The best place to start a search for information on peoples is in reference books. The books listed below are in Chemeketa's library. When you look at articles in reference books, make sure you note the following: alternate names for the ethnic group ("ethnonym"); alternate spellings of these names, where the group lives, name(s) of the group's language. All these things can help you find more information later. Also note any bibliographic references to books or articles about the group.
| R 306.03 IL6 | The Illustrated encyclopedia of mankind |
| R 306.097 En1 | The Encyclopedia of world cultures |
| R 305.8003 W89 | Worldmark encyclopedia of cultures and daily life |
| R 305.803 En1 | Encyclopedia of cultural anthropology |
| R 394.26 F715 | The Folklore of world holidays |
| R 394.26 H71 | Holidays, festivals, and celebrations of the world dictionary |
| R 909.83 C89w | Culturegrams |
| R 910.3 En1 1995 | World geographical encyclopedia |
| R 960 M85 | Peoples of the world: Africans south of the Sahara |
There are also subject dictionaries or encyclopedias on particular countries, regions, or groups of people, e.g., Kodansha encyclopedia of Japan, The African American encyclopedia, Dictionary of Chicano folklore.
| R 305.800973 Am | American immigrant cultures: builders of a nation |
| R 305.800973 G13 | Gale encyclopedia of multicultural America |
| R 306.446 En1 | Encyclopedia of multiculturalism |
Try looking in the Keyword search the catalog with the place name or ethnic name followed by "and dictionar*" or "and encyclopedia*." For further advice on finding subject encyclopedias in the library catalog, see How To Find Specialized Dictionaries & Encyclopedias. A reference librarian can also help you find these works.
Books (usually) are on more general subjects; articles in periodicals are on more specific ones. Books are found in the catalog. (Electronic books are available at netLibrary.) Books about "mainstream" inhabitants of a country, or about a variety of ethnic groups within a country, are entered under such subject headings as
Books on specific inhabitants of that country are entered under the name of the people:
Names of places may also be used as subdivisions following a topical subject heading:
Names of groups may be used adjectivally, for example:
Use truncation characters to find all the words that start with the same letters. The truncation character for the catalog is an asterisk, "*" (Example: cultur*).
Try the Keyword search to find the name of an ethnic group anywhere it appears. Also try the Keyword search option for books to find specific chapters listed in contents notes, or for names of peoples mentioned in the title, but not in the subject heading:
Keyword search for BASQUE* finds books including one called
The Spanish World, which has a chapter called, "The Basque Country."
Keyword search for INDIA and ETIQUETTE finds books including one called
Passport India : your pocket guide to Indian business, customs & etiquette.
For guidance on subject headings used in the library catalog, consult Library of Congress Subject Headings (Reference 025.49 L61), or try Library of Congress Authorities.
Periodical Articles are found in the EBSCOhost Academic Search Premier database. If using databases from off campus, you will need your My Chemeketa user name and password.
Examples of some "anthropological" subject headings used in EBSCOhost include:
For the purpose of finding an article on a particular group, keyword searching often works best. Use ethnonyms and alternate spellings.
Use truncation characters to find all the words that start with the same letters. The truncation character for EBSCOhost is "*" (Example: cultur*). In any keyword search, it is critical to spell the key words correctly. If you find no results in a keyword search, check your spelling.
Limit your search to scholarly journals (if desired) by clicking the appropriate check box on the search screen.
Combine a word for the group you are researching (e.g., African Americans, Navajo) with another key word, using AND, OR, NOT:
| cultur* | beliefs | marriage, family, etc. |
| custom* | values | acculturation |
| practices | perceptions | counsel* |
| habits | behavior | clients |
For example, in the search
Vietnamese AND (beliefs OR practices) NOT book
we combine a word for the group of people ("Vietnamese") with key words ("beliefs", "practices") to find articles. Using the command NOT, we tell the computer to eliminate any entry with the word "book," thus removing book reviews from the resulting list. Here's what it looks like on the screen:
In the example we have checked off the box that limits the search to scholarly journals.
Useful Sites for Chemeketa Students (http://newterra.chemeketa.edu/library/information/useful/index.htm) is a good place to start. Click on "Anthropology" to find Cultural Orientation, Executive Planet, and Ethnomed, good sites for information about ethnic groups or cultures of a country. Click on "Countries of the World" to find Internet sites with information about places. Try the Library of Congress Area Handbook series.