AHST 295: Women, Gender, and Mesoamerica

Library Research Guide

Professor Headrick


Yvonne Boyer, Arts Librarian

Phone: 322-6284
Email: Yvonne.Boyer@vanderbilt.edu

Paula Covington, Latin American Studies Librarian

Phone: 322-6282
Email:Paula.Covington@vanderbilt.edu

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

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.
Examples of useful subject headings: Maya art; Tikal site

Narrowing a search: Connect different concepts with the word AND. Ex. maya AND sculpture.

Broadening a search: Use the truncation symbol to pick up variants of those terms.

Ex. maya$ will retrieve items with the terms maya, mayan or mayans.
Connect similar concepts with the word OR. Ex. (gender or women) AND maya$; (marina OR malinche) AND mexico.

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 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, Latin American Studies, or Women’s Studies) and click the GO button. Below are a few suggested databases with descriptions of what is covered.

**AnthroSource

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Includes the full text of a number of AAA peer-reviewed journals and other anthropological journals and newsletters.

 

**Anthropology Plus
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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 Full-Text
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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.

 

**Bibliografia Mesoamericana

An extensive bibliography on Mesoamerican topics.

 

Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA)
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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.

 

Contemporary Women’s Issues

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Full text of journal articles, newsletters and research reports with occasional relevant information on historical and anthropological themes.  Covers 1992 to the present.

 

eHRAF Collection of Ethnography and eHRAF Collection of Archaeology
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.

 

Gender Studies

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Gender-related articles and documents with links to selected full text.  Covers primarily 1972 to the present.

 

Grove Dictionary of Art
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Useful for getting an overview of your paper topic. See the bibliographies and encyclopedias for additional resources.

**Handbook of Latin American Studies
Change search bullet default from authors to full-citation and annotation and change “match words exactly” to “include word variants.”  Choose maximum number of hits to be returned.  The principal bibliography of books and articles about Latin America--covers 1935 to the present.

HAPI (Hispanic American Periodicals Index)

Automatic truncation (e.g., mexic). 

The principal index to journal articles published throughout the world on Latin America from 1970 to the present.

 

International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS)

"IBSS includes nearly two million bibliographic references to journal articles and to books, reviews and selected chapters dating back to 1951.”  Broad international coverage.

Bibliographies and Encyclopedias

Berlo, Janet. The Art of Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica: An Annotated Bibliography. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1985. (Reference Z 1209 .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.

Carrasco, Davíd. Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
(Reference F1218.6 .O95 2001, volumes 1-3)

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)

Gender in Pre-Hispanic America: A Symposium at Dumbarton Oaks. Ed. by Cecilia Klein.  Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 2001.

(E59 .S45 G46 2001 8th floor)

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)

Other Resources

For selected Internet sites, see the Heard Library homepage Subject Guides for Anthropology & Archaeology, Latin American Studies, and Resources for Arts, and Women’s Studies.


Last updated: January, 2006


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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