Anthropology

This is a general research guide for the undergraduate and graduate courses in OSU's Anthropology program. You'll find suggestions for locating books, articles, topical overviews, research tools, and factual information. If further assistance is needed, please contact (737-7318, AIM: ValeryKing) to arrange an appointment.

Quicklinks
Academic Search Premier | WorldCat | Off-Campus Access | ILL Forms

Table of Contents

Anthropology is frequently subdivided into three main sub-disciplines: cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, and archaeology. The Valley Library has materials to support all three, along with the related areas of folklore, customs and manners, linguistic anthropology and human ecology.

Finding Books in Online Catalogs

Use the library catalogs below to search for books as well as journals, maps, videos, sound recordings, dissertations, etc.

  • OSU Libraries Catalog
    The OSU Catalog contains only resources owned by OSU. If the book you are looking for isn't available in the OSU Catalog, use the Repeat in Summit button to expand your search to the Orbis Cascade catalog.
  • Summit (Orbis) Catalog
    This is the union catalog for the Orbis Cascade Alliance, which includes most of the academic institutions in Oregon and Washington. If you'd like to borrow items found in this catalog, use the REQUEST THIS ITEM link to have them sent here within 3-4 working days for you to check out.
  • WorldCat
    WorldCat contains the holdings at thousands of libraries worldwide, including OSU. For materials we don't own, you can request interlibrary loans (ILL) directly from the database.

Searching: Online catalogs can be searched by author, title, subject, etc. The most effective subject searching utilizes the Library of Congress Subject Headings. The complete list of subject headings is located in the library's reference area; ask if you need help. Notice that each record in the online catalog will indicate the subject headings assigned to that item, and these are usually hot links to other materials on similar topics.

Some examples of subject headings for Anthropology:

Anthropological linguistics Human geography
Anthropology Kinship
Anthropology, Prehistoric Language and languages
Archaeology Manners and customs
Costume Physical anthropology
Cultural relativism Primitive societies
Ethnology Race
Folklore Social structure
Human evolution Sociolinguistics

In addition, an excellent reference to the vocabulary used in searching social sciences (including anthropology) in electronic and web-based databases is Contemporary thesaurus of social science terms and synonyms: a guide to natural language computer searching by Sara D. Knapp (Ref Z699.5 .S65 K57 1993).

CALL NUMBERS FOR ANTHROPOLOGY

Occasionally, browsing through the stacks can yield useful material. Here are the primary call numbers for anthropological materials:

BJ 1801-2195 Etiquette GN 502-517 Psychological anthropology
CC ARCHAEOLOGY (Classical Archaeology) GN 700 PREHISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGY
GF HUMAN ECOLOGY. ANTHROPOGEOGRAPHY. GR FOLKLORE
GN ANTHROPOLOGY GT MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
GN 49 Physical anthropology GT 500 Costume. Dress. Fashion (historical)
GN 281 Human evolution GT 2400 Customs
GN 300 ETHNOLOGY. SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY P PHILOLOGY. LINGUISTICS

Return to Table of Contents

Finding Journal Articles in Periodical Databases

Journal indexes (Databases): To find individual articles in journals, use periodical indexes which are usually online electronic databases but can be in printed form (especially for older journal literature). Most indexes allow you to search by author or title of the article as well as subject or topic. Many online indexes also allow you to search the article citation and abstract with a keyword.

Locating journals: With each passing year more journal articles are accessible online, but there is a substantial body of work that is only available in print and you will need to locate the actual physical journal to read the article. You can search OSU Libraries Online Catalog for the Journal Title to determine if we own the journal, and if it is available electronically (online) or in the library stacks. Journals are arranged by call number.
If not available, you can get copies of journal articles through Interlibrary Loan.

Remote access: If you are searching from a computer on campus, you will automatically be recognized as an authorized user from OSU. If you want to search the library databases from off-campus, you will be prompted to enter your name and OSU ID number to be recognized as an OSU affiliate. More information.

General/Multidisciplinary Databases

  • Academic Search Premier
    Academic Search Premier provides full text for nearly 4,600 scholarly publications, including full text for more than 3,500 peer-reviewed journals. Coverage spans virtually every area of academic study and offers information dating as far back as 1975. For articles which are not full-text, you will need to check out journal holdings in the OSU Catalog to locate the journal's call number. This database is updated daily.
  • ArticleFirst
    Indexes articles from over 12,500 journals in all fields. Use ArticleFirst to search by author, title and keyword. Also contains table of contents and holding information for the ArticleFirst journals; search by journal name, journal subject or year. Index only: 1990-present
  • LexisNexis Academic (formerly Academic Universe)
    Comprehensive index to newspaper and magazine articles, radio and TV news program transcripts, legal material and other reference sources, much of it full-text. Primarily focused on news, business and legal topics. Coverage goes back 20 years or more.

Comprehensive/Subject-Specific Databases

General Anthropology

  • Abstracts in Anthropology - Comprehensive abstracting in Anthropology. Covers a broad spectrum of significant, current anthropological topics from a vast number of periodicals. everal thousand abstracts, selected and classified, fully indexed by author and subject, provide a thorough coverage of anthropological scholarship in all its subfields including Cultural Anthropology, Physical Anthropology, and Archaeology.
  • Anthropological Literature - Anthropological Literature is a bibliographic index to articles and essays on anthropology and archaeology, including art history, demography, economics, psychology, and religious studies. Updated quarterly, Anthropological Literature indexes articles two or more pages long in works published in English and other European languages from the 19th century to the present.
  • Dissertation Abstracts - Index to doctoral dissertations and masters theses in all academic disciplines completed at U.S. institutes. Abstracts only since 1980. Abstracts and index: 1861 to present
  • PapersFirst and ProceedingsFirst - Index to conferences and the papers presented at them. Use PapersFirst to search by author or paper title. Use ProceedingsFirst to search by subject or conference name. Index only: 1993-present
  • Social Sciences Citation Index - Index of cited articles from over 5000 journals in all areas of social sciences. Search by cited author, original author, title keywords or journal name. Index only: 1997-present CD Network database, not available to off-campus users
  • Sociological Abstracts - Index to articles from over 1500 journals in sociology, social work and other social and behavioral sciences. Index 1963-present; abstracts 1974-present

Archaeology

  • Abstracts in Anthropology - Comprehensive abstracting in Anthropology. Covers a broad spectrum of significant, current anthropological topics from a vast number of periodicals. everal thousand abstracts, selected and classified, fully indexed by author and subject, provide a thorough coverage of anthropological scholarship in all its subfields including Cultural Anthropology, Physical Anthropology, and Archaeology.
  • Anthropological Literature - Anthropological Literature is a bibliographic index to articles and essays on anthropology and archaeology, including art history, demography, economics, psychology, and religious studies. Updated quarterly, Anthropological Literature indexes articles two or more pages long in works published in English and other European languages from the 19th century to the present.
  • GeoBase - Index to worldwide literature on geology, geography and ecology.
  • GeoRef - Index to U.S. Geological Survey publications, U.S. and Canadian Masters' theses and Ph.D. dissertations, journal articles, books, maps and government reports. Index with some abstracts: 1785-present

Cultural Anthropology

  • Abstracts in Anthropology - Comprehensive abstracting in Anthropology. Covers a broad spectrum of significant, current anthropological topics from a vast number of periodicals. everal thousand abstracts, selected and classified, fully indexed by author and subject, provide a thorough coverage of anthropological scholarship in all its subfields including Cultural Anthropology, Physical Anthropology, and Archaeology.
  • Anthropological Literature - Anthropological Literature is a bibliographic index to articles and essays on anthropology and archaeology, including art history, demography, economics, psychology, and religious studies. Updated quarterly, Anthropological Literature indexes articles two or more pages long in works published in English and other European languages from the 19th century to the present.
  • America: History & Life - Index to articles from over 2400 journals related to American history and culture. About 900 of the journals are U.S. and Canadian. State and local historical society journals are included. Index only: 1982-present
  • Historical Abstracts - Index to world history including article abstracts, book citations and theses. Covers history from 1450 to the present. Does not cover U.S. or Canadian history. Abstracts and index: 1982-present
  • Sociological Abstracts - Index to articles from over 1500 journals in sociology, social work and other social and behavioral sciences. Index 1963-present; abstracts 1974-present

Linguistics & Folklore

  • Anthropological Literature - Anthropological Literature is a bibliographic index to articles and essays on anthropology and archaeology, including art history, demography, economics, psychology, and religious studies. Updated quarterly, Anthropological Literature indexes articles two or more pages long in works published in English and other European languages from the 19th century to the present.
  • Arts & Humanities Citation Index - Index to over 1.4 million records from more than 1,300 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals. Searches can be done by subject, author or authors who are cited by another author. Index only: 1980-present
  • Linguistic & Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA) - Non-evaluative abstracts of articles from approximately 2,000 serials published worldwide, coverage of recent books, enhanced dissertation listings from Dissertation Abstracts International, and bibliographic citations for book reviews that appear in journals abstracted for Sociological Abstracts LLC. Index & Abstracts: 1973-present
  • MLA International Bibliography - Index to journals, confernece papers and books covering literary criticism; literary theory; English, American, commonwealth, Celtic, European, Oriental and African literatures; folklore; and linguistics and non-verbal communication. Index only: 1963-present

Physical Anthropology

  • Abstracts in Anthropology - Comprehensive abstracting in Anthropology. Covers a broad spectrum of significant, current anthropological topics from a vast number of periodicals. everal thousand abstracts, selected and classified, fully indexed by author and subject, provide a thorough coverage of anthropological scholarship in all its subfields including Cultural Anthropology, Physical Anthropology, and Archaeology.
  • Anthropological Literature - Anthropological Literature is a bibliographic index to articles and essays on anthropology and archaeology, including art history, demography, economics, psychology, and religious studies. Updated quarterly, Anthropological Literature indexes articles two or more pages long in works published in English and other European languages from the 19th century to the present.
  • Biological Abstract/BIOSIS - Index to research articles from over 9000 journals. Also includes government reports and conference papers. Abstracts and index: 1997 to present
  • MEDLINE - Index to research articles covering all areas of medicine including microbiology, pathology, pharmacology, physiology and reproductive biology.
  • Zoological Record - Index to journal articles, books, reports, conference proceedings and dissertations. Covers all areas of zoology including ecology and evolution. Index only: 1993-present

To find more periodical databases, go to the library's Research Databases page.

Electronic journals

There are several ways to access electronic journal subscriptions at OSU.

You can browse by subject in the Full Text Electronic Journal List. Anthropology is found under Social Sciences in the pull-down menu

In addition, several of our databases (such as the EbscoHOST databases and LexisNexis) offer full-text for some articles.

Records in the OSU Libraries Catalog contain links to full-text electronic journal content.

Return to Table of Contents

Reference Sources

Abstracts

  • Abstracts in Anthropology (Ref GN1 .A3)
  • Also available online from print issue 46.1 (2003) on. (Link)

Bibliographies

  • Bentley, G. Carter. Ethnicity and nationality: a bibliographic guide. 1981. (GN495.6 .B41)
  • Bibliographic guide to anthropology and archaeology. Library has: 1997 (GN25 .B51 1997)
  • Heizer, Robert F., Thomas R. Hester, and Carol Graves. Archaeology, a bibliographical guide to the basic literature. 1980 (CC165 .H41)
  • Johnson, Leroy and David L. Coles. A bibliographic guide to the archaeology of Oregon and adjacent regions. 1969. (University of Oregon. Museum of Natural History. Special Publication) (Ref Z1327 .J6)
  • Kibbee, Josephine Z. Cultural anthropology: a guide to reference and information sources( Ref GN42 .K51 1991)
  • Shannon, George W.B. Folk literature and children: an annotated bibliography of secondary materials 1981. (GR43 .C4 S5)
  • Westerman, R.C. Fieldwork in the library: a guide to research in anthropology and related area studies (GN42 .W471 1994)

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

  • Asher, R.E. The Encyclopedia of language and linguistics. 1994 (Ref P29 .E48 1994)
  • Barnard, Alan Encyclopedia of social and cultural anthropology. 1998 (This is an eBook, accessible online.)
  • Botkin, B.A. A Treasury of American Folklore: Stories, Ballads, and Traditions of the People. 1944 (GR105 .B6)
  • Charles-Picard, Gilbert, ed. Larouse encyclopedia of archaeology. 1983 (CC165 .A7131 1983)
  • Leach, Maria, Jerome Fried. Funk & Wagnalls standard dictionary of folklore, mythology and legend. 1984 (Ref GR35 .F82 1984)
  • Levinson, David. Encyclopedia of world cultures (1991-96) (Ref GN307 .E53 1991) (10 v.)
  • Mesthrie, Rajend.The Concise encyclopedia of sociolinguistics 2001 (Ref P40 .C564 2001)
  • Mignon, Molly Raymond. Dictionary of concepts in archaeology. 1993 (CC70 .M45 1993)
  • Mollet, John W. An illustrated dictionary of art and archaeology, including terms used in architecture, jewelry, heraldry, costume, music, ornament, weaving, furniture, pottery, ecclesiastical ritual. 1966 (N33 .M6)
  • Winthrop, Robert H. Dictionary of concepts in cultural anthropology (GN307 .W56 1991)
  • Whitehouse, Ruth D., ed. Facts on File dictionary of archaeology (Ref CC70 .F32 1983)

Directories, Handbooks, and Manuals

Maps and Atlases

Return to Table of Contents

Other Useful Resources

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS
The Federal government sponsors many programs and studies dealing with archaeology and anthropology. In addition to the OSU Libraries and Summit catalogs, you can search the following:

  • Catalog of U.S. Government publications - Comprehensive sources for locating U.S. government documents published by the Government Printing Office. Citations to agency reports, congressional hearings, special commissions, statistical reports, et. al. from 1976-

HUMAN RELATIONS AREA FILES (HRAF)
The Human Relations Area Files are a collection of primary source materials (mainly published books and articles, but including some unpublished manuscripts) on selected cultures or societies representing all major areas of the world. A Subject Reference Guide explaining the use of the HRAF is available.

The Web can provide important and up-to-date information, but be especially careful to verify the information; some sites can be unreliable. Remember to check the source of any site, its currency, and its reliability before using it as a resource. Tips on using search engines effectively can be found in "Tips for Successful Web Searching"; evaluation criteria (which apply to both Internet and non-Internet sources) are listed in the OSU Librries Research Tutorial.

Here are a few good sites to consider visiting:

General

  • American Anthropological Association
  • Anthro.net a search engine that "queries a database of over 40,000 reviewed web sites with anthropological content built by the interests of its users." In addition, the site features a 53-item table of contents to selected topics that offer "recommended readings" and listings of annotated websites.

Physical Anthropology:

Cultural Anthropology and Archaeology

Linguistics and Folklore

  • Ethnologue - An excellent resource for researching world languages. Includes lists of living and dead languages for most nations, information on populations of language speakers, language maps, and bibliographies on specific languages and nations.
  • The Linguist List
  • Urban Legends Reference Pages - Maintained by The San Fernando Valley Folklore Society, this fascinating site has sections on movies, love, sex, Disney, holidays, quotes, e-mail and many others.

Other Sites of interest:

Other Useful Subject Research Guides

Getting Help in the Library

Reference Desk
Valley Library, Main Floor
737-7295

instant messenger

Return to Table of Contents

Return to the Alphabetical or Subject index of the Subject Research Guides.