Research Design: Anthropology

Need help with your research? Contact:

Jen Jarson
Social Sciences Reference Librarian
phone: x3552
email: jarson [at] muhlenberg [dot] edu
IM: jjarson1 (for AIM and Yahoo; add @hotmail.com for MSN)

Need help after hours?
IM the Library at TalkToTrexler (for AIM and Yahoo; add @hotmail.com for MSN)
Online Sunday-Thursday 2pm-10pm.
See Ask a Librarian for more information.

What is a Literature Review?

Literature Reviews (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_review.html

How to Write a Literature Review (University of California, Santa Cruz)
http://library.ucsc.edu/ref/howto/literaturereview.html

Selected Reference Materials

Barfield, Thomas, ed. The Dictionary of Anthropology. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1997.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 306.03 D554a (Level A)

Barnard, Alan and Jonathan Spencer, eds. Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology. New York: Routledge, 1996.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 306.03 E36o (Level A)

Bernard, H. Russell, ed. Handbook of Methods in Cultural Anthropology. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 1998.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 305.8001 B518h (Level A)

Credo Reference
Credo Reference provides access to 325 reference works, including general and subject specific dictionaries, encyclopedias, fact books, guides, companions and more from over 60 respected publishers across 17 major subject areas--all online, all searchable from one search box.

Ellis, Linda, ed. Archaeological Method and Theory: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland, 2000.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 930.1 E47a (Level A)

Levinson, David and Melvin Ember, eds. Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1996.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 305.803 E56o v.1-4 (Level A)

Trexler Library may also have other topical reference works more closely related to your particular topic. To find them, search the catalog or ask for help.

Finding Articles

SEARCHING FOR ARTICLES

To access these and other article databases from the Library Homepage, use the Databases A-Z (in the Quick Links box).

Subject Specific Databases

Anthropology Plus
Premier anthropology database.

Health Source and PubMed
Premier health profession databases.

JSTOR
Searchable collections of full-text journals across many disciplines. Contains full-text of many anthropology and sociology journal titles. (Note: To restrict results to anthropology/other journals, from Advanced Search screen, choose discipline category/ies.)

Sage Journals Online
Full-text access to over 500 journals published by Sage, providing wide coverage of scholarly publications in all disciplines, but particularly the social sciences.

Interdisciplinary Databases

Academic Search Premier
Large and diverse database that covers most academic disciplines. Contains both scholarly and non-academic resources. Includes many articles in full text.

OmniFile (WilsonWeb)
A database with some full text articles covering various academic subjects including general sciences, humanities, social sciences, and business.

Also try...

See a list of all databases via the Library Homepage -- Databases A-Z (in the Quick Links box).

Check the Subject Guides (linked from the Library Homepage) for other recommended databases for this and other subject areas.

Not sure which database will have the best results for your topic? Try Search Central to search across many of the library's databases at once to identify those with the most results for your search. From the Library Homepage, use the Search Central search box in the tab on the Search Central link in the Quick Links box.

GETTING THE ARTICLES

When searching for articles in library databases, you may find the full-text of an article linked in the database.
If not, you need to search the Trexler Library Catalog to see if we own the journal in which the article is published.
- Most databases have a Get It! link embedded. Click the link to check our holdings.
- Otherwise, search the catalog by journal title or by ISSN . Verify that we have online, print, or microform access to the year/volume you need.
If we do not own the journal you need, request the article via Interlibrary Loan.
- Some databases have a Request on Interlibrary Loan link embedded. Click the link to fill out the form. Click Submit.
- Otherwise, use the Interlibrary Loan Journal Article Request Form (Library Homepage -- Interlibrary Loan (in the Quick Links box) -- Articles request form). Fill out the form with as much information as possible. Ask for help, if you have questions.

Finding Books

TREXLER LIBRARY

Search the Trexler Library Catalog to find out what books, government publications, journals, videos, etc. the library owns.

GETTING THERE: Use the shortcut search box on the Library Homepage or Library Homepage -- Library Catalogs (in the Quick Links box) -- Trexler Library Catalog

OTHER LIBRARIES

WorldCat. To find books held by other libraries, search WorldCat, a database of over 60 million library records from around the country and world. Use the ILL button to request a book from another library. (ILL can take 10-14 days.)

GETTING THERE: Library Homepage -- Library Catalogs (in Quick Links box) -- Other Library Catalogs -- WorldCat

Citing Your Sources

Style Guide for Papers (Sociology and Anthropology Department, Muhlenberg College)

http://www.muhlenberg.edu/depts/soc-anth/policies/style.html

For help using American Anthropological Association Style, consult the following resources:

American Anthropological Association (AAA) Style Guide (Based on the Chicago Style)
http://www.aaanet.org/pubs/style_guide.htm

For help collection, organizing, managing, and formatting citations, consider using Zotero.

http://www.zotero.org/

"Zotero is an easy-to-use yet powerful research tool that helps you gather, organize, and analyze sources (citations, full texts, web pages, images, and other objects), and lets you share the results of your research in a variety of ways. An extension to the popular open-source web browser Firefox, Zotero includes the best parts of older reference manager software (like EndNote)-the ability to store author, title, and publication fields and to export that information as formatted references-and the best parts of modern software and web applications (like iTunes and del.icio.us), such as the ability to interact, tag, and search in advanced ways.