Course resource help for Anthropology

Module reading lists can also be a good starting point for finding resources for your assignments. Check the section Find and use your module reading lists above. 

You can use the items on your reading list as a bridge to further resources:

1. Does the same author's name recur on the reading list? This may suggest that they are an expert on this topic. If so, try searching for their name on LibrarySearch and see what else they have published.
2. If you find a useful book on your reading list, see what books are on the same shelf. Books on similar topics are shelved together in the library.
3. If you find an interesting journal article on your reading list, there may be other useful articles in the same journal. Click on 'view online' to get to that article, then look for either a search box or a list of issues that you can browse through.
4. If you read something useful, have a look at the sources in their bibliography or reference list. Have they read anything there that looks useful or relevant? If so, put the title (not the whole reference) into LibrarySearch and see if you can find it.

Keywords are essential ingredients for your search that will help you find sources relevant to your topic. Look at your topic: 

• What are the most important words? 
• What other words can you use instead of these?
• What do you want to find out?

For help with choosing keywords, check the video guide Choosing words to put in a search box

Use LibrarySearch to look for books and e-books available in the Oxford Brookes Library. 

Just type in the author, title or subject that you are interested in. Use the filters on the left to limit your search results to books and/or e-books.

Check the video guide on the right for tips on how LibrarySearch works.

Finding print books in the Library

• Every book in Headington Library has a call number. This is the code written on the label on the side of the book. Books are arranged in numerical order, using these numbers. 
• When you look up a print book on LibrarySearch, look for the call number. For example this book: Small places, large issues : an introduction to social and cultural anthropology by Thomas Hylland Eriksen is shelved at 306 ERI.  
• Look at the signs on the wall in between the stairs and the lift on Level 1 to see which range of call numbers is on each level. You will find a detailed map on each level, and you can also download a library map 

The main sections for print books in Anthropology are on Levels 2 and 3 of the Headington Library.  

Take a look at the guide How to find Anthropology books in the Brookes Library for further information.

Borrowing, returning and placing holds

If the book is on loan to another user, you can put a hold on it. If it's on the shelves, it's quicker for you to go and get it yourself. Find out more about borrowing and returning books and placing a hold from:

• How to...Borrow and return items
• Library essentials quick guides

Finding and using e-books

The book: Small places, large issues : an introduction to social and cultural anthropology by Thomas Hylland Eriksen is also available as a library e-book. Follow the 'View eBook' link to connect to it. Log in when prompted with your Brookes student number and password.  

Our e-books are on various web platforms and will allow different options for reading and downloading. Find out more about accessing and downloading library ebooks from our eBooks page. 

In order to download many of our eBooks, you need to have the Adobe Digital Editions programme or app on your computer/device. You can download the Adobe Digital Editions programme for free.

Academic journals are key sources in academic disciplines.

• Articles published in these journals are written by specialists in the subject and they provide an insight into current thinking, debate and research in the field. 
• Journals can be good sources of up to date information on current topics which may not be covered by books. 
• Usually have a specific focus. They may report an in-depth research project carried out using specific research methods (quantitative/qualitative/mixed).
• Scholarly journal articles have to be doing something new (covering a gap in the literature), but also built on existing research. They often include a literature review

Peer-reviewed articles have been checked by other experts in the field. This is an important form of quality control for published research:

• Explainer: what is peer review?
• What is peer review? The role anonymous experts play in scrutinizing research before it gets published

To find academic journal articles we recommend you use:

• LibrarySearch
• Databases

Find out more from the guide Finding journals and journal articles for anthropology (Google doc)

LibrarySearch is a good place to start looking for journal articles on a topic. Just type your keywords or a phrase in the search box. At the results screen, use the the filter options on the left to limit your search to peer-reviewed articles.

We recommend you also use databases, especially for more in-depth research because LibrarySearch doesn’t cover all of our e-resources and you may get better results on a more specialised database.

Looking for a specific journal

• Go to the Library and select the 'Journal titles' tab.
• Type in the journal title.
• Find the journal on LibrarySearch and click on the title.
• Click on the 'Access journal' link to connect to the journal home page.
• The journal site may offer a search function and will also allow you to browse. If browsing, use the year, volume and issue numbers to find the correct journal issue. Articles in each issue will be listed in page order, so use the page numbers to find the specific article.

Looking for a specific article

You may want to do this if you're following up a reference found in a bibliography:

• Try looking up the article on LibrarySearch. Use the author's surname and a few keywords from the article title.
• If you can't locate the article in this way, follow the steps above to look up the journal title and check if we have access to the journal and issue you need.

If we don't have the journal or issue you want, you can use the interlibrary loan service to request a free copy of the article.

Here is an example of an article from an academic journal which follows a very common structure:

Verdasco, A. (2020). 'Everyday Rituals of Migration: Constructing Relatedness and Agency among Young Refugees in Denmark', Ethnos, 85(3), pp. 550–574.

Always start with the abstract: a summary of the article’s content that appears at the beginning.
Look at this to help you decide if an article is relevant for your own research. The abstract will indicate the scope of the article and often highlights the research methods that have been used.

Journal articles often have this structure: Introduction - The research study - Discussion/conclusions. 

1. Introductory section: this usually includes a literature review where the author will set their article in the context of previous research. Notice all the in-text citations, e.g. (Olwig, 2009). These are sources that the author read before conducting their own research. 
2. The research study: this will form the main part of the article
3. Discussion/Conclusions: What are the authors’ reflections and conclusions? Do they make recommendations for further research? Do they agree/disagree with earlier research?

When you're searching for sources, you don't have to read the article in full at this stage. Scan through the abstract, introduction and conclusion to see if it's relevant to your own research topic. If the article looks useful, download the PDF and read it later, making notes as you go. Don’t forget to record all the details of the article for your reference list. 

It's a good idea to keep track of your sources as you find them, so that it's easier to reference them later. Check this guide for How to save and cite sources in LibrarySearch (Google slides)

Always check Cite Them Right to see how your references should look in the Harvard style required at Brookes.

• Library e-books - Cite Them Right says to reference these in the same way as print books 
• Journal articles - make sure you have a record of: Author(s); Title of article; Title of journal; Year of publication; Volume number (if given); Issue number (if given); Page numbers. You may also want to note the DOI.

LibrarySearch is a useful starting point but it doesn’t include all of our e-resources. We recommend you also use library databases to explore Anthropology literature:

• Databases can give you additional sources that aren't listed on LibrarySearch
• They systematically cover key journals in different subject fields, so are important when you're reviewing the literature for your dissertation.
• Many databases focus on journal articles. but we also have databases containing newspaper articles, TV programmes, images and other resources. Explore the Resources section above for more details.

NB Always connect to Library databases through the Library web site. You'll be prompted to log in with your Brookes ID and then will get full access.

Access recommended databases for Anthropology

Install the free LibKey Nomad browser extension to make sure you can access any articles provided by Brookes, wherever you are on the Web.

Use BrowZine to browse our electronic journals online & set up alerts for favourite titles. You can use it within your browser or download the free app.

Find out more about both of these resources from our Journals page