Anthropology is the study of the human species. Anthropologists study ways humans organize themselves, the means by which humans organize and understand their world, their physical and cultural remains, language and communication, and the evolution of the species. In the United States, the field of Anthropology has traditionally been divided into four broad sub-disciplines: Cultural Anthropology, Physical Anthropology, Archaeology, and Anthropological Linguistics.
Each of these may draw from the other or related disciplines to gain
a more complete understanding of a particular phenomenon the Anthropologist
is studying. For example, an archaeologist may use
ethnographic data collected by a cultural anthropologist to explain the arrangement
of the remains in an ancient house floor. Within each discipline there are
also specific areas of study. For example, in Cultural Anthropology there are
scholars that study political structures, within Physical Anthropology there
are scholars who study nutrition, and in Archaeology there are scholars who
study ceramics, and in Anthropological Linguistics there are scholars who study
Siouan languages.
This tutorial is intended to acquaint you, the beginning Anthropology student, with the basic resources available in Purdue University Libraries, the Libraries´ online resources, and the Web. This tutorial is structured to give you a general understanding of the four sub-disciplines of Anthropology and then help you understand the resources available from broad general resources to more specific resources.
resources: Cultural Anthropology | Physical Anthropology | Archaeology | Anthropological Linguistics
David M. Hovde, Associate Professor of Library Science
Sociology and Anthropology Bibliographer and Reference Librarian
Office: 341 HSSE
Phone: (765)494-2833
David M. Hovde Homepage