SOC 229D-A: Cultural

AnthropologyResearch Project

Proposal / Bibliography

Dr. Adams - Fall 2010

Alison Gregory gregory@lycoming.edu 321-4087

Research Project Proposal / Bibliography

• Due Sept. 14 – bring a paper copy and a book to class; also submit via Moodle

• 3 books from Snowden Library – one can be from Reference Collection

• 3 academic journal articles• 3 carefully selected Web sites

How am I supposed to find 3 books?

• Online Catalog for books in Snowden Library

• E-ZBorrow for books from other PA college & university libraries– Great way to get a duplicate copy of a book if someone

else has already checked it out.

• WorldCat for books from across the country

How am I supposed to find academic journal articles?

• Online databases–Abstracts in Anthropology–Sociological Abstracts–JSTOR–ProjectMUSE

• Not every topic will be equally addressed in every database.

What do you mean by “carefully selected Web sites”?

• Web site evaluation is critical. Anyone can post information on the Internet – don’t trust a source just because it’s one of the first results.

• Homework assignment on Moodle that gives you an opportunity to practice evaluating Web sites…and an opportunity for a little extra credit!

Step 1: Topic Development & Background

• Reference Collection–Subject-specialized encyclopedias

• Online Catalog – use broad search terms• Browsing – H call number section is where

you’ll find most sociology/anthropology resources• Reference Universe database – use broad

search terms

Step 2: Finding Books Online Catalog

• Searched for: food culture• Encyclopedia of Food and Culture Ref.

GT2850 .E53 2003– Subject heading of: food habits

• Browsed through and found a “chapter” on “United States: Ethnic Cuisines”

• Searched for: food habits• Feast: Why Humans Share Food

GT2850 .J66 2007

• Always look at the Bibliographies – follow the research trail!

How can I get the Gabaccia book?

• Search for the title We Are What We Eat: Ethnic Food and the Making of Americans in the Online Catalog.

• If Snowden Library doesn’t have it…• Search for the title in E-ZBorrow*, logging in

with your student ID number. *for books ONLY!• If no E-ZBorrow library has it…• Search for the title in the WorldCat database.

I now have 3 books…• Encyclopedia of Food and Culture from the

Reference Collection– 1st floor, short “chapters,” cannot be checked out

• Feast: Why Humans Share Food from the General Collection– 3rd and 4th floors, can be checked out for 4 weeks

• We Are What We Eat: Ethnic Food and the Making of Americans requested through E-ZBorrow– 3-5 day delivery time, checked out for 4 weeks

On to find 3 academic journal articles…

• Use Snowden Library’s alphabetical database list to find these resources.

• Not every database will cover every topic equally.

• Abstracts in Anthropology• Sociological Abstracts• JSTOR• Project MUSE

Abstracts in Anthropology• Searched for: food “United States”• “Food with a Farmer’s Face” looks interesting,

but this is just the abstract (summary). How do I find the entire article?

• Find the journal title. Does Snowden Library have this journal?

• Use the Periodicals A-to-Z List to find out.• If we don’t have the journal, request the article

through Interlibrary Loan.– Log in with your Novell username and password.

• Fill in the article information and submit the request.– Free, but can take 2-14 days. (Articles arrive faster than

books do.)

Sociological Abstracts

• Keyword searching v. Descriptor searching• Go to the “Search Tools” tab and then choose the

“Thesaurus” tab.– Allows you to find the official terms assigned to articles.

• Limit your search to “Journal Articles Only.”• Searched for: food = Descriptors, DE + culture =

Descriptors, DE + “United States” • In the search results, choose the “Peer-Reviewed

Journals” tab.

• The “Taste the Traditions” article looks interesting. Click on the title to see the abstract.

• If you want this article, how can you find it? • Click on the “Check for Lycoming availability”

link.

“Check for Lycoming availability”

• Automated system that searches for the journal for you. It will give you one of 3 options:

• Link to find the article full text in another database• Link to “Check Periodicals A-to-Z List” which means that

we probably have the journal in print (2nd floor)• Link to “Request this item” through Interlibrary Loan

If I follow the link to Wiley…

Find the PDF (Adobe

document) here.

JSTOR

• Full text Journal STORage database = articles are at least 3-5 years old

• Covers many disciplines• Searched for “food habits” + “United States”• Narrowed by Item Type = Article• Narrowed by discipline = Anthropology• Click on PDF link to open the Adobe document

for easy printing or saving

• Click on an article title to see the 1st page.• Also gives options to use Google Scholar for

finding Related Items, Items Citing this Item and other items by the same author(s).

Project MUSE

• Full text database of scholarly articles in humanities and social sciences– Some articles available as HTML (text only), some

available as PDF (Adobe), some available as both• Searched for: “food habits” = Subject

Headings + “United States”• Limited Type of Content = “Articles Only”• Limited to “Only content I have full access to”

• Use the linked Subject Headings to find other articles in Project MUSE with matching official terms.

• Choose the PDF Version of the article if available.

• So now I have 3 academic journal articles that I found using…

• Abstracts in Anthropology• Sociological Abstracts• JSTOR• Project MUSE

How do I identify 3 carefully selected Web sites?

“Information on the Internet is subject to the same rules and regulations as conversation

at a bar.”

Dr. George Lundberg, former editor of JAMA

Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate!

• Always evaluate Web sites before using them for college-level research. Look for author, purpose, accuracy, and currency.

• Extra credit opportunity for homework!• In Moodle, find Topic 8 – Library Assignment.• Complete the library’s online tutorial, then evaluate

the given Web sites using the online evaluation rubric.

• Post your results by Sunday, Sept. 12 at noon.