Topic: How to do Anthropological Research — Where to Find Anthro Books & Videos

Searching for anthropological books such as ethnographies, case studies, and reports is a challenging process. Therefore, there is no one way to do it, just many ways to approach it depending on what you are looking for. You can search for books in the Library's General Search (to see what we have available), WorldCat (to see what we don't have and request it through Interlibrary Services (ILS) or even Amazon (find a title and check in the General Search or WorldCat to see if we have it or if you need to request it through ILS)

Here are some tips that may help you in your search. If you still have questions, feel free to contact me anytime!

► To get the most recent research limit your search to the last 5 years

► Use quotation marks (" ") when searching for phrases, e.g. "Hispanic American" to improve your search results

► To find ethnographies or books that talk about people/groups cultural practices you can use the keywords: ethnography, ethnology,  "social life and customs" "case study" and combine it with other terms such as a country, a region, a topic or a particular group. Examples:

• Ethnography AND Maasai

• "Social life and Customs"  AND Maasai

• "Case Study" AND Ethnography AND Criminality

It is important to try to find out the different ways a group is described or named in the literature. It is more useful to use the specific name of the group you want to study, e.g. Hopi, Navajo, Apache, etc.

One way to find out about a minority cultural group (usually bands or tribes) is by searching eHRAF World Cultures.

You can also check your syllabus, textbooks and readings to identify the most common name for a group. In addition, when searching the General Search, if you identify a good book on the group you want to study, look for the term "Subjects" in the record. If you click on those links it will show another list of potential books on the same topic that you may find useful!