Research Strategies

BASIC STRATEGY FOR LIBRARY RESEARCH
IN ANTHROPOLOGY

STEP 1 - FIND BASIC INFORMATION

STEP 2 - FIND BOOKS

STEP 3 - FIND JOURNAL AND NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

STEP 4 - FIND INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET

STEP 1 - FIND BASIC INFORMATION

This first step is designed to assist you in getting background information on a particular ethnic group, country, or region or to enhance your understanding of key ideas and concepts within the discipline of anthropology. Often people are tempted to skip this step and jump directly to books or periodicals. However, it is often more efficient to do background reading in encyclopedias and other reference books first. Musselman Library maintains a core collection of reference books that covers a wide range of topics and subject areas. The following are excellent sources of information on diverse ethnic groups located throughout the world, as well as key anthropological concepts.

Where: Reference Area, 1st Floor of Musselman Library

Tip: Start your research by looking in the Index of a multi-volume reference materials.

Encyclopedia of World Cultures, v. 1-10 GN307 .E53 1991
        *covers ethnic groups around the world

Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life, GN333 .W67 1998
        *covers ethnic groups around the world

Countries and their Cultures, GN307 .C68 2001
        *covers ethnic groups around the world

Atlas of World Cultures GN345.3 .M86 1981
        *covers ethnic groups around the world

Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology, v. 1-4 GN307 .E52 1996
        *covers anthropological concepts and theories

Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology, GN307 .E525 1996
        *covers anthropological concepts and theories

Encyclopedia of Anthropology, GN11 .E63 2006
        *covers anthropological concepts and theories

STEP 2 - FIND BOOKS

By doing online research on MUSCAT and WorldCat, you can access a wealth of bibliographic information on relevant books, microforms, government documents, and audiovisual holdings. MUSCAT lists all of Musselman Library's holdings. WorldCat lists all books in existence (or at least those published in recent decades) and thus gives you a full view of what is out there--you may order anything you see on WorldCat from EZ-Borrow or ILL (Interlibrary Loan).

Where: Musselman Library Homepage, which can be accessed on any university computer (ask a reference librarian about connecting to MUSCAT or WorldCat from a non-university server)

STEP 3 - FIND JOURNAL AND NEWSPAPER ARTICLES USING ONLINE PERIODICAL INDEXES

If you are curious to see what kind of articles anthropologists are publishing, or if you need inspiration for a research topic, you can browse through the anthropology journals that we receive in hard copy at Musselman Library. Note that you can also access and read articles from many more journals that we receive in electronic format. For a full list of anthropology journals available to Gettysburg students in both hard-copy and electronic format go to the journal locator, and under "Browse Journals by Subject Category" select Social Sciences, and then Search. Then click on Anthropology--General.

Where: Periodical Section, 1st Floor (copies older than one year are stored in the basement)

Anthropology Journals in Musselman Library:

American Anthropologist
American Antiquity
American Ethnologist
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
Annual Review of Anthropology
Anthropological Quarterly
Anthropology Today
Archaeology
Current Anthropology
Ethnohistory
Ethnology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnos
Expedition
Genders
Human Ecology
Human Organization
Journal of Anthropological Research
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
Journal of Material Culture
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
The SAA Archaeological Record
Yearbook of Physical Anthropology

Journal Article Databases

A. Scholarly Articles by Anthropologists: To search for academic articles published by anthropologists you should access the following databases. These can be found by going to the Musselman Library homepage, then select Databases & Subject Guides, then select Anthropology, then select Anthropology Databases. The articles listed in these databases are published in major journals and most can be accessed either full-text from the database or they can be found in Musselman Library, in the journals listed above. For articles that are not available by either of these two methods, copies can be requested through Interlibrary Loan--a process that takes about a week.

The single most valuable periodical index for anthropology majors is ANTHROPOLOGICAL LITERATURE, which is a database of anthropological articles and book chapters published in academic journals and edited volumes. (click here for direct access)
The second most useful periodical index for anthropology majors is ACADEMIC SEARCH PREMIER, which includes articles from the major anthropology journals as well as other social science journals. The downside of ACADEMIC SEARCH PREMIER is that indexed articles are not dated more than 10 to 15 years (unlike ANTHROPOLOGICAL LITERATURE), and the database does not include chapters from edited volumes. But the benefit of ACADEMIC SEARCH PREMIER is that many articles are available in full-text, which means you can obtain the article right then-and-there. [note: To get scholarly rather than popular articles, limit your search to peer-reviewed journals.] (click here for direct access)
Another good database is SOCIAL SCIENCE ABSTRACTS, which covers all social science journals and does not restrict itself to anthropology. This may be a particularly helpful database for those students doing an ethnographic project in the U.S.. (click here for direct access)
Another good database for anthropologists is THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL INDEX ONLINE. This database indexes many esoteric and hard-to-find articles on ethnic groups from around the world. [note: When you have arrived at the webpage, click on "Quick Search of AIO" then check off "All Years" and type in the name of the ethnic group or the topic you are researching]. (click here for direct access)

B. Review Articles by Anthropologists: Another excellent source of information is THE ANNUAL REVIEW OF ANTHROPOLOGY. The Annual Review of Anthropology is an edited volume published each year by the American Anthropological Association, which is the principal association of anthropologists in the nation. Each annual volume contains review articles of trendy topics within the four sub-fields of anthropology. You can either do keyword searches of ethnic groups and concepts, or you can browse through the Annual Review of Anthropology to can get a picture of what topics are of current interest to anthropologists. Finding a review article on a topic that interests you enables you to 1) assess the academic views and debates on this topic and 2) find citations to dozens of other books and articles on the same topic.

To access review articles published in the Annual Review of Anthropology, go to the journal locator and search for this title. Then type in Annual Review of Anthropology.

C. Popular News Articles by Journalists: In addition to scholarly articles, you can use the on-line database LEXIS-NEXIS ACADEMIC UNIVERSE to find articles published in newspapers from around the world, including the New York Times. Non-academic newspapers and magazines are often a good place to obtain information on a "hot topic," but you should always read these critically. To access LEXIS-NEXIS, go to the Musselman Library homepage, click on Databases & Subject guides, then News, then Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe. (click here for direct access)

Tip: When you enter the Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe site, click on News; and then General News. Then enter the name of the ethnic group or topic you are searching for as a "Keyword." Finally, select a fairly broad time frame of at least five to ten years in order to find news articles on ethnic groups and topics that do not normally get much news coverage.

Please note: Excellent international coverage can be found in The New York Times. To search only the New York Times via LEXIS-NEXIS, just type in "New York Times" after Step Five: Search this Publication Title.

D. Advocacy Articles by Anthropologists: A final source for excellent, though short, articles is the CULTURAL SURVIVAL website. Cultural Survival is an advocacy group run by anthropologists, and it hosts an excellent website where they archive articles from their journal. These articles cover various indigenous groups who are mobilizing around issues of natural resource management and self-determination. You can search for articles by keyword. (click here for direct access).

Requesting Books & Journal Articles not Available at Musselman Library: Musselman Library has a great collection, but we are a small college and therefore can't hope to have everything. Therefore, do not limit yourself to items that you can easily get your hands on here! You can easily borrow books and articles via the two systems listed below:

EZ Borrow: a consortium of Pennsylvania schools; books arrive within days

Go to Musselman Library Homepage, click Library Catalogs, then click EZ Borrow (click here for direct access)

ILL (Interlibrary Loan): a wider network of lenders, but ordering books from here can be a bit more time-consuming

Go to Musselman Library Homepage, then Interlibrary Loan (click here for direct access)

STEP 4 - FIND INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET

The World Wide Web can provide excellent information on current events, controversial issues, or social problems. Background information, explanatory documents, maps, and statistics can be located by using the search engines listed on the library homepage. But beware: Internet documents are inferior to articles published in scholarly journals in terms of the reliability of their information and the depth of their analysis. In addition, Internet searches tend to bring up mountains of non-relevant information that you will have to weed through! Therefore, the Internet should be your last rather than first resource. Your best option for Internet searches is Google.

In addition, the following Internet resources might be helpful:

The AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION lists some of the best and most up-to-date anthropology sites on the Internet. This singularly important "hub" is a good place to begin investigating the enormous wealth of anthropological material increasingly available on the Internet. http://www.aaanet.org/
Both the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAP MACHINE and ALTAPEDIA ONLINE provide county maps and general information on all countries in the world. To access these, go to the following:

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAP MACHINE:
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/

ALTAPEDIA ONLINE: http://www.atlapedia.com/

The WORLD CULTURES homepage is a fun site for those interested in traveling.
http://members.aol.com/bowermanb/culture.html
The LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COUNTRY STUDIES provide helpful information on select countries. Not all countries are included in this data base, but for those that are listed, you can obtain a complete country profile. This serves as a good background document for anyone thinking of conducting anthropological research abroad. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html

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