Guides: Anthropology: Overview

Starting your library research

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Search the Franklin Catalog to locate print and electronic books, journals, videos, and maps held by Penn Libraries.
Search keywords in Articles+ platform in order to find citations or online content that appear in many Penn-subscribed journals, e-books, and databases.
Search Penn Libraries' customized Google Scholar for more online content.
In order to narrow your search to resources used by anthropologists, use the databases recommended below. In addition to clicking on the links below, you can search the name of the database in the Franklin catalog to find a record from which you can access the database.

Major online databases and full-text resources for Anthropology

In addition to multidisciplinary databases such as Academic Search Premier and Web of Science and large journal archives such as JSTOR and Project Muse, researchers will find the following subject-specific databases and full-text resources valuable for research in anthropology:

Abstracts in Anthropology
Indexes journals in cultural and physical anthropology, as well as linguistics and archaeology.
Anthropology PLUS
Combines Anthropological Literature (based at Harvard University) and Anthropological Index (from Royal Anthropological Institute of the UK) into one database that provides worldwide indexing of most anthropological journals from the early 19th century to present.
ACCESS NOTE: 5 users. Combines Anthropological Literature from Harvard University and Anthropological Index from the Royal Anthropological Institute of the UK. Offers worldwide indexing of all core periodicals, in addition to lesser known journals, from the early 19th century to today. Broad geographical coverage emphasizes the Commonwealth and Africa and extends to Eastern Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australasia, and the Pacific. Covers fields of social, cultural, physical, biological and linguistic anthropology, ethnology, archaeology, folklore, material culture and interdisciplinary studies.
AnthroSource
Indexes journals, newsletters, bulletins and monographs of the American Anthropological Association (AAA).
eHRAF World Cultures
The Electronic Human Relations Area Files databases (eHRAF) allow for browsing and searching large collections of ethnographic documents that are indexed at the paragraph level.
The Collection of Ethnography, established 1949, currently contains nearly one million pages of information on over 360 cultures of the world, past and present. Each culture case contains a variety of source documents (books, articles, and manuscripts) which have been indexed and organized according to HRAF's comprehensive culture and subject classification system (Outline of World Cultures, OWC, and Outline or Cultural Materials, OCM). The electronic collection currently consists of documents pertaining to 48 culture groups, covering both North American immigrant groups and cultures from around the world.
International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS)

Oxford Bibliographies: Anthropology / editor in chief: John L. Jackson, Jr.

Go to a full list of databases and resources for anthropology available through the University of Pennsylvania.

Selected reference and introductory books

21st Century Anthropology by H. James Birx (Editor)
ISBN: 9781412957380
Publication Date: 2010-06-10
Via 100 entries or 'mini-chapters,' the SAGE 21st Century Reference Series volumes on Anthropology will highlight the most important topics, issues, questions, and debates any student obtaining a degree in the field of anthropology ought to have mastered for effectiveness in the 21st century. The purpose is to provide undergraduate students with an authoritative reference source that will serve their research needs with more detailed information than encyclopedia entries but not so much jargon, detail or density as a journal article or a research handbook chapter.
The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology by Hilary Callan, editor
ISBN: 9781118924396
Publication Date: 2018
The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology is the most complete reference resource for the field of anthropology and interrelated areas, providing an authoritative and expert overview of the concepts, research, and techniques that together define the discipline. Under the guidance of Editor-in-Chief Hilary Callan - former director of the Royal Anthropological Institute (2000-2010) - and fourteen internationally-respected voices acting as Associate Editors, the Encyclopedia features contributions from a team of over 800 international scholars making this a work of unparalleled depth and breadth of knowledge. Over 1,000 entries, ranging from concise summaries to longer writings, present the reader with in-depth discussions of hundreds of key topics, including: ecology, human evolution, gender, health, language and education, kinship, politics, and power, as well as biographical entries of many of the world's most influential founding anthropologists. Organized alphabetically and written for both the specialist and the general reader, the Encyclopedia is a landmark reference resource for students and scholars engaged within the broad and dynamic field of anthropology, and those studying and working within the related disciplines of psychology, medicine, religious studies, and sociology. This work is also available as an online resource at www.encyclopediaofanthropology.com.
Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches by H. Russell Bernard
Call Number: University Museum Library. GN345 .B36 2011
ISBN: 9780759112414
Publication Date: 2011
Research Methods in Anthropology is the standard textbook for methods classes in anthropology.
The Routledge Companion to Contemporary Anthropology by Simon Coleman (Editor); Susan Brin Hyatt (Editor); Ann Kingsolver (Editor)
ISBN: 1315743957
Publication Date: 2016-12-08
The Routledge Companion to Contemporary Anthropologyis an invaluable guide and major reference source for students and scholars alike, introducing its readers to key contemporary perspectives and approaches within the field. Written by an experienced international team of contributors, with an interdisciplinary range of essays, this collection provides a powerful overview of the transformations currently affecting anthropology. The volume both addresses the concerns of the discipline and comments on its construction through texts, classroom interactions, engagements with various publics, and changing relations with other academic subjects. Persuasively demonstrating that a number of key contemporary issues can be usefully analyzed through an anthropological lens, the contributors cover important topics such as globalization, law and politics, collaborative archaeology, economics, religion, citizenship and community, health, and the environment. The Routledge Companion to Contemporary Anthropologyis a fascinating examination of this lively and constantly evolving discipline.

BEROSE International Encyclopaedia of the Histories of Anthropology is a free, online, multilingual resource that features articles on anthropologists, ethnographers, anthropological institutions, anthropological journals, and major themes.

Librarian

Deb Stewart

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Deb Brown Stewart
Head, Museum Library
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology
3260 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

215 898-4021

Subjects: Anthropology & Archaeology

The Museum Library

Penn Museum respectfully acknowledges that it is situated on Lenapehoking, the ancestral and spiritual homeland of the Unami Lenape.

The Museum Library, located in the Academic Wing of the Penn Museum, is the University of Pennsylvania's branch library for anthropology and archaeology. With over 145,000 volumes on-site with historic strengths in biological and physical anthropology, cultural anthropology, archaeology worldwide, and Native American studies, it is one of the premier branch libraries for anthropology in the United States.

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