ANTH 262 & 369 Course Guide (Primatology)
Primatology is the scientific study of non-human primates. It is studied within the disciplines of Biological (Physical) Anthropology, as well as Zoology, Biology, and Psychology. The Queens College Department of Anthropology includes many useful links, especially in the Links section. Other Library resources in the sciences may also prove useful for your research.
Prof. James T. Mellone
Bibliographer for Anthropology
Encyclopedias & Reference Guides
When beginning research, often information found in encyclopedias and other reference guides can provide good background on a topic.
- Encyclopedia of Anthropology (Ref. GN11. E63 2005, 5 vols.)
- Well illustrated, alphabetical arrangement, all areas of anthropology.
- Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and Prehistory (Ref. GN281 E53 2000, 2nd edition)
- Authoritative one volume work on human evolution.
- Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia (Ref. QL7. G7813 2003, 17 vols., 2nd edition)
- Standard zoological reference source for basic information on species. Primates are covered in volume 14, in the section Mammals III.
- Primate Info Net
- Information about primates from the Wisconsin Primate Research Center including factsheets, bibliographies, vocalizations, slide shows, and other resources.
- The Primates
- Tutorial by Dr. Dennis O'Neil (Palomar College) presenting the taxonomy and general characteristics of primates.
Books
Once you know the basics on your topic search, search for more published scholarship, such as books, in the CUNY Catalog or other library catalogs.
- CUNY Catalog
- Search for books at the Queens College libraries, as well as other CUNY libraries. Request books from other CUNY libraries using the CUNY Book Delivery system, CLICS.
- New York Public Library
- Books at the research libraries are non-circulating and must be consulted on site. NYPL has one of the premier research collections in the country and is open to all New York State residents.
- WorldCat (OCLC Catalog)
- Search for books in this national and international catalog. Includes holdings from libraries in other parts of the world, primarily European or English-speaking.
Articles
A journal article is written by a scholar or an expert, and provides a detailed analysis of a topic. It documents the resources the writer used by providing bibliographic citations such as footnotes, endnotes, and bibliography so a reader can check or repeat the research the scholar has completed.
A scholarly journal is edited by other scholars, and any article published in the journal has usually been approved by the author's peers or by referees (other scholars expert in the subject who may review and critique the article before it is accepted for publication). This is why most scholarly journals are referred to as a Peer-Reviewed or Refereed journals. Here is a comparison between popular and scholarly periodicals. Use the following databases to search for journal articles on a topic. You can use other Databases depending what topic you are researching.
- Abstracts in Anthropology
- Articles in all subdisciplines of anthropology, 2001—Also print, Queens College Library, Reference Index, Table 14, 1970–2008.
- Anthropological Index
- From the Royal Anthropological Institute, Journals of the British Museum, many international, from 1957.
- Annual Review of Anthropology
- Review articles on all subdisciplines of anthropology, lengthy reference lists, from 1970.
- General Science Full Text
- Abstracts of scholarly journal articles and science magazine articles.
- JSTOR
- Multidisciplinary: Searchable full text journals. Retrospective, with most recent (usually 3–5 years) absent. Use other databases to retrieve current publications.
- Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts
- Useful for topics in anthropological linguistics, since 1973.
- MEDLINE (EBSCO)
- Comprehensive, from National Library of Medicine. Can be useful for some topics in biological anthropology, from 1960s on.
- PrimateLit Database (Wisconsin Primate Research Center)
- A bibliographic database for primatology. Publication coverage is 1940-2010.
- PsycINFO
- Abstracts of scholarly journal articles, book essays, and dissertations in psychology and related disciplines.
- Science Direct (Elsevier)
- Full-text of scholarly journal articles in the sciences, technology, and medicine.
Associations
- American Society of Primatologists
- European Federation for Primatology
- International Primatological Society
- PEGG: Primate Ecology and Genetics Group (South African Primatology Association)
- Primate Society of Great Britain
Research Centers & Museums
- American Museum of Natural History: Hall of Human Origins
- Biomedical Primate Research Centre (Rijswijk, The Netherlands)
- BRU: Cape Peninsula Baboon Research Unit
- Jane Goodall Institute
- National Primate Research Centers (NIH)
