Anthropology and Archaeology 

Helmke Library offers collections and rapid access to a wealth of in-depth resources to support research in anthropology and archaeology. Here are some of the major tools in this field to help you discover and deliver the best resources. Be sure to Ask a Librarian for help in refining your information-foraging skills.

Thinking of Words

...using dictionaries, thesauruses, quotations

These resources define terms and point out related concepts, but do not generally offer suggestions to guide your reading.

African Ethnonyms: Index to Art-Producing Peoples of Africa (Reference GN645 .B53 1996)

Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology, 2002

Columbia Encyclopedia (Dictionary Stand AG5 .C725 2000)

Dictionary of Anthropology (Reference GN307 .D485 1997)

Dictionary of Concepts in Physical Anthropology (Reference GN50.3 .S74 1991)

Dictionary of Human Geography (Reference GF4 .D52 1994)

Dictionary of the Social Sciences, 2002

Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology (Reference CC70 .K56 2000)

Encyclopedia of World Cultures, "Ethnonym Index" (Reference GN307 .E53 1991 v. 10)

Use the Ethnonym Index in v. 10 Index (also see the Supplement volume) to find accepted ethnic group names (i.e., ethnonyms). It is often necessary to search under all alternate forms and spellings to locate the major ethnographic works about a culture in periodical databases (see Finding Current Information) and library catalogs (see Discovering Books).

Facts and Artifacts of Ancient Middle America (Reference F1219 .M97 1978)

Historical Dictionary of North American Archaeology (Reference E77.9 .H57 1988)

Gaining an Overview

...using encyclopedias, guides, handbooks, textbooks, yearbooks

These resources will help you find your way into the literature thicket. Specialized encyclopedias and handbooks contain articles written by experts who identify the key authors and concepts that you need to pursue.

Archaeological Method and Theory: An Encyclopedia (Reference CC75 .A654 2000)

Archaeology: A Reference Handbook (Reference CC70 .D39 1978)

Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia (Reference E77.9 .A72 1998)

Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution (Reference GN281 .C345 1994)

Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers (Reference GN388 .C35 1999)

Companion Encyclopedia of Archaeology, 2 vols. (Reference CC70 .C59 1999)

Continuum Complete International Encyclopedia of Sexuality (Reference H21 .I68 2004)

Countries and Their Cultures, 4 vols. (also available Reference GN307 .C68 2001)

Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology, 4 vols. (Reference GN307 .E52 1996)

Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World, 2 vols. (Reference JV6225 .E53 2005)

Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory (Reference GN281 .E53 2000).

Encyclopedia of North American Indians (also available Reference E76.2 .E53 1996)

Encyclopedia of Prehistory, 9 vols. (Reference GN710 .E53 2001)

Encyclopedia of Religion, 15 vols. (also available Reference BL31 .E46 2005)

Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender: Men and Women in the World's Cultures, 2 vols. (Reference HQ16 .E53 2004)

Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology (also available Reference GN307 .E648 1996)

Encyclopedia of Underwater and Maritime Archaeology (Reference CC77.U5 E53 1998)

Encyclopedia of Urban Cultures: Cities and Cultures Around the World, 4 vols. (Reference HT108.5 .E53 2002)

Encyclopedia of Women and Gender: Sex Similarities and Differences and the Impact of Society on Gender, 2 vols. (Reference HQ1115 .E52 2001)

Encyclopedia of World Cultures, 10 vols., and Encyclopedia of World Cultures Supplement (also available Reference GN307 .E53 1991 and Suppl. 2002)

Handbook of Methods in Cultural Anthropology (Reference GN345 .H37 1998)

Handbook of Middle American Indians, 16 vols. [1964-1976], and Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, 6 vols. [1981-2000] (Reference F1434 .H3)

Handbook of North American Indians, 14 vols. published to date [1978-2004] (Reference E77 .H25)

Handbook of South American Indians, 7 vols. [1946-1959; reprinted 1963] (Reference E51 .U6)

History of Physical Anthropology: An Encyclopedia, 2 vols. (Reference GN50.3 .S64 1997)

International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, 26 vols. (Reference H41 .I58 2001)

International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 19 vols. (Reference H41 .I63 1968)

List of Publications of the Bureau of American Ethnology: With Index to Authors and Titles

Note that Helmke Library owns many original volumes and reprint editions of Annual Reports, Bulletins, Contributions to North American Ethnology, Introductions, Miscellaneous Publications, and Publications of the Institute of Social Anthropology and related publications of the Smithsonian Institution. Search IUCAT Catalog (Indiana University's online library catalog) for 'Bureau of American Ethnology' to locate these invaluable resources.

Oxford Companion to Archaeology, 1996

Science, Technology and Society, 2005

Social Science Encyclopedia, 2 vols. (Reference H41 .S3 2004)

These guides to the literature provide additional suggestions for gaining an overview of the major sources and research strategies in anthropology:

Herron, Nancy L. Social Sciences: A Cross-Disciplinary Guide to Selected Sources. Libraries Unlimited, 2002. (also available Reference H61 .S648 2002)

Kibbee, Josephine Z. Cultural Anthropology: A Guide to Reference and Information Sources. Libraries Unlimited, 1991. (Reference GN42 .K53 1991)

Weeks, John M. Introduction to Library Research in Anthropology. Westview, 1998. (Reference GN42 .W44 1998)

Finding Current Information

...using databases & indexes, alerting services (some may require free registration), journals to browse

Find an authenticated link to more than 20,000 online licensed journals available through Helmke Library's E-Journal Finder. Search by exact journal title or keywords in journal titles, or browse for journals in broad subject categories. See Social Sciences > Anthropology and History & Archaeology.

All online and printed journals available to IPFW library users are included in IUCAT Catalog (Indiana University's online library catalog). See especially the comprehensive literature reviews published in Annual Review of Anthropology. For example:

Joyce, Rosemary A. 2005. "Archaeology of the Body." Annual Review of Anthropology 34(1):139-58.

Be sure to use the handy  button to view all delivery options for the search results you discover in the following databases:

Anthropology Plus -

Coverage: Late 19th century to present Brief Description: Indexes more than 2,500 journals worldwide from the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and related interdisciplinary studies. Tools Available: An online list of journals indexed is available.

eHRAF Archaeology -

Coverage: Journal articles, book-length studies and other monograph materials, published primarily in the 20th century. Brief Description: The eHRAF Archaeology collection is a cross-cultural database containing information on prehistory. This unique, annually-growing eHRAF database is organized by archaeological traditions and the full-text documents are subject-indexed to the paragraph level. Tools Available: Outline of Archaeological Traditions Outline of World Cultures Outline of Cultural Materials eHRAF Tutorial Development and Applications of the HRAF Collections Teaching eHRAF

eHRAF World Cultures -

Coverage: Book-length ethnographies and other monographic materials, published primarily in the 20th century. Brief Description: The eHRAF World Cultures is a cross-cultural database that contains information on all aspects of cultural and social life. The annually-growing eHRAF database is unique in that the information is organized by cultures and ethnic groups and the full-text documents are subject-indexed at the paragraph level. Tools Available: Outline of World Cultures Outline of Cultural Materials eHRAF Tutorial Development and Applications of the HRAF Collections Teaching eHRAF

Academic Search Premier -

Coverage: Indexing coverage varies, with full-text content for some titles beginning 1975 or earlier, and most titles indexed from the 1990s. Brief Description: Provides abstracts and indexing of articles in more than 8,000 popular magazines, scholarly journals, and major newspapers in all fields of study, with nearly 4,000 titles available full text. Tools Available: A complete list of titles covered is available.

Google Scholar -

Brief Description: Google Scholar is a specialized Google search engine that limits your search to scholarly material combed from Web sites, databases, and publication lists of the world's major academic publishers, scholarly and professional societies, and university repositories. Tools Available: Google Scholar Help is available.

Handbook of Latin American Studies -

Coverage: 1936 to present Brief Description: An annotated bibliography on Latin America listing references to books, book chapters, journal articles, and papers from published conference proceedings. Other IPFW Formats: IPFW library owns the printed index 1935 to present (Stacks Z1605 .H23). Tools Available: An online guide is available.

IngentaConnect -

Coverage: 1988 to present Brief Description: Billed as "one of the most comprehensive collections of academic and professional research articles online" IngentaConnect is an aggregator database providing access to the tables of contents from more than 30,000 popular, trade, and scholarly journals.

Web of Science -

Coverage: 1985 to present. Brief Description: The Web of Science provides an interface for searching the Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts and Humanities Citation Index, separately or together, from 1985 to present. These unique citation indexes provide indexing and selected abstracts for millions of source articles in more than 10,000 major journals published worldwide. Each record indexes every source article's entire list of cited references or bibliographic footnotes. Use the Web of Science to discover scholarly materials based on the citation network within a vast multidisciplinary literature. Other IPFW Formats: IPFW library owns a demonstration printed set (1991 only) of Science Citation Index (Science Reference Z7401 .S365), Social Sciences Citation Index (Science Reference Z7161 .S65), Arts and Humanities Citation Index (Science Reference AI3 .A63). Tools Available: Training Resources Technical Support Web of Science Tutorial Journal Title List > Arts & Humanities Citation Index Journal Title List > Science Citation Index Journal Title List > Social Sciences Citation Index Web of Science Search Steps Simplified (PDF) Also see Journal Citation Reports Helmke Library Cited Reference Search Policy and Procedures Best Practices for Using Citation Data

Wiley Interscience -

Coverage: 1996 to present Brief Description: Wiley InterScience is the online content service from John Wiley & Sons delivering the full text of over 500 leading scientific, technical, medical, and professional journals.

Discovering Books

...using library catalogs, bibliographies

One quick way to narrow your search for anthropological materials in large, multidisciplinary databases is to add the following statement to your search strategy:

(your keywords or subject terms) and (anthropolog$ or ethnolog$ or ethnog$ or archaeol$ or archeolog$ or cross cultur$)

This example works well in IUCAT Catalog (Indiana University's online library catalog). Remember to include the correct truncation symbol for the database you are using, whether an asterisk (*), question mark (?), dollar sign ($), etc.

For more information about constructing effective Boolean search strategies, see Helmke Library's Foraging for Information Worksheet (PDF).

IUCAT Catalog (Indiana University's online library catalog) -

Brief Description: Search Helmke Library's online catalog to find books, electronic resources, periodicals (scholarly journals, popular magazines, or newspapers), government publications, music CDs, videorecordings (DVDs, VHS), and other library materials. Tools Available: Searching IUCAT Tutorial Request Delivery Tutorial How Do I Use IUCAT Guides IUCAT Library Help Topics IUCAT Library Locations IUCAT Request Delivery Fact Sheet IUCAT Shelving Locations

WorldCat -

Brief Description: Provides access to the OCLC database with more than 1 billion bibliographic records for materials in all formats. Tools Available: Online tutorials are available. WorldCat Facts and Statistics "Watch WorldCat Grow" Launch Page

Checking Facts

...using almanacs, statistics

Country Resources: The Green Boxes (Indiana University)

Country Studies (printed editions also available in <DB&I link short title only IUCAT Catalog> by searching 'Area Handbook Series' and [country name])

Statistical Abstract of the United States (U.S. Census Bureau) (also available Service Desk C 3.134:[current year])

Statistical Resources on the Web (University of Michigan Library)

World Factbook (also available Service Desk PREX 3.15:[current year])

Seeking People & Organizations

...using biographies, directories, cited & co-cited author indexes

American Anthropological Association

American Men and Women of Science, 8 vols., 2005

Anthropology Resources on the Internet

Biography Resource Center (Thomson-Gale)

Dictionary of Scientists, 1999

Internet Public Library: Anthropology

National Anthropological Archives and Human Studies Film Archives

National Association of Student Anthropologists

International Dictionary of Anthropologists (Reference GN20 .I5 1991)

Society for American Archaeology

Royal Anthropological Institute

Web of Science

Encountering Facts & Opinions

...using reviews, editorials

Anthropology Plus (First Search)

Academic Search Premier (EBSCOhost)

Editorials on File, 1970-2006 (Reference D39 .E3)

Facts on File

Using Writing & Editing Tools

...using style guides, guidelines for authors

Anthropology Style Guide (PDF)

American Anthropological Association Style Guide

Chicago Manual of Style: For Authors, Editors, and Copywriters, 15th ed. (Service Desk Z253 .U69 2003)

Crossing Boundaries

...using subject headings, call numbers, syndetic structure

Anthropology and archaeology works are generally classified under geographic area, and so materials of interest may be found throughout the library. See especially:

Library of Congress Classification Outline for Schedule CC: Archaeology (PDF)

Library of Congress Classification Outline for Schedule D: History - Europe, Asia, Africa (PDF)

Library of Congress Classification Outline for Schedule E-F: History - United States, North & South America (PDF)

Library of Congress Classification Outline for Schedule GN: Anthropology (PDF)

Library of Congress Classification Outline for Schedule H: Social Sciences (PDF)