Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television

Gale Research is familiar today as a database provider, but originally they were a publisher of many series of reference works.  In the past these sources were indispensable to librarians and researchers, but over the past few decades much of the information they held has become available online.  Over the intervening years, Gale Research mined many of their print reference books to create very useful and in-depth databases.

One of Gale's reliable research tools was the reference set Contemporary Theatre, Film & Television.  Subtitled "A biographical guide featuring performers, directors, writers, producers, designers, managers, choreographers, technicians, composers, executives, dancers, and critics in the United States, Canada and the world," the first volume of this set was published in 1984.  The print edition of the series ended with the 123rd volume in 2013.

This entire reference set is available as a component of Gale's Biography in Context database.  This database covers many resources, including magazine and newspaper articles, so that the information from Contemporary Theatre, Film & Television can easily lost inside within the search results.  When looking up an individual in this database, you can find the information from this reference set beneath the "Biographies" tab.

This reference set grew out of earlier reference resources, Who's Who In The Theatre and Who Was Who in the Theatre.  The former also included biographies and credits for the London and New York stage.  The text of some of its volumes are also included in the Biography in Context database.

Contemporary Theatre, Film & Television presents much of its information like a resume - film, television and stage credits, awards, guest appearances, etc... Online resources like the Internet Movie Database and Wikipedia can provide much of this same information.  But the listings on these websites can be limited or too sprawling to be easily scanned.  The reference database also includes contact information and a bibliography.  The information cannot be as up-to-date as internet sources, but it is clearly and accurately presented.

While our reflexes often suggest that we should go to search engines to find information about every personality that we are searching for, the Library's subscription databases are very solid resources that should not be overlooked.  The vast Biography in Context database can also bring a wide range of additional information to our attention.

Biography In Context [database]

Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television (Gale Research Co., 1984-2013).

Who's Who in the Theatre (Pitman; Gale Research, 1912-1981).

Who Was Who in the Theatre, 1912-1976: A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Directors, Playwrights, and Producers of the English-Speaking Theatre / compiled from Who's Who in the Theatre, volumes 1-15 (1912-1972) (Gale Research Co., 1978).

Vintage Talking Books

Cover art from The Black Cat, read by Arthur Luce Klein

Today we are very familiar with audio eBooks - digital sound files of literary works that can either be streamed or downloaded.  Until recently spoken work compact discs were another popular form of talking book.  And, of course, audio cassettes were the format that was responsible for making the talking book such a popular medium.

These three formats all had the virtue of being portable -- they could be listened to through a car stereo, walkman or mp3 player.  The very first books on tape (audio cassette format) were introduced in 1969 and could have up to an hour of continuous recitation on a side.  Spoken books on compact disc began to appear during the 1990s and could contain up to 74 minutes per side (and had a higher audio quality).  Streaming audio appeared not long afterward and could present a continuous narration of any duration.

There is a pre-history to this consumer-friendly, portable form of enjoying talking books.  The earliest talking books were manufactured on vinyl records that played at the slower speed of 16 2/3 rotations per minute.  For a period of time, many record players had settings for 16 2/3 rpm, 33 1/3 rpm (the long playing record), 45 rpm (the single) and 78 rpm (the much earlier shellac record).

The rule of thumb with audio recording is faster speeds mean better sound.  This slower speed worked because the spoken word does not need to have the same rich audio spectrum as music.  A 12 inch disc played at 16 2/3 rpm could have an hour of music per side, whereas a 33 rpm record could own contain a half hour.  The Library of Congress began issuing records at the speed in 1962 to serve the blind community and later even issued recordings the slower 8 1/3 rpm speed.

A blurb on the back of The Pit And The Pendulum (1972)

We do not have any of these slower recordings in our collection, but we do have sizeable collection of 12 inch vinyl spoken word records played at 33 1/3.  These include plays, poetry, legends, speeches and stories.

You can browse our holdings of literature on vinyl by searching for the call number LIT PD (Literature Phonodisc).

Because of their relative brevity, the stories of Edgar Allan Poe could provide a fulfilling vintage audio book experience.  Below is a listing of Poe stories on vinyl in our collection.


The Black Cat; read by Arthur Luce Klein (Spoken Arts, s.d.).

A Descent Into The Maelström; read by Paul Hecht (Spoken Arts, s.d.).

The Facts In The Case Of M. Valdemar; read by Arthur Luce Klein (Spoken Arts, s.d.).

The Murders In The Rue Morgue; read by Arthur Luce Klein (Spoken Arts, 1970?).

The Pit And The Pendulum; read by Edward Blake (Listening Library, 1972).

The Pit And The Pendulum; read by Alexander Scourby (Spoken Arts, 1962).

The Purloined Letter; read by Arthur Luce Klein (Spoken Arts, s.d.).


Bibliography:

Dicecco, Mike, "A History of 16-RPM Records, Part Two: Audio Books,"  Antique Phonograph News
Canadian Antique Phonograph Society (May-June 2010).

Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound, Frank Hoffmann, editor (Routledge, 2005).