Welcome to the Anthropology Research Guide! Here you will find a selection of the major anthropology research resources available at the University of Toronto. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the library by email or by using Ask a Librarian Chat.

Start at the library homepage

• Develop keywords relating to your topic & enter them into the search field
• Use quotation marks to search words together as a phrase

On the following page, select "Catalogue" from the drop down menu.

To narrow your search results, use some of the "Refine results" options on the left hand side:

• Scroll down to "Subjects"
• Select "View more" to view full list of subject terms
• Select different subject headings to narrow your results

Key Databases in Anthropology

When you're choosing a database, consider which sub-field of anthropology is the most relevant to your topic or research question. Each database has a specific focus or specialization, so the success of your search will depend on matching your topic to a database that has lots of content on that subject or that covers a relevant sub-field.  

Anthropology Databases 

Linguistics Databases

• More Databases 

Interdisciplinary Databases

Find Key Works in Anthropology

Encyclopedias

Dictionaries

Ethnographies are:

• Studies of people in their natural setting.
• Written by researchers immersed in the culture of a group.
• First-hand written accounts produced through participant observation.

Searching for ethnographies in the library catalogue

• Start at the library homepage
• Select "Advanced search" to search in the catalogue

• In the top field, enter the name of the country, region, cultural or social group
• In the second field enter one of the following keywords:
  • ethnography or ethnographies or ethnographic
  • social life and customs
  • case studies
  • field work
  • ethnology
  • manners and customs
  • rites
  • rituals

Searching for ethnographic research online

The following list of books is only a selection of the resources available at the University of Toronto. To search for more, try a subject search in the library catalogue using some of the following keywords:

• Anthropology methodology
• Ethnology authorship
• Ethnology fieldwork
• Ethnology methodology
• Ethnology research
• Interviewing in ethnology

Research methods encyclopedias

Tests, surveys, & measurement tools

Research ethics

• Ethics Review, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto 
  • Contains information for undergraduate students conducting self-initiated research on human subjects
  • Includes application forms & examples
• Office of Research Ethics, University of Toronto 
  • Includes forms, guidelines, information about submission procedures as well as key contacts