Class Guide » ANTH 5300: Research Methods

Guides to the Field of Anthropology

Cultural Anthropology: A Guide to Reference and Information Sources
Z 5111. K23 1991 (Ref)
A good introduction to resources in cultural anthropology with annotated entries. Details

Fieldwork in the Library: A Guide to Research in Anthropology and Related Area Studies
Z 5111 .W47 1994 (Ref)
Coverage from "What Every Anthropologist Needs to Know" through sources in all formats of the sub-disciplines. Good annotations. Includes area studies. Details

Introduction to Library Research in Anthropology
Z 5111 .W44 1998 (Ref)
Covers basic research in all subfields of anthropology and sources for basic and advanced research. Details

Research Methods

Handbook of Qualitative Research Denzin, Norman & Yvonna Lincoln (eds)H62 H2455 2000 (Ref Collection).

Handbook of Research Design and Social Measurement H62 M44 1991(Ref Collection)

The A-Z of Social Research Miller & Brewer (eds)H 62 .A92x 2003 (Ref Collection).

The Sage Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods. Lewis-Beck, Michael et al. (eds)H 62 S34 2004 (Ref Collection).

Finding Books

WestCat.
The WMU Libraries' online catalog.Use WestCat to locate books,videos, films, sound recordings, and slides in the library. Also useWestCat to locate the journals owned by WMU Libraries, whether in print or online.

• Search Tips:Use the Guided Keyword search when beginning to research a topic
• The truncation symbol for keyword searching is the question mark ?
  
• When looking for a journal, use the "Journal Title" search in the Basic
  Search Mode and type in the name of the journal you are looking for.

WorldCat Comprehensive catalog of books and other materials in libraries around the world. Contains millions of records in hundreds of languages. Nonbook materials include (among other publication formats) the titles of journals and magazines, manuscripts, maps, electronic resources, websites, computer programs, musical scores, films, slides, sound recordings, conference proceedings, and videotapes. Items located through WorldCat must be requested through Interlibrary Loan unless they are also listed in the WMU libraries catalog, WestCat.

Bibliographies, Collections

Biennial Review of Anthropology Z5112.B56 v.1-7(1959-71) Online coverage in JSTOR (v. 1-7) See Annual Review of Anthropology above, which continues this title.

eHRAF World Cultures The electronic Human Relations Area Files is a full-text cross-cultural database that contains over 350,000 pages of information on all aspects of cultural and social life written by social scientists, travelers and missionaries. Information is organized into cultures and ethnic groups and the sources are subject-indexed at the paragraph level. Updated annually. Coverage: 1866 to the present.

National Anthropological Archives
http://www.nmnh.si.edu/naa/index.htm
The NAA collects anthropological materials that document the world's cultures and the history of the discipline and is an excellent source for photographs and archival research. Each entry in their online Guide to the Collections includes title, biographical data or administrative history, type of documents, description of contents.

Finding Articles

Anthropological Literature
See Anthropology Plus which now contains the index from Anthropological Literature.

AnthroSource AnthroSource is a single database of newsletters, bulletins, and 11 peer-reviewed journals from the American Anthropological Association. 31 publications are represented in this searchable archive. Much of the material is full-text. Coverage varies for the past 100 years up to current journal issues.

Arts and Humanities Search (FirstSearch) Indexes articles from over 1,300 arts and humanities journals and selectively covers relevant articles from over 5,800 social science and science journals. Coverage is from 1980 to the present. Updated weekly. See also the Arts and Humanities Citation Index.

BIOSIS Previews Comprehensive index with abstracts to periodical articles, reviews, and meetings in all the biological sciences disciplines. Coverage: 1969-present. Updated weekly.

RefWorks Info: For Import Filter, choose "ISI (Institute for Scientific Information)". For Database, choose "BIOSIS".

Links to Full Text
Search any of the article indexes the library subscribes to. The records of some articles will have a link to the full text online. Additionally, most records have a "Find It @WMU” button. Clicking on this button will provide a link to the full text--if it is at all available online. If not, it will provide a link to search WestCat to see if the library subscribes to the journal.

Medline (FirstSearch)
The major index to medical research, from clinical medicine to cellular and biomolecular biology. Produced by the US National Library of Medicine. Coverage: 1965 - present. Updated daily.

Online Journals A list of some anthropology journals are on the library's pages. Go to Find It/By Subject/ Anthropology. If you want to know if there is online access to a specific journal, search in WestCat by Journal Title. If there is online availability, a link will be provided.

Social Sciences Abstracts Indexes over 600 periodicals in anthropology, economics, ethnic studies, feminist studies, geography, human services, international relations, law and criminology, police science, political science, population studies, psychology, public administration, public health, social work, sociology, urban studies, and related social science subjects. Coverage: indexing from 1983 and abstracts from 1994. Updated weekly.
Details

Ulrich's Periodicals Directory Z 6941 .U5 (Ref. Desk Collection)
This directory provides detailed and authoritative information on serials published worldwide. It indicates whether a publication is refereed or is indexed. Please logoff when finished.

Web of Science Web of Science from the ISI Web of Knowledge contains three major databases covering all areas of knowledge: Science Citation Index Expanded (1900-present), Social Sciences Citation Index (1956-present), and Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975-present). The literature can be searched by subject, author, journal title, and author's address. Cited Ref. Search allows users to search for articles that cite a particular author or work. Please LOGOFF when finished, so others may use the database. Tutorial

RefWorks Info: For Import Filter, choose "ISI (Institute for Scientific Information)". For Database, choose "Web of Science".

Web Collections

Anthro.Net
http://www.anthro.net/ This search engine "queries a database of over 40,000 reviewed web sites." Results are listed in order of relevance and provide a description. It also offers a table of contents to selected readings.

Anthropology Resources on the Internet
http://www.aaanet.org/resinet.htm
The American Anthropological Association's list. "Lists only a few of the largest and up-to-date sites with links to anthropology resources on the Internet."

Internet Resources in Anthropology
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/anthro/antweb.html
A list of anthropology links from The University of Chicago.

More anthropology collections from universities and professional organizations are listed on the Libraries' web pages at Find It/By Subject/ Anthropology .  These include sites for American Indians, Archaeology, Central & South America, Cultural Anthropology, and Human Origins.

Social Science Search Engine (SOSIG)
http://sosig.ac.uk/
This Social Science Gateway from the United Kingdom "aims to provide a trusted source of selected, high quality Internet information for students,academics, researchers and practitioners in the social sciences, business and law. It is part of the UK Resource Discovery Network. My Account lets users customize SOSIG.

Voice of the Shuttle http://vos.ucsb.edu/index.asp
Offering Internet humanities resources, this site by a UC/Santa Barbara professor is well-maintained and organized. It has sections for both archaeology and anthropology.

Web Search Engines

Google Currently the largest and most popular search engine for the web. Return set is ranked by relevancy. Advanced ways of searching available.

Google Scholar This new service from Google searches scholarly literature, including articles, theses, books and technical reports from many areas of research. Some materials are free, some will be available to WMU users only from campus computers, while others will require a fee. Please remember to use library databases for a more complete search of scholarly literature.

Vivisimo Powerful search engine, first available in 2000, with ability to cluster Web search results. Will provide document clustering through an internal algorithm called Clusty linked from the Vivisimo home page.

Yahoo's Web Directory
To get to anthropology sites, go to Yahoo Directory and click on the link "Science." Then choose the category for Anthropology and Archaeology.

Finding Images

If the image is going to be used to illustrate a presentation in class or a term paper, copyright clearance is not necessary. You may use an image or classroom instructional purposes under Title 17 of the US code.

If the image is going to be used in a publication, Website, or transferred to another medium for sale (for posters, T-shirts, brochures, etc) or distribution outside of the University community, copyright and licensing agreements must be arranged. Perform a Google search for the owning institution's contact information. You may wish to contact the Visual Resources Librarian for assistance with obtaining clearance.If the image is going to be used in a publication, Web site, or transferred to another medium for sale (for posters, T-shirts, brochures, etc) or distribution outside of the University community, copyright and licensing agreements must be arranged. Perform a Google search for the owning institution's contact information. You may wish to contact the Visual Resources Librarian for assistance with obtaining clearance.

Finding Data or Statistics

Citation Style Guide

Ask A Librarian

Dianna Sachs, E-mail: dianna.sachs@wmich.edu
Phone: 269-387-5182
Last updated: August 2006

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