WEMSK43 Anthropology

WEMSK43:Anthropology

I was surprised some time ago to find out how few people realized that
Germanic kinship was of the Mother's Brother type, and how many people did
not realize that saying that Trevrizent was Parzival's "uncle" is a bad
translation, an "ambiguation" as it were. Oeheim in MHG meant Mother's
Brother, a really important position, often functionally equivalent to our
"fond father." As we Vikings used to put it: Modhurbraedhrum verdha menn
likastir, you are closest to your MB. Jim Marchand

WEMSK43 - Anthropology

1. Quick overview. Gerhard Heberer et al., Anthropology A to Z,
ed. Carletoon S. Coon and Edward E. Hunt, transl. Hans Gunthard et
al. (NY: Grosset & Dunlap, 1963), a translation of Anthropologie.
Das Fischer Lexikon 15 (Frankfurt: Fischer, 1959). Like all the
guides in the A to Z series, this one is excellent. Note the
names!

2. Guides:

a. Discovering Anthropology. A Resource Guide for Teachers and
Students, compiled and edited by Simon Coleman and Bob Simpson.
National Network for Teaching and Learning Anthropology, 5th ed.
(London: Royal Anthropological Institute, 1998). Naturally leans
towards the UK. Excellent annotations. A good first read.

b. Charles Frantz, A Student Anthropoligist's Handbook: A Guide to
Research, Training, and Career (Cambridge, MA: Schenkman, 1972).
Old, but still useful, e.g. for a list of journals.

c. Mary Auckland, "Getting into the Literature," in Ethnographic
Research: A Guide to General Conduct, ed. R. F. Ellen. ASA Research
Methods in Social Anthropology, No. 1 (London: Academic, 1984),
159-170. A good article in a fine book, used all over.

d. Josephine Z. Kibbee, Cultural Anthropology: A Guide to Reference
& Information Sources (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1991).
A good first look.

3. Bibliographies:

a. Robert C. Westermann, Fieldwork in the Library. A Guide to
Research in Anthropology and Related Area Studies (Chicago:
American Library Association, 1994). Growing old, but excellent in
every way. Well annotated. Your best guide.

b. John M. Weeks, Introduciton to Library Research in Anthropology,
2d ed. Westview Guides to Library Research (Boulder, CO: Westview
Press, 1998). Good. Contains "Online Databases" (270-278) and
"Internet" (279-314), the fullest guides to anthropology on the
internet I have seen; not always trustworthy. Also contains the
obligatory guide to HRAF.

c. For a short list of internet resources, but only if you do not
have Weeks: Scientific American Guide to Science on the Internet,
by Edward Renehan (NY: ibooks, 2000). "Anthropology" (15-42) and
"Archaeology" (43-70).

[By way of being inclusive, let me point to a number of "guides" to
the internet and anthropology, all, of course, out of date when
published: 1. Edward P. Kardas & Tommy M. Milford, Using the
Internet for Social Science Research and Practice (Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth, 1996); John Hoopes, Jennifer Campbell, Michael Keene,
Mayfield's Quick View Guide to the Internet for Anthropology
(Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 1999); Joan Ferrante-Wallace, Let's
Go Anthropology: Travels on the Internet (BElmont, CA: Wadsworth,
1998).]

d. Bibliographic Guide to Anthropology and Archaeology, 1987-
(Boston: Hall). THE annual bibliography. Hard to use. Offers Dewey
and LC numbers. Based on the yearly accessions to the Tozzer
Library at Harvard (formerly part of Peabody Museum).

4. Encyclopedias:

a. Title: Companion encyclopedia of anthropology, ed. Tim Ingold
(London: Routledge, 1994). Not really an encyclopedia, but good to
read through; good bibs. TOC: Introduction to humanity, Tim Ingold
-- Humanity and animality, Tim Ingold -- The evolution of early
hominids, Phillip V. Tobias -- Human evolution: the last one
million years, Clive Gamble -- The origins and evolution of
language, Philip Lieberman -- Tools and tool behaviour, Thomas Wynn
-- Niche construction, evolution and culture, F.J. Odling-Smee --
Modes of subsistence: hunting and gathering to agriculture and
pastoralism, Roy Ellen -- The diet and nutrition of human
populations, Igor de Garine -- Demographic expansion: causes and
consequences, Mark N. Cohen -- Disease and the destruction of
indigenous populations, Stephen J. Kunitz -- Introduction to
culture, Tim Ingold -- Why animals have neither culture nor
history, David Premack, Ann James Premack -- Symbolism: the
foundation of culture, Mary LeCron Foster -- Artefacts and the
meaning of things, Daniel Miller -- Technology, Francois Sigaut --
Spatial organization and the built environment, Amos Rapoport --
Perceptions of time, Barbara Adam -- Aspects of literacy, Brian V.
Street, Niko Besnier -- Magic, religion and the rationality of
belief, Gilbert Lewis -- Myth and metaphor, James F. Weiner --
Ritual and performance, Richard Schechner -- The anthropology of
art, Howard Morphy -- Music and dance, Anthony Seeger -- The
politics of culture: ethnicity and nationalism, Anthony D. Smith --
Introduction to social life, Tim Ingold -- Sociality among humans
and non-human animals, R.I.M. Dunbar -- Rules and prohibitions: the
form and content of human kinship, Alan Barnard -- Understanding
sex and gender, Henrietta L. Moore -- Socialization, enculturation
and the development of personal identity, Fitz John Porter Poole --
Social aspects of language use, Jean DeBernardi -- Work, the
division of labour and co-operation, Sutti Ortiz -- Exchange and
reciprocity, C.A. Gregory -- Political domination and social
evolution, Timothy Earle -- Law and dispute processes, Simon
Roberts -- Collective violence and common security, Robert A.
Rubinstein -- Inequality and equality, Andri Biteille -- The
nation state, colonial expansion and the contemporary world order,
Peter Worsley.

b. Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology, eds. David
Levinson and Melvin Ember, 4 vols. HRAF (New York: Henry Holt and
Co., 1996).

c. Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology, ed. Alan
Barnard and Jonathan Spencer (London: Routledge, 1996).

5. Readers:

a. Language in Culture & Society, ed. Dell Hymes (NY: Harper & Row,
1964). Still a great source for information.

b. Readings in Anthropology, ed. Morton H. Fried, vol. 2, Cultural
Anthropology, 2d ed. (NY: Crowell, 1968).

6. Thesaurus:

a. Sara D. Knapp, The Contemporary Thesaurus of Search Terms and
Synonyms: a Guide for Natural Language Computer Searching, 2nd ed.
(Phoenix, Ariz.: Oryx Press, 2000).

b. Thematic List of Descriptors--Anthropology, prepared on behalf
of UNESCO by the International Committee for Social Science
Information and Documentation (London: Routledge, 1989).

c. Samuel R. Brown, Finding the Source in Sociology and
Anthropology: A Thesaurus-Index to the Reference Collection.
Finding the Source, 1 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1987).

d. Robert H. Winthrop, Dictionary of Concepts in Cultural
Anthropology (NY: Greenwood Press, 1991).

7. Retrospective and periodic:

a. Anthropological Index, 1963-. London: Royal Anthropological
Institute. Quarterly. Also available in electronic form.

b. International Bibliography of Social and Cultural Anthropology
(Chicago: Aldine, 1955-). See the Thematic List of Descriptors for
a subject index.

8. Electronic:

a. http://navigate@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu or http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/

b. FAQ on science: http://scifaq.1@YALEVM.cis.yale.edu, or even
better: http://www.nitehawk.com/alleycat/anth-faq.html.

c. Research methods: http://methods@vm.ecs.rpi.edu.

9. Journals. The following are useful for keeping up:

American Anthropologist, 1888-
Anthropos, 1906-
Current Anthropology, 1960-
L'Homme, 1961-
Man, 1966-
Mundus, 1965-

Mid Century

[I would be remiss if I did not include the following:]

a. Alfred L. Kroeber, Anthropology, 2d ed. (New York: Harcourt,
Brace, 1948). My generation learned our anthropology from this
book; you might enjoy paging through it.

b. Anthropology Today, ed. Alfred L. Krober (Chicago:
UChicagoPress, 1953). Still a great source; where we were at mid-
century.

Human Relations Area Files

[Human Relations Area Files. The most important repository of
information for our purposes is the HRAF. It was begun as a part
of the cross-cultural survey initiated by George Peter Murdock.
See his Social Structure (NY: The Free Press, 1949). At the
present time it consists of almost four million pages of
ethnographic information on cultures around the globe. For
example, if you decided to study Germanic kinship, which was of the
Mother's Brother type, you could in a short length of time make up
a good list of which cultures around the globe used that kinship
pattern and perhaps garner some insight into its functions. It is
hard to use, but things are getting better.]

a. The best guide is Carol R. Ember & Melvin Ember, Guide to Cross-
Cultural Research Using the HRAF Archive (New Haven: HRAF, 1988).
It will lead you to:

b. George P. Murdock, Outline of World Cultures, 6th ed. (New
Haven: HRAF, 1983). Give the classification scheme for HRAF.

c. Outline of Cultural Materials, 5th ed., George P. Murdock et al.
(New Haven: HRAF, 1982). Offers a survey of the contents of HRAF.

d. George P. Murdock, Ethnographic Atlas (Pittsburgh: University of
Pittsburgh Press, 1967). Also available in electronic form (disk)
from World Cultures, La Jolla, CA. A rather cryptic survey of world
culture.

e. George P. Murdock, Atlas of World Cultures (Pittsburgh:
University of Pittsburgh Press, 1981. Not really an atlas, but
indicates whether the culture is taken up in HRAF.

f. HRAF Source Bibliography: Cumulative (New Haven: HRAF, 1972-).
Loose leaf. Great source. List all the books, articles,
manuscripts, etc. appearing in HRAF.

g. Originally, HRAF appeared in microfiche and was somewhat hard to
consult. It is being transferred in various forms to CD-ROM
(SilverPlatter, 1989-), and is available electronically in many
university libraries ([computer file] New Haven: HRAF, 1995-). If
you have this available, use it. For a survey, see Weeks, 323-330
+ Appendix C "Arrangement of the Outline of Cultural Materials" and
Appendix D "Arrangement of the Outline of World Cultures."

10. Speaking of electronic resources:

a. Anthropological Literature on Disc [computer file] (NY: G. K.
Hall, 1994-). An annual CD-ROM from the Tozzer Library.

b. Carol R. and Melvin Ember, Anthropology, 9th ed. on CD-ROM
(Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999).