Library

Anthropology ANT1FET Further exploring our world. Library research guide

This guide is designed to help you identify key library resources in anthropology for your essay research.

General Resources for ANT1FET
Finding Books
  • Start with your unit guide and additional reading handout. Use the bibliography from books and articles listed to find more information on the topic
  • Search the catalogue for other works by the authors listed in your guide. They may have written other books on the topic
  • Use a keyword search in the catalogue - eg field work anthropology (95 records) finds all three terms in each record
  • Use truncation: the symbol * will find alternate endings of words broadening your search eg field work* anthropolog* will find the records with field work or field worker and anthropologist/s or anthropology = (141 records)
  • Sort your results by date by using the "Modify Search" button (most recent first)
  • NOTE Subject headings group similar books together. Use the subject heading links from a recommended book to find more books on that aspect of anthropology.

EG Exotic no more (additional reading from week 4) has the follow subject headings:

All of these subject headings will find you more relevant texts. Use the limit search button to sort by date.

Suggested subject headings for Essay one:

You will be searching for books about the current and past practices of anthropology fieldwork. The following subject headings should be of assistance.

Ethnology--Research Ethnology--Field work Ethnology--methodology
Ethnology--philosophy Anthropology--Field work Applied anthropology
Anthropology--methodology Anthropology--philosophy Anthropologists
Social sciences -- Field work Ethnology Anthropology--field work

NOTE: do not just enter the terms from your essay question such as "anthropology at home" you will not get many results.

Suggested catalogue searches for Essay two

  • Select your cultural group this will be your main keyword to use in the catalogue

Try searching on the broader group if there is not much information on the specific group eg yolngu or Aboriginal australians northern territory

  • combine with terms such as :-
    social change, ethnology or ethnography, social conditions, cultur*, economic development, globalization.

other terms to try, depending on your topic, with your specific or broader group would be:-

  • social life and customs / rites and ceremonies
  • religion, religious life / mission* / church /christianity
  • marriage / marriage customs and rites / polygyny / polygamy / dowry
  • Kinship / social systems / family / social life and customs
  • Gender / sex role / masculinity /feminism, women / initiation / sex customs
  • children / childhood /child* / adolescence / youth / family

NOTE: there may not be whole books on childhood or adolescence or marriage in your chosen group - these topics may be discussed within ethnographic studies or ethnologies of the group eg  masai ethnology

Finding Journal Articles - searching Databases
  • Journal articles are indexed in electronic databases or subject indexes
  • Databases can be full text or citation only or a combination of the two.

Method

  • Select a database - see lists below
  • Using the Advanced or Guided search, enter your keywords eg kinship and aborigin*
  • evaluate your results
      • too few - try different keywords
      • too many - add another keyword or limit by date or place.
  • Select articles but if the article is not available to download from the database go to Locating journal articles

All Databases listed below are available from the Sociology and Anthropology Database page

Australian databases:
(Use these to find information about Australian groups)

APAFT is an index of periodical literature on Australian topics. It indexes many Anthropological journals such as Oceania, Australian journal of anthropology, Anthropological forum, Asia Pacific journal of anthropology and books, book chapters and conferences. Full text is available

Family (Family and Society Abstracts) indexes and abstracts current Australian writing and research on the legal, sociological, psychological, economic and demographic situation of Australian families.

MAIS produced by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Library, is a bibliographic database that indexes and abstracts material on all aspects of Australian immigration and multicultural issues.

International databases:

Anthropology Plus is an international resource for anthropology, and related interdisciplinary research. No Full text

Expanded Academic ASAP A general undergraduate academic database covering many disciplines. It helps when searching to use keywords such as Kinship, ethnology, social customs, etc to find the Anthropological content. Many articles in full text

Proquest Social Sciences and Humanities collection ProQuest databases store millions of articles originally published in magazines, newspapers, and journals. Many of these articles are available in full text. Select the scholarly journals tab for peer reviewed journals.

Sociological Abstracts the main international database for sociology and related disciplines. No full text

Women's Studies International Use this database if you are exploring the gender or sexuality aspects of your group. Some articles in full text

Locating the journal articles

The following describes what you need to do if the full journal article is not on the database

A Typical Journal Citation from Sociological Abstracts:

Title: "Observations and Reflections of a Perpetual Fieldworker"
Author: Fox, Renee C
Source: The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2004, 595, Sept, 309-326

Find the whole article when the full text is not on the database

1) Look up the TITLE of the journal (Source) in the library catalogue
The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

2) Check the library holdings of the journal

  • Do we hold vol. 595, 2004?
  • Is it available online or in print? - Links in the catalogue record will take you directly to the journal site
  • Lib has - from v155 (1931) - onwards in print, and links to the online version
  • Navigate via the year or volume number to the issue you need (do not do a search) go to past issues or archive
  • Download the PDF format - this is identical to the print copy of the journal.

NOTE: look at all catalogue entries for the journal as there may be different years available from different entries.

Internet Research