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Literature Searching in Anthropology

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.

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Literature Searching in Anthropology

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  1. Literature Searching in Anthropology David Sowerbutts d.l.sowerbutts@durham.ac.uk

  2. Types of Material - Printed • Monographs • Encyclopaedias • Other types of book (essays, readings, conferences) • Journals • Theses and Dissertations • Newspapers and Magazines

  3. Controlling the Literature • Bibliographies • Book form • Indexes • Abstracts • Review Articles • Current Awareness

  4. 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 atRef 303 INT

  5. Types of Material - Electronic • Abstracts and Indexes (Bibliographic Databases) • Reference Books • Electronic Journals • Internet Resources

  6. Understanding Databases • Subject Scope • Inclusivity • Number of sources • Type of material • Level of material • Date range • Geographical bias

  7. 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

  8. Databases (v. Internet) • Refereed Material • Restricted access • Covers print as well as electronic (usually) • More sophisticated searching

  9. Internet (v. Databases) • Not evaluated • Electronic/digitised • Large number of items but some “quality” material not included • Difficult to assess results of searches

  10. 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)

  11. Database Searching • Keyword • Hierarchical Structure • Coded Concepts

  12. Keyword • Random • matches patterns not concepts • Scope • Title only • Abstract • Full text • Semantics • Ambiguities • Alternatives • Language problems

  13. Keyword • Truncation (Stemming) • Aggress* • Word combination • Usually Boolean

  14. Boolean Searching - Syntax • Similar to formula in Mathematics • BUT symbols not used as consistently • BUT “default” values vary between databases

  15. Boolean Searching

  16. 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*)

  17. Hierarchical Structure Anthropology Ethnology Racial Groups South American Quechua

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

  19. Library OPAC Start Date c. 1500 Scope: Durham stock only Excludes journal articles Export records  Subject terms  Truncation * Wildcard x Phrase searching x Boolean and/or/not - use operators in normal form (default combination is “and”) Links to full-text: indirect

  20. Web of Science

  21. Web of Science Start Date 1981 Scope: All Subjects Abstracts: 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 provided ATHENS authenticated

  22. IBSS

  23. IBSS Start Date 1951 Scope: Social Anth/Economics/Politics/Sociology Abstracts: 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 provided ATHENS authenticated

  24. FirstSearch

  25. FirstSearch A collection of around 25 databases; more than one can be searched simultaneously Start Date varies Scope: All Subjects Abstracts: in some databases Export records  Subject terms: some d/bases Truncation * Wildcard  Phrase searching  (use quotation marks) Boolean and/or/not - use operators in normal form (default combination is “and”) Links to full-text: no No password needed on site

  26. A results list (Web of Science)

  27. The Record (Web of Science)

  28. 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)

  29. 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

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