Online Indexes of Anthropological Literature and other Resources for Literature Searches

Anthropology is an inherently interdisciplinary enterprise, and many important resources for anthropological research lie outside of the discipline as it is conventionally conceived. Two resources for literature searches that are specifically designed for anthropological use are described below. Neither should be regarded as exhaustive, even for works that appear in anthropological journals, but both are excellent resources.

• Anthro Source
  Developed by the American Anthropological Association (AAA), AnthroSource brings 100 years of anthropological material online to scholars and the public, with current issues for 11 of the AAA's most critical peer-reviewed publications including American Anthropologist, American Ethnologist, and Cultural Anthropology.
  Link to Anthro Source
• The Anthropological Index Online
  This is an index of current periodicals in the Anthropology Library at the British Museum (incorporating the former Royal Anthropological Institute library). It currently provides information about literature published in journals as far back as the late 1960's, but the site informs us that references as early as 1954 will be made accessible on 1 March 2001.
  Link to Anthropological Index Online
• Anthropological Literature
  This data base provides information about articles and essays that are two pages or more in length on anthropology and archaeology, including art history, demography, economics, psychology, and religious studies. It is unusual, if not unique, in that it also indexes chapters included in edited collections. It is updated quarterly, and includes works from the late 19th century to the present. It is based on the collection housed at Harvard's Tozzer Library. It is a service to which Wheaton subscribes, so it is unavailable to those off campus unless they have the required software. The links provided below takes you to list of electronic resources provided through Wheaton's Wallace library, including Anthrolit.
  Link to Anthrolit
• Anthropology resources from Wallace Library
  Because anthropology is an inherently interdisciplinary enterprise, most research will require reference to resources that lie outside of the discipline as it is conventionally conceived. Wheaton College's Wallace Library provides extensive and easy-to-use access to a wide array of electronic resources.
  Link to Anthropology resources from Wallace Library
  Wallace Library homepage

Website Gateways

The following sites are some of the most extensive and best-organized gateways into other sites of particular interest to anthropologists. The descriptions provided are intended to indicate the ways in which each site is distinctive, and are by no means exhaustive. This selective list is intended to provide access to a maximal number of quality resources with minimal redundancy.

• American Anthropological Association - Anthropology Resources on the Internet
  This site of the largest association of anthropologists in the world includes information about its upcoming meetings, publications,careers in anthropology, and numerous other resources, including numerous links to other important links to other important web-sites. It also provides a gateway to the thirty-six sectionsand interest groups affiliated with the AAA.
  List of internet resources
• Anthropology in the News
  This site, based at Texas A&M University, provides numerous direct links to on-line newspapers and periodicals as well as links to other gateways to similar resources.
  Link to http://anthropology.tamu.edu/news.htm
• Anthropology Resources on the Internet
  This extensive and focused site was started by Allen Lutins in 1995 and since January, 1999, has been maintained by Bernard-Olivier Clist, a practicing anthropologist and professional web-site builder and manager. It is checked monthly for broken links, and all sites submitted for consideration by site visitors are carefully vetted. The site manager limits items included to those that are "directly and primarily of anthropological relevance". Its most distinctive virtue is its very extensive lists of links to sites of departments of anthropology and museums of anthropological interest throughout the world. It also features a particularly extensive list of links to archeological web sites. It features a Micrsoft eXtense Perso search feature.
  Link to anthropologie.net
• The Royal Anthropological Institute
  Based in London, the RAI is roughly the U.K. equivalent of the American Anthropological Association, and its site provides extensive information about the organization as well as numerous links to other resources. Its listing of numerous links to electronic calendars of anthropological organizations throughout the world is distinctive and particularly useful.
  Link to the RAI homepage
• SOSIG: Social Science Information Gateway: Ethnology, Ethnography & Anthropology
  Part of the United Kingdom Resource Discovery Network, this gateway is intended to provide "researchers and practitioners in the social sciences, business and law" with a selection of "high quality Internet information." Its Internet Catalogue features topical major headings (e.g. "Anthropological Teaching and Research," "Anthropology of Aesthetics, Art") and is browsable or searchable by subject area. SOSIG specifies that the sites included in its catalogue are selected and described by librarians and academics.
  Link to SOSIG's Ethnology, ethnography, and anthropology site
• Web Resource for Visual Anthropology
  This site, which covers aspects of sociocultural anthropology other than visual anthropology as well, states that it "facilitates web searches by cross-indexing three hundred and seventy-five anthropological sites according to the categories of information they contain" thus making it particularly suited for capturing the "multifaceted content" that characterizes many sites in anthropology. Twenty-two subject-categories are used to facilitate searches. The site is maintained by Peter Biella, Professor in the Anthropology Department, San Francisco State University.
  Link to www.usc.edu/dept/elab/urlist
• A good basic digest of web based Anthropology Sources.