AHST/ANTH 257: Art of Mesoamerica (Headrick)
Library Research Guide
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Yvonne Boyer, Arts Librarian
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Paula Covington, Latin American Studies Librarian
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Sue Erickson, Anthropology Librarian
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Locating Books in ACORN,
the library's catalog of its books, media,
and journal titles
Note: Acorn does not include journal article
titles or authors (see Locating Journal Articles)
When beginning a research project, it is usually best to begin
with a keyword search. Once you have looked at the full record for a few items
that are close to your topic you will have a better sense of the subject headings
that will be used to describe material on this topic.
See the search
strategy guide for help with formulating a search strategy for your
topic.
Examples of useful subject headings:
Aztec art
Teotihuacan site (San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico)
Oaxaca Valley (Mexico)--Antiquities
Indians of Mexico
Indians of Central America--Guatemala
Narrowing a search:
Connect different concepts with the word AND:
Example: aztec AND sculpture.
Broadening a search:
Use the truncation symbol to pick up variants of those terms. Ex. olmec$
will retrieve items with the terms olmec, olmecs.
Connect similar concepts with the word OR:
Example: (writing OR inscriptions) AND aztec
(pottery
OR ceramics) AND olmec$
Locating Journal Articles
Use article databases to find journal articles. While some databases
have the full text of journal articles, many will have only citations and
abstracts. Use the Periodical Title search in ACORN
to to see if the library has the journal title. You can display a list of
databases in a particular subject by clicking on Articles & Databases
on the Heard Library Homepage.
Choose a subject from the menu (ex. Art, Anthropology or Latin American Studies)
and click the GO button. Below are a few suggested databases with descriptions
of what is covered.
Anthropology
Plus
Truncation symbol: ?
The principal index to articles, essays and other publications in anthropology,
archaeology and related subjects, it is derived from the periodicals and books
in the premier anthropology collection at the Tozzer Library of Harvard University
and the Royal Anthropological Institute.
Art
Abstracts Fulltext (includes Art Index Retrospective)
Truncation symbol: *
A bibliographic database that indexes and abstracts articles from more than
260 art related periodicals published throughout the world. Full-text coverage
for selected periodicals (beginning in 1997) is also included.
Bibliography
of the History of Art (BHA)
Truncation symbol: *
BHA indexes the current literature of European art from the 4th century
to the present, and of North and South American art from the European discovery
of the Americas to the present.
eHRAF
Collection of Ethnography and eHRAF
Collection of Archaeology
Truncation symbol: *
Full-text databases containing information about cultures and archaeological
traditions, respectively. These texts are subject-indexed at the paragraph level
for quick retrieval of specific information. For search tips, see
eHRAF
User Guides, which include search strategy tips, a tutorial, a glossary
and more.
Grove
Dictionary of Art
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Useful for getting an overview of your paper topic. See the bibliographies and
encyclopedias for additonal resources.
Handbook
of Latin American Studies
The principal bibliography of books and articles about Latin America--covers
1935 to the present.
Other Online Resources
For selected Internet sites, see the Subject Guides for
Anthropology,
Arts.
and Latin
American Studies.
Bibliographies and Encyclopedias
Berlo, Janet. The Art of Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica: An Annotated
Bibliography. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1985. (Reference Z 1209.2 .M4 B47 1985)
Annotated bibliography of over 1,500 books and articles relating to Mesoamerican
art (e. g., art, architecture, sculpture, painting, iconography, ball courts,
codices). Subject index.
Bibliografia Mesoamericana http://famsi.famsi.org:5000/
An extensive bibliography on Mesoamerican topics.
Bunson, Margaret R. and Stephen M. Bunson. Encyclopedia of
Ancient Mesoamerica. New York: Facts on File, c1996. (Reference F1219 .B932
1996)
Carrasco, Davíd. Oxford
Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures. New York: Oxford University Press,
2001.
(Reference F1218.6 .O95 2001, volumes 1-3; also available online) A good starting
place for finding background information and key references on your topic.
Evans, Susan Toby and David L. Webster. Archaeology of Ancient
Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia. (Reference F1218.6 .A73 2001)
Kendall, Aubyn. The Art and Archaeology of Pre-Columbian
Middle America: An Annotated Bibliography of Works in English. Boston:
G. K. Hall, 1977. (Reference Z1208 .M4 K45)
Annotated bibliography to books and articles on art and archaeology. Arranged
by author. Subject index to sites and topics (e.g., archaeoastronomy, bloodletting,
obsidian).
Peregrine Peter N. and Melvin Ember. Encyclopedia of Prehistory.
New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum, c2001-c2002.
(Reference GN710 .E53 2001; volume 5 covers Middle America)
Turner, Jane. Encyclopedia of Latin American & Caribbean
Art. London: Macmillan Reference Ltd.; New York: Grove's Dictionaries, c2000.
(Reference N6502 .E53 2000; part of the Grove
Dictionary of Art online)
Last updated: January 31, 2007
Send comments to Sue
Erickson