California Peoples & Cultures Research Guide
Introduction
This is a selective guide to scholarly and professional resources of use in California Studies. To better understand how to search for resources on this guide, undergraduate students are encouraged to complete the Basic Information Competence Requirement [http://www.library.sfsu.edu/instruction/libreq.html]. It is required in the first year at the University and may be completed by taking the OASIS online tutorial at http://oasis.sfsu.edu .
In brief, this guide will help you do the following:
| To Find: | To use : |
|---|---|
| Books and journals (print or electronic), videos, music, maps, and other resources offered by this library. | InvestiGator, the Library's online catalog |
| Articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers | Electronic databases and print Abstracts & Indexes |
| Internet Sources | Internet Sources |
Library research begins with your own in-depth analysis of the topic -- for example, outlining the component parts of the topic, generating lists of keywords and variations, deciding how current or historical the articles should be, identifying key researchers in the field. California Studies is a highly interdisciplinary field and you may need advice for a variety of specialist librarians. Research advice is available by appointment with the library subject liaisons, check the list at: Library Subject Liaisons by Program.
Citing References
California Studies follows the citation form style of the American Anthropologist journal (available online at http://www.aaanet.org/pubs/style_guide.htm).
Locating Books
Use InvestiGator [http://opac.sfsu.edu], the library's online catalog, to locate print and electronic books, SF State masters theses, print and electronic journals, and media. It includes most recent government publications and maps. To locate resources on reserve for classes, search by course or professor in InvestiGator and/or connect to EReserves at http://eres.sfsu.edu . Search InvestiGator by WORD (keyword), subject, author, title, and other identifiers. You may limit searches by locations (such as Internet), date, language, additional words, and format (such as video).
The online catalogs of other libraries are important to expanding your search. You may borrow books we don't own through the Document Delivery Services. Try these:
- Combined catalog of all the California State University Libraries. You may request a book from within Pharos and receive it in 2 to 4 days.
- Combined catalog of more than 20 academic and public libraries in California. You may search Link + from with InvestiGator, request a book, and receive it in 2 to 4 days.
- Combined catalog of the University of California, California State Library, California Academy of Sciences, and California Historical Society library holdings.
- Pharos at http://pharos.sfsu.edu
-
Link + at http://4.20.101.239/
-
Melvyl at http://www.melvyl.ucop.edu/
Locating Journals and Journal Articles
Finding Periodicals in the Library: Most journals and
other periodicals are shelved on the 2nd floor in alphabetical order by
title. Current issues are in the Current Periodicals area; back issues
may be bound, microfiche or microfilm. Some journals are located in
Government Publications on the 5th floor. To find out whether the
Library has a particular journal, search InvestiGator by title. A printed list, P.O.S.T., is also available, but InvestiGator is more accurate than P.O.S.T..
Finding Electronic full-text periodicals: Many online journals are listed in InvestiGator but others are available within an electronic database such as Academic Search Elite (EBSCOHost). For more information on this topic, connect to Access to Periodical Articles in Electronic Format [http://www.library.sfsu.edu/instruction/guides/FullText.html].
Locating Articles in Journals
Browsing current journals can be a useful strategy but it is best to use indexes, abstracts and electronic databases to search systematically. The Reference Department provides access to hundreds of print and electronic search services; this guide lists a few of those most useful for your discipline. Please ask about other possibilities if these are not retrieving your topic. To see the complete list of available databases, you may connect to the Choose an Electronic Database page [http://www.library.sfsu.edu/eresource/choosedb.html]. Most students will need a Library PIN to use these databases from off campus; for more information, connect to Accessing Databases from Off-Campus
[http://www.library.sfsu.edu/eresource/proxyinfo.html].
The following recommendations are highly selective; please ask for
assistance in choosing other resources if these are not useful:
| Resource | References |
|---|---|
| Ref Index Area | Abstracts in anthropology, 1970 to present. Not available online. |
| Internet | Academic Search Elite. [Learn more]
Full text backfiles go as far back as 1990, while indexing and abstract backfiles go as far back as 1984. This is an interdisciplinary database with a lot of fulltext articles; you may restrict searches to scholarly, peer- reviewed journals. |
| Internet/ Ref Index Area |
America: History and Life, 1964 to the present. [Learn more] Interdisciplinary database that includes a lot of fulltext articles; you may restrict searches to scholarly, peer-reviewed journals. |
| Internet | Anthropological index, 1970- to present. Free on the Internet at: http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/AIO.html; limited search capabilities. |
| Internet | Bibliography of Native North Americans [Learn more] Electronic equivalent of the Ethnographic Bibliography of North America and its supplements. |
| Internet | Ethnic Newswatch, May 1991 - current [Learn more] Fulltext articles from ethnic and minority newspapers, magazines and journals published in the United States. |
| Internet/ Ref Index Area |
Humanities Full Text, 1984 to present. [Learn more] Some fulltext beginning in 1995; print indexing back to 1965. |
| Internet | IngentaConnect , 1989 - present. [Learn more] Full-text online or easy article ordering for SF State community. Keyword searching or browsing journal contents; establish a profile to receive current tables of contents or faxed article copies. |
| Internet | Newspapers: Several full text news sources are available; check the database list for Lexis/Nexis Academic, ProQuest Newspapers, and the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News and Sacramento Bee. The Los Angeles Times is included in the first two databases. |
| Internet/ Ref Index Area |
Social Sciences Abstracts Full-Text, 1983 - present. [Learn more] Some fulltext beginning in 1995; print indexing back to 1965. |
| Internet Ref Index Area |
Sociological Abstracts, 1963 to present. [Learn more] Index dissertations as well as journal articles. |
| Internet | Web of Science : Social sciences citation index, 1956 to present. [Learn More] Search by cited authors as well as by title keywords. |
Document Delivery Services
If our library does not own the book or article that you need, you have several choices. For books, try PHAROS or Link+ to see if you can borrow it quickly from one of our partner libraries. If the book is not in these services to the SF State community, fill out an online request form for Document Delivery Services. For more information about these services and to use the online order forms, connect to Document Delivery Services from the Library's home page [http://www.library.sfsu.edu]. Your request may take a few days or a few weeks to fulfill, depending upon the lending source.
If you need article copies, check the full-text and online ordering options in many of the Library's electronic databases first. The Reference librarians will assist you in locating online sources of articles. If the source is not available online, use the online request form available from Document Delivery Services.
Human Relations Area Files/eHRAF
Human Relations Area Files, Inc. was founded in 1949 at Yale University. Its mission is "to provide information that facilitates the cross-cultural study of human behavior, society and culture." We have three significant collections of fulltext resources from HRAF, Inc. that include a representative sample of cultures or traditions from all over the world indexed by standard HRAF subject headings and by keyword in online files.
| Resource | References |
|---|---|
| Ref Index Area/ Internet | HRAF Microfiche files and eHRAF Ethnography [Learn more] Check both versions when doing research as they differ significantly. The microfiche collection is much larger than the eHRAF Ethnography collection that is adding to it. Both may be searched by cultural group or by topic. Self-guiding tutorials for eHRAF are available as the eHRAF Workbook for Introductory Anthropology from HRAF, Inc. |
Government Information
The Government Publications Department is on the 5th floor of the Library. Some items in thus collection are not yet in InvestiGator; ask at the Government Publications Desk for assistance in selecting indexes or databases and in using the card catalog. Check the Finding Government Information [http://www.library.sfsu.edu/servcoll/gpfind.html] or Finding Statistical Data [http://www.library.sfsu.edu/instruction/guides/statdata.html] information guides for more detailed advice, including relevant Internet sites.
Government information of interest may include publications from U.S. agencies such as the Smithsonian Institution, National Park Service or Bureau of Indian Affairs. There may also be California or United Nations items of interest.
References Sources
These are examples of dictionaries, handbooks and other guides available in the Reference Collection:
| Reference Number | Dictionary |
|---|---|
| Ref E 78 C15 E25 2000 |
Eargle, Dolan. Native California guide. San Francisco : Trees Company Press, 2000. |
| Ref E 169.1 E624 2001 volumes 1-3 |
Encyclopedia of American cultural and intellectual history. New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. |
| Ref Z 1261 G85 |
Nunis, Doyce B. and Gloria Ricci Lothrop. Guide to the History of California. New York : Greenwood Press, 1989. |
| Ref Z 1261 R63 |
Rocq, Margaret Miller. California Local History: a Bibliography and Union List of Library Holdings, 2nd ed.. Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press, 1970; supplement, 1976. |
| E 51 .U6 no.200 | Smithsonian Institution. Bureau Of American Ethnology bulletin series. Washington, D.C. : Government Printing Office, 1887 - 1971. Major ethnographic resource series on North American Indians; index is Number 200. |
| Ref Z 1210 .C67 T45 1997 |
Teixeira, Lauren S. The Costanoan/Ohlone Indians of the San Francisco and Monterey Bay area : a research guide. Menlo Park, CA : Ballena Press, c1997. |
| Ref Z 5111 .W44 1998 |
Weeks, John M. Introduction to library research in anthropology. Boulder, Colo. : Westview Press, c1998. |
Internet Resources
The following are just a few relevant Internet sites. Use Internet search engines such as Google, Yahoo, etc. to locate more:
California Digital Library [http://www.cdlib.org]
-
The University of California libraries host a number of useful resources at this site, for example:
- Counting California; a compendium of free statistical data about the state. On the SF State web site, see also the RAND California database.
- Online Archive of California; a finding aid for primary sources, especially images.
H-California; the study of California History [http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~cal/]
Supports online discussion and news as well as providing links to teaching resources.
InfoMine; Scholarly Internet Resource Collections [http://infomine.ucr.edu]
University of California, Riverside, guide to academically appropriate internet sites.
National Anthropological Archives & Human Studies Film Archives [http://www.nmnh.si.edu/naa/]
The National Anthropological Archives collects and preserves historical and contemporary anthropological materials that document the world's cultures and the history of the discipline. Its collections represent the four fields of anthropology & ethnology, linguistics, archaeology, and physical anthropology ö and include manuscripts, fieldnotes, correspondence, photographs, maps, sound recordings, film and video created by Smithsonian anthropologists and other preeminent scholars.
SF State California Studies Program [http://bss.sfsu.edu/calstudies/]
Information on the program including links to internet sites.
