Anthropology : Welcome
This guide presents resources and tips useful for students in anthropology classes. Topics covered include Ethnology, Archaeology, Folklore, Human Evolution, and Primates. There is also basic information about places to find statistics, images, and maps.
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Thomas Durkin
Contact:
Social Work Library
Room 236
School of Social Work Building
1350 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53706
Room 236
School of Social Work Building
1350 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53706
(608) 263-3283
Website
Welcome/About the Anthropology Guide
Welcome to the Anthropology LibGuide. This guide is designed to cover the various facets of anthropology, including: ethnology/cultural anthropology, anthropological archaeology, anthropological folklore studies, human evolution, and primatology.
Please note that most of the resources listed here are also available from the Main Libraries Web Site.
If you have any questions, please contact Tom Durkin. (Additional contact information in lower left-hand sidebar).
Core Anthropology Literature Databases
All of these databases can be found in the Anthropology/Archaeology list of databases in the Database Library.
- AnthroSourceDeveloped by the American Anthropological Association (AAA), AnthroSource brings 100 years of anthropological material online to scholars and the public. AnthroSource is an online resource serving the research, teaching, and professional needs of anthropologists. It contains current issues for 15 of the AAA's most critical peer-reviewed publications, American Anthropologist, American Ethnologist, Anthropology and Education Quarterly, and Medical Anthropology Quarterly. It also includes an electronic archive of all AAA journals, and seamless access to archival content housed at JSTOR for key AAA publications including American Anthropologist.
- Anthropological LiteratureProduced by one of the world's foremost anthropology libraries, Anthropological Literature indexes entries at least two pages long in more than 900 journals and monographic series held in Harvard University's Tozzer Library. These include articles, reports, commentaries and obituaries.
- Anthropological Index OnlineAnthropological Index Online contains citations for more than 750 international journals and special interest publications in all areas of anthropology and archaeology. In anthropology, all geographical regions are covered, with particularly strong coverage of Eastern and Central Europe. In archaeology, coverage concentrates on Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union, the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific; Western Europe and Classical antiquity are not covered in great detail.
Finding Anthropology E-Journals
The lists below are good for browsing and searching collections of titles. If you are trying to find the e-journal for a specific journal title, please try the Citation Search tool, which provides links from a citation to the full text of that article, if available, and to other helpful resources and services.
- Journal Rankings (Journal Citation Reports)The JCR database includes a section that ranks anthropology journals.
- JSTOR (includes anthropology)A full-text journal database which provides access to more than 400 titles in the fields of African-American studies, anthropology, Asian studies, and many more. Coverage begins with volume one of each title and continues to within 3 to 5 years of the most current issue, depending on the title.
- ProjectMuse titles, including AnthropologyProvides full text access to more than 300 humanities and social science journals from various publishers.
Useful Books about Anthropology
Anthropological resources : a guide to archival, library, and museum collections by Call Number: GN14 A77 1999 (Memorial Library Reference)ISBN: 0815311885Publication Date: 1999From the Preface: "This work provides access to information on the rich and often little known legacy of anthropological scholarship preserved in a diversity of archives, libraries and museums. Selected anthropological manuscripts, papers, fieldnotes, site reports, photographs and sound recordings in more than 150 repositories are described."
Anthropological Theory by Call Number: GN33 .M33 2017 (Memorial Library)ISBN: 9781442257016Publication Date: 2017"A comprehensive and accessible survey of the history of theory in anthropology, this anthology of classic and contemporary readings contains in-depth commentary in introductions and notes to help guide students through excerpts of seminal anthropological works."
Anthropology in theory : issues in epistemology by Call Number: Online Resource [Ebook]ISBN: 9781118780602Publication Date: 2014"The 57 articles collected in Anthropology in Theory: Issues in Epistemology, together with the editors’ introduction, provide [a]comprehensive selection of readings and incisive overview available of anthropological theory and epistemology over the past century. Anthropology in Theory identifies crucial conceptual signposts for the continued resurgence of the discipline and new theoretical directions."
Biographical dictionary of anthropologists by Call Number: GN20 S84 2009 (Memorial Library)ISBN: 9780786436712Publication Date: 2009"This biographical dictionary provides information on 322 men and women who have made significant contributions in the field of anthropology. Arranged alphabetically, each entry includes a short biography, a detailed analysis of the theories or approaches that each contributed to his or her field, and the person’s major works of literature."Biographical Dictionary of Anthropologists born before 1920 by
Call Number: GN20 B56 1988 (M33-J-5) (Verona Shelving Facility, available by request only)ISBN: 9780824058333Publication Date: 1988
Companion encyclopedia of anthropology by Call Number: GN25 C65 2002 (Memorial Library)ISBN: 0415286042Publication Date: 2002"This [book] provides a comprehensive survey of contemporary thinking in biological, social and cultural anthropology."
Dictionary of anthropology by Call Number: GN307 D485 1997 (Memorial Library Reference)ISBN: 1557862826Publication Date: 1997"The dictionary consists of substantial analytical articles focusing on key anthropological concepts, theories, and methodologies." The 500+ entries were written by 125 distinguished anthropologists.
Encyclopedia of medical anthropology : health and illness in the world’s cultures by Call Number: WA 13 E563m 2004 (Ebling Library)ISBN: 0306477548Publication Date: 2004"The book is organized into two main sections, topics and cultures. The topics section covers general topics and the cultures section covers over 50 cultures from around the world and describes their health practices in detail."
Ethics for anthropological research and practice by Call Number: GN33.6 W45 2008 (Memorial Library)ISBN: 157766535XPublication Date: 2008Ethnographic Fieldwork by
Call Number: GN346 .E675 2012 (College Library Reserves)ISBN: 9780470657157Publication Date: 2012
A History of Anthropological Theory, Fourth Edition by Call Number: GN33 E74 2013 (Memorial Library)ISBN: 1442606592Publication Date: 2013International Dictionary of Anthropologists by
Call Number: GN20 I5 1991 (Memorial Library Reference)ISBN: 0824050940Publication Date: 1991
International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences by Call Number: H40 A2 I5 2008 (Memorial Library, Law Library, Information School Library, Verona Shelving Facility available by request only)ISBN: 9780028661520Also available online through Gale ebooks.
Introduction to library research in anthropology by Call Number: GN42 W44 1998 (Memorial Library Reference)ISBN: 0813390036Publication Date: 1998This book is a bit old, but still has some useful information.Readings for a History of Anthropological Theory by
Call Number: GN33 E74 2010 Supp. (Memorial Library)ISBN: 9781442600690Publication Date: 2010-04-01
Research methods in anthropology : qualitative and quantitative approaches by Call Number: GN345 .B36 2011 (College Library & Memorial Library)ISBN: 0759101485Publication Date: 2011
Rise of anthropological theory : a history of theories of culture by Call Number: GN17 H3 2001 (Memorial Library)ISBN: 0759101337Publication Date: 2001
SAGE encyclopedia of social science research methods by Call Number: H62 S346 2004 (Law Library & Memorial Library Reference)ISBN: 0761923632Publication Date: 2004
Books about anthropology can be located by using a number of different databases.
- Try the UW-Madison catalog to see what our libraries own.
- Try WorldCat to find books and other materials owned in libraries across the U.S. as well as many countries around the world.
Are you looking for book reviews? Try this library guide to Finding Book Reviews in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Where are anthropology books commonly shelved (what are their common call numbers)?
- CC (Archaeology)
- GN (Anthropology)
- GR (Folklore)
- QL700-QL739 (Mammals including primates)
Additional Literature Databases
Most of these resources can also be found in the Database Library. The Anthropology / Archaeology list may be particularly helpful.
- Academic SearchA general academic index that indexes almost 3,000 magazines and journals from every academic discipline and provides the full-text of more than 1,200.
- Annual ReviewsAnnual Reviews provides researchers, professors, and scientific professionals with a definitive academic resource in 29 disciplines. Each review synthesizes a vast amount of primary research literature and identifies the principal contributions in each field. Editorial committees comprised of the most distinguished scholars in the discipline select all topics for review, and the articles are written by authors who are recognized experts in the field.
- Anthropology Online"Anthropology Online brings together a wide range of written ethnographies, field notes, seminal texts, memoirs, and contemporary studies, covering human behavior the world over. Anthropology Online provides complete full-text works of the key practitioners and theorists alike throughout the discipline."
- Google Scholar"Enables you to search specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research."
- International Bibliography of the Social SciencesThe IBSS indexes the information contained in over 2,600 social sciences journals and 6,000 books each year. Coverage includes both core and specialized material from over 100 countries in more than 90 languages in the fields of economics, political science, sociology and anthropology.
- SocINDEX with Full TextIncludes full text for 397 "core coverage" sociology journals dating back to 1908 and 150 "priority coverage" journals. It also includes full text for more than 720 books and 6,743 conference papers. Abstracts for more than 800 journals are available back to 1895. In addition, SocINDEX with Full Text features more than 10,000 Author Profiles covering the most prolific, most cited, and most frequently searched for authors in the database.
- Sociological AbstractsIndexes and abstracts 2000 worldwide journals in sociology. Relevant dissertations have been added since 1986.
- Web of ScienceA combination of three databases: Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index; Web of Science indexes more than 12,000 peer-reviewed journals, providing complete bibliographic data and author abstracts. It is also possible to search by cited authors and to find articles sharing one or more cited reference.
Getting Dissertations
Using the links below, you have a variety of options for locating dissertations. Please note that UW-Madison dissertations are kept in Memorial Library. It usually takes up to a year for a completed dissertation to be added to the library collection. You can look for UW-Madison dissertations in the Library Catalog.
- Help pages for locating dissertations and ordering via Interlibrary LoanUse this site to get help when looking for dissertations.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT)Includes doctoral dissertations in all subject areas completed at over 700 institutions in the U.S. and around the world. Some masters theses are also included. The database offers full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997 and strong retrospective full text coverage for older graduate works.
Anthropology Associations and Foundations
- American Anthropological Association (AAA)"Founded in 1902, the American Anthropological Association (AAA) is the world's largest organization of individuals interested in anthropology."
- National Association for the Practice of AnthropologyNAPA was founded in 1983 to promote the practice of anthropology and the interests of practicing anthropologists, and to further the practice of anthropology as a profession.
- Royal Anthropological Institute"The world's longest-established scholarly association dedicated to the furtherance of anthropology (the study of humankind) in its broadest and most inclusive sense."
- Society for Applied Anthropology"Aspires to promote the integration of anthropological perspectives and methods in solving human problems throughout the world."
- Society for Economic Anthropology"Anthropologists, economists, geographers, and scholars from other disciplines who are interested in the connections between economics and social life."
- Society for Medical Anthropology (SMA)"Formed in 1967 and incorporated into the American Anthropological Association (AAA) in 1971, [Society for Medical Anthropology] is dedicated to the profession and practice of medical anthropology, which uses concepts and methods from anthropology to produce new understandings of health, disease, illness, treatment, and care."
- Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research"The Wenner-Gren Foundation has two major goals – to support significant and innovative anthropological research into humanity's biological and cultural origins, development and variation and to foster the creation of an international community of research scholars in anthropology."
- World Council of Anthropological Associations"The World Council of Anthropological Associations (WCAA) is a network of national and international associations that aims to promote worldwide communication and cooperation in anthropology."
Anthropology News and Useful Web Sites
- Department of Anthropology - UW-MadisonDept. of Anthropology
5240 W. H. Sewell Social Science Building
1180 Observatory Dr.
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: 608.262.2866 - Ethnic NewsWatch and Ethnic NewsWatch: A History (ProQuest)"Features newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press, providing researchers access to essential, often overlooked perspectives. With titles dating from 1990, ENW presents a comprehensive, full-text collection of more than 1.8 million articles from more than 315 publications offering both national and regional coverage."
- Guide to Library News SourcesThis guide describes sources for current and historical newspapers available in print, electronically, and on microfilm through the UW-Madison Libraries.
- H-Net - Humanities and Social Sciences Online"An international interdisciplinary organization of scholars and teachers dedicated to developing the enormous educational potential of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Reviews and discussion lists are two popular facets of the site."
- Harvard University - Tozzer Library (of Anthropology)"The oldest library in the United States devoted to collecting ethnology, archaeology, and related anthropological fields."
- University of California - Berkeley: Foster Anthropology Library"A branch library of The UCB Library System and functions as part of the larger Anthropology complex which includes the Department of Anthropology, the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, the Archaeological Research Facility, and the Folklore Archive."
- University of Nebraska - Lincoln: Ethics Center - Anthropology Ethics" An interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary resource for and promoter of ethics at UNL. To highlight the importance of critical thinking and moral reasoning in resolving ethical dilemmas and to encourage its exploration in the context of different disciplines and methods of inquiry."
- UW-Madison Institute For Regional And International Studies (IRIS)"IRIS is a National Resource Center for International Studies funded by the U.S. Department of Education. IRIS also comprises and provides coordination and administrative support for Wisconsin’s eight area studies centers, six of which are area National Resource Centers, and for the undergraduate International Studies Major of the College of Letters and Science. IRIS is one the three pillars of the UW-Madison’s International Division, along with International Academic Programs (IAP or Study Abroad) and the International Internship Program (IIP)."
General Reference Databases
These resources, as well as a variety of others, are available on the Database Library list of Reference Sources. They are general in scope, and not limited to the study of Anthropology.
- Gale eBooks"A database of encyclopedias and other specialized reference sources from Gale and their publishing partners. Titles are individually selected, and therefore the Collection is not standard at all institutions. Titles are displayed on the home page, categorized by broad subject area. You may also click the Title List link found below the GVRL product banner to view an alphabetical list of all titles in our collection."
- Oxford Reference Online"Combines rich and scholarly resources with authoritative, quick-reference coverage of the full subject spectrum. Over 130 subject dictionaries, plus the World Encyclopedia, offer unrivalled coverage of everything from art to accountancy, politics to physics, and computing to classics."