Content last reviewed:
The research process
- Begin by defining exactly what you are searching for
- Get background information from handbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries
- Be specific when determining search terms: synonyms/antonyms
- Use Boolean Operators to connect search terms by understanding how search engines operate
- Once your topic is narrowly defined, select databases to find specific articles that have been published in journals
- Use the advanced interface of electronic databases and Internet search engines to help narrow your search. Limit to: specific field (article, book, conference proceeding, newspapers, video); full-text or peer reviewed journals only
- Find books on your topic to gain greater depth and understanding
- Films and Videos and Images are non-literary forms of representation
- Take notes during your research to keep track of where you have been, keywords searched, what worked and what didn't, etc. You may consider using Microsoft OneNote or free software for note-taking such as Evernote
- Write down or store all the references you have consulted to include them in the bibliography of your research paper
Sources of information
Publication Cycle: to find primary and secondary sources of information, use tertiary sources of information: dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks. When a researcher publishes material, they follow the cycle clockwise. To find primary and secondary sources, follow the cycle anti clockwise.
FAQ
- Brainstorm for the Essay (UNC at Chapel Hill)
- Google search secrets / Christa Burns and Michael P. Sauers (CUL electronic resource)
- Library research (CUL)
- Literature Reviews (CUL) see rubric (internet)
- Office of the Vice-President (Students and Enrolment) - Carleton University
- Thesaurus (internet)
- Writing an Annotated Bibliography (CUL) see rubric (internet)
- Writing an Outline for your essay (CUL) see rubric (internet)
Online journals
- by 'Subject'
Databases
- tagged 'Anthropology'
- by 'Type'
- OMNI: the Carleton University Library search interface
Other suggested databases
- Annual Reviews: Provides access to review articles in the Biomedical, Life, Physical, and Social Sciences.
- Canadian Business and Current Affairs Database: The Canadian Business & Current Affairs Database combines full text and indexed content from all four CBCA database subsets: Business, Current Events, Education, and Reference.
- Canadian Research Index: Provides detailed citations to monographs and serial publications in the Microlog microfiche collection located on the 1st floor of the Library
- CPI.Q: Contains citations to Canadian English and French language journals.
- Ebsco databases: Provides access to all databases available through the EBSCOhost interface. You may select multiple databases and search them simultaneously.
- eHRAF World Cultures Tutorial [VIDEO]: information is organized into cultures and ethnic groups and the fulltext sources are subject-indexed at the paragraph level. A tutorial is available.
- ERIC: A database of articles dealing with topics related to education.
- Ethnographic Video Online: for study of human culture and behavior
- Gale Virtual Reference Library: A database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
- Gender Equality Data and Statistics: Themes included are demographics, education, health, labor force, and political participation.
- Gender: Identity and Social Change: Primary source material documenting the changing representations and lived experiences of gender roles and relations from the nineteenth century to the present, focusing on the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Australia.
- Google Scholar: Google Scholar provides access to scholarly literature from many disciplines and sources. Indexes peer reviewed articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other websites.
- HathiTrust Digital Library: HathiTrust is a digital repository of millions of books, serials, and other materials from research institutions and libraries from around the world.
- HRAF source bibliography: collection of primary sources covering many world cultures, with information on all aspects of cultural and social life. (Includes some material not captured electronically in the eHRAF database above.) The sources include whole books, articles, dissertations, field studies, and more. In the paper and fiche versions of HRAF all documents about a particular culture are grouped together. Each culture collection is identified by a unique alphanumeric code based on eight world regions: A- Asia | E- Europe | F- Africa| M- Middle East | N- North America | O- Oceania | R- Eurasia (cultures located in the former Soviet Union and Russia) | S- South America. Each of the major regions, e.g. Africa (F), is then subdivided, usually on a political basis, into sub-regions designated by the addition of a second letter: For example,"FF" designates the country of Nigeria and its component cultural units ... Finally, within each sub-region, more specific units are defined and assigned a number; these may be country entities, such as "RD01" for Ukraine, or "cultural" units such as "FL12" for the Maasai. Each culture is therefore assigned an alphanumeric code in its regional, political, and cultural context.
- ICPSR : Inter-University Consortium for Political & Social Research: Archives of social science data for research and instruction
- Oxford Bibliographies Online: Oxford Bibliographies Online (OBO) is a tool for the social sciences and humanities. It is composed of discipline-based subject modules that provide annotated bibliographies on specific topics.
- Oxford Reference Online: Contains reference materials publshed by Oxford University Press.
- Project MUSE: A collection of scholarly journals in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
- ProQuest Databases: ProQuest provides access to a number of databases that cover most subject areas. Search all of them at once or one of the subject clusters. Includes major databases such as PsycInfo, Sociological Abstracts, Philosoher’s Index, and many more.
- PubMed: Provides access to citations covering all areas of medicine and associated fields.
- Qualitative Data Repository: The Qualitative Data Repository (QDR) is a dedicated archive for storing and sharing digital data (and accompanying documentation) generated or collected through qualitative and multi-method research in the social sciences.
- SAGE Knowledge Encyclopedias: provides perpetual access to 27 encyclopedias in the social sciences published between 2005-2011, as well as some other encyclopedias which have been ordered individually.
- SAGE Research Methods: With information on the full range of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods for the social and behavioral sciences, as well as methods commonly used in the hard sciences, the book, reference, and journal content in SAGE Research Methods helps researchers of all levels conduct their research. See LibGuide
- Scopus: A multidisciplinary abstract and citation database of research literature and web sources.
- Web of Science: Useful for finding journal articles published on a topic or to discover who has cited a particular author and/or paper.
- WorldCat: A union catalogue of libraries worldwide.
Subject headings
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) use controlled vocabulary to access and express the subject content of documents. Controlled vocabulary is a standardized hierarchical system. When you search using subject headings, you are searching for matching content, rather than searching through the text.
This is a searchable index.
- Please click on the links below to discover the Library's holdings in this subject area, and
- Add keywords, or
- Use the filters on the left of the resulting screen. (Typical filters are Available Online and Peer Reviewed Journals)
- Anthropology
- Applied anthropology
- Archaeology
- Arts
- Behavioral sciences
- Corporate culture
- Cultural anthropology
- Economics
- Ethnic groups
- Ethnography
- Ethnology
- History
- Human behavior
- Human evolution
- Human genetics
- Human geography
- Human societies
- Humans
- Language and languages
- Literature
- Political science
- Politics
- Population studies
- Psychology
- Religion
- Social sciences
- Social structure
- Sociology
- Video/film
Supplementary readings
- Google vs. the Library: Student Preferences and Perceptions When Doing Research Using Google and a Federated Search Tool
- Google vs. the Library (Part II): Student Search Patterns and Behaviors when Using Google and a Federated Search Tool
- Google vs. the Library (Part III): Assessing the Quality of Sources Found by Undergraduates
- How to Read a Book, v5.0 School of Information University of Michigan
- How to Read a Paragraph: The Art of Close Reading
- How to Read (and Understand) a Social Science Journal Article: Tips and tricks to make reading and understanding social science journal articles easier
- How to Read for Grad School Miriam E. Sweeney
- Read Like A Graduate Student, Not A Mystery Fan William Doane
- Remote research and virtual fieldwork: some resources from uHarvard
Minecraft (Education Edition) is free for Carleton students
- Just download the installer: Download | Minecraft Education Edition
- After install, launch the game and log in using your Carleton email address (cmail) and password then you're good to go.