' relationships with the land? What is the landscape (mountainous, rivers, desert, etc) and how does that inform the physicality, design, lighting, sound?
Space/Architecture What physical space is the show set in? What type of architecture is characteristic of the setting? How does that make characters feel? Are wide spaces or tight confines utilized? How does that inform physicality and design?
Climate What type of weather is normal and how does that inform physicality, design, and sound? Is the climate harsh or temperate? Does it feel at odds with the action? What kind of light and sound does the climate make, what colors are appropriate for it?
Society What is the social order of this world? Who has the most power as far as class and social hierarchy go, and how is this indicated in design or character development and physicality? What signifies power? What is the history of power structures in this society? What signifies social currency, and how is wealth displayed? What is fashionable, and who has access to this? What type of vocabulary or speech indicates education or upbringing? What are the ways individuals circumvent or manipulate social barriers? What is taboo, what are societal expectations for gender roles, professions, the elderly, children?
Culture What is the culture of this play? What aesthetics of art is created and celebrated in this culture? What is the vernacular dialect, and how did that evolve? What type of music is popular, and what are the different cultural contexts for different types of music? What is *cool*, what is decidely *not cool*? What fashions are popular, what materials are used in textiles, what home design and decor is preferable? What is the religion, and how does that inform the structure of one's day or philosophy?
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