Literature Searching in Anthropology

David Sowerbutts

d.l.sowerbutts@durham.ac.uk

Types of Material - Printed

• Monographs

• Encyclopaedias

• Other types of book (essays, readings, conferences)

• Journals

• Theses and Dissertations

• Newspapers and Magazines

Controlling the Literature

• Bibliographies– Book form– Indexes– Abstracts

• Review Articles

• Current Awareness

Some Titles to Consult

Annual Review of Anthropology 572(05)

Annual Review of Sociology 053.01

Levinson, D and Ember, M (1996). Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology. 4 volumes. New York: Holt. Ref 572(03)

Michie, J (ed) 2001. Readers Guide to the Social Sciences. 2 volumes. London: Fitzroy Dearborn. Ref 016.3 REA

International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences. (2001) 26 volumes. Amsterdam: Elsevier. At present available online and at Ref 303 INT

Types of Material - Electronic

• Abstracts and Indexes (Bibliographic Databases)

• Reference Books

• Electronic Journals

• Internet Resources

Understanding Databases

• Subject Scope

• Inclusivity– Number of sources– Type of material– Level of material

• Date range

• Geographical bias

Understanding Databases

• Search defaults

• Features provided– Abstracts?– Option to create subsets?– Printing/Saving/E-mailing?– Links to full text?– Links to local catalogue?

• Remember to use the help screens

Databases (v. Internet)

• Refereed Material

• Restricted access

• Covers print as well as electronic (usually)

• More sophisticated searching

Internet (v. Databases)

• Not evaluated

• Electronic/digitised

• Large number of items but some “quality” material not included

• Difficult to assess results of searches

Databases: Getting Started

• Identify your ATHENS password– if necessary contact library.athens@durham.ac.uk

• Library home page– http://www.dur.ac.uk/library– click on Databases (guidance on selecting your

database comes later)

Database Searching

• Keyword

• Hierarchical Structure

• Coded Concepts

Keyword

• Random– matches patterns not concepts

• Scope– Title only– Abstract– Full text

• Semantics– Ambiguities– Alternatives– Language problems

Keyword

• Truncation (Stemming)– Aggress*

• Word combination– Usually Boolean

Boolean Searching - Syntax

• Similar to formula in Mathematics

• BUT symbols not used as consistently

• BUT “default” values vary between databases

Boolean SearchingWoS (1981- ) IBSS (1951-)

a) Ritual Kinship 32 24

b) Ritual and Kinship 78 88

c) Ritual or Kinship 8981 9510

d) Ritual not Kinship 5574 5754

e) Kinship not Ritual 3329 3668

c) = b) + d) + e)

Refining Searches

• Taboo* and Asia* not (Burm* or Myanmar

• Racis* and Polic* not (London or Metropol*)

• Racis* and (Police or Policing) not (London or Metropol*)

Hierarchical Structure

Anthropology

Ethnology

Racial Groups

South American

Quechua

Coded Concepts

• Usually a notation for a hierarchical structure– Arrangement of books in a Library– Application to databases (e.g. MedLine)

Library OPACStart Date c. 1500Scope: Durham stock only

Excludes journal articles

Export records Subject terms Truncation * Wildcard x

Phrase searching xBoolean and/or/not - use operators in normal form

(default combination is “and”)

Links to full-text: indirect

Web of Science

Web of Science

Start Date 1981Scope: All SubjectsAbstracts: From early 1990s

Export records Subject terms Truncation * Wildcard Phrase searching Boolean and/or/not - use operators in normal form

(default combination is phrase search)

Links to full-text: some providedATHENS authenticated

IBSS

IBSS

Start Date 1951Scope: Social Anth/Economics/Politics/SociologyAbstracts: Recent years only

Export records Subject terms Truncation * Wildcard Phrase searching Boolean and/or/not - use operators in normal form

(default combination is phrase search)

Links to full-text: some providedATHENS authenticated

FirstSearch

FirstSearchA collection of around 25 databases; more than one can

be searched simultaneouslyStart Date variesScope: All SubjectsAbstracts: in some databases

Export records Subject terms: some d/basesTruncation * Wildcard Phrase searching (use quotation marks)Boolean and/or/not - use operators in normal form

(default combination is “and”)

Links to full-text: noNo password needed on site

A results list (Web of Science)

The Record (Web of Science)

Internet Gateways/Portals

• Selected Unrestricted Electronic Resources

• Often classified

• May be evaluated/annotated

• SOSIG (http://sosig.ac.uk)

• See also other links from PINAKES (from Library’s “Subject Gateways” page)

Newspapers

• May include current debate on some possible project topics

• Electronic archives for some available from Library’s “News, weather…” page

• Infotrac: Custom Newspapers provides multiple title searching