Literature Searching in Anthropology David Sowerbutts [email protected]

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 Annual Review of Sociology

572(05) 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 [email protected]

• 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 Searching WoS (1981- ) IBSS (1951-) a) Ritual Kinship 32 b) Ritual and Kinship 78 c) Ritual or Kinship 8981 d) Ritual not Kinship 5574 e) Kinship not Ritual 3329 24 88 9510 5754 3668 c) = b) + d) + e)

Refining Searches •

Taboo* and Asia* not (Burm* or Myanmar

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

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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 OPAC

Start Date Scope: Truncation Durham stock only Excludes journal articles Export records

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* Subject terms Wildcard Links to full-text: indirect c. 1500

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x Phrase searching x Boolean and/or/not - use operators in normal form (default combination is “and”)

Web of Science

Web of Science

Start Date Scope: Abstracts: All Subjects From early 1990s 1981 Export records Truncation Phrase searching

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Subject terms Wildcard

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Boolean and/or/not - use operators in normal form (default combination is phrase search) Links to full-text: some provided ATHENS authenticated

IBSS

IBSS

Start Date Scope: Abstracts: 1951 Social Anth/Economics/Politics/Sociology Recent years only Export records Truncation Phrase searching

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Subject terms Wildcard

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Boolean and/or/not - use operators in normal form (default combination is phrase search) Links to full-text: some provided ATHENS authenticated

FirstSearch

FirstSearch

A collection of around 25 databases; more than one can be searched simultaneously Start Date Scope: Abstracts: All Subjects in some databases varies Export records Truncation Phrase searching

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Subject terms: some d/bases Wildcard (use quotation marks)

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Boolean and/or/not - use operators in normal form (default combination is “and”) Links to full-text: no No 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

multiple title searching provides