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Margaret Schaus, Reference Librarian and Bibliographer (HC)

Sections:

Anthropology Encyclopedias
Encyclopedias in Other Subject Areas
Finding Books
Using Journal Articles

Selected Journals:

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Related Subjects:

Databases A-Z:

Other:

WR PROG 130 : Ritual, Identity, and Social Life (HC)

Introduction

The resources below will provide you with background information and scholarly studies for your project on the Incwala festival.

When you read an article, be aware of the following issues:

    * Expertise - What is the author's training? Has he or she published other articles in this subject area?

    * Audience - Who are the intended readers? Is it for the general public or for college students and researchers?

    * Discipline Focus - Does the author define ritual broadly or is s/he focusing on a particular aspect from one field of study?

    * Documentation - Is there a bibliography for further reading? Are there titles there that are new to you?

    * Date - If this was published more than 10 years ago, do I need to find updated information?

Anthropology Encyclopedias:

The encyclopedias in these two sections provide definitions, explanations, and broader contexts for Incwala, the Swazi people, and ritual performances.

African folklore

Publisher: New York : Routledge, 2004.

H Magill Reference Room GR350 A33 2004
The article "Ritual Performance" discusses the Nc'wala ceremony of the Ngoni people in terms of ethnic identity (see page 399).

Companion encyclopedia of anthropology

Publisher: London ; Routledge, 2002.

H Magill Reference Room GN25 C65 2002

Encyclopedia of cultural anthropology

Publisher: New York : Henry Holt and Co., 1996.

H Magill reference Room GN307 E52 1996

Encyclopedia of social and cultural anthropology

Publisher: London ; Routledge, 1996.

H Magill Reference Room GN307 E527 1996

Encyclopedia of world cultures

Publisher: Boston, Mass. : G.K. Hall, c1991-c1995.

Encyclopedias in Other Subject Areas:

Encyclopedia of religion

Publisher: Detroit : Macmillan Reference USA, 2005.

H magill Reference Room BL31 E46 2005
The article "Kingship: Kingship in Sub-Saharan Africa" (vol. 8, pages 5169-5172) places the Incwala ceremony within the larger context of African kingship as well as signalling important scholarly studies.

The Garland encyclopedia of world music

Publisher: New York : Garland Pub., 1998-c2002.

Volume I Africa, pages 705-707 Describes the music of the Nguni peoples and mentions the first fruits ritual of the Swazi.

International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences

Publisher: Amsterdam ; Elsevier, 2001.

H Magill Reference Room H41 I58 2001

New encyclopedia of Africa

See brief descriptions of the Incwala ceremony in the articles:
Swaziland
Government

Finding Books:

Use the Tripod Library Catalog to look for relevant books owned by Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore.

The following subject searches are examples of possibilities.

swazi
ritual
To find materials in Tripod on a topic, try doing a keyword search to find relevant materials and then using the subject headings assigned to those materials to find more material.
ritual* ( king* or royal) afr*
harvest (festival* or holiday* or feast*)

Tripod - For locating books, journals, and other materials held in the Tri-College libraries. Delivery within the trico usually arrive in one or two days. Use "Request" or "Get" option. You can mark and then email or print records.

E-ZBorrow and Interlibrary Loan - Request items that are not available in Tripod on this page. Note that PALCI E-Z Borrow provides only books. If a book is not in E-Z Borrow, request it through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). E-Z Borrow takes around three to five days to deliver your requested books, while ILL can sometimes take a few days longer.

Using Journal Articles:

Journal articles provide in depth scholarly information for your research. They are vetted and improved by peer review. The following indexes are the best ways to find journal articles about anthropology and African Studies.

Currently indexes over 3800 journals and magazines in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences starting with 1986. More than half of the citations include the full-text of the article. Use this for a quick overview of articles in the journals that appeal to broader scholarly audiences.

Proquest Research Library

Discipline-specific Indexes

These indexes are particularly good for accessing the scholarly literature of specific disciplines, i.e., articles written by anthropologists, sociologists, and scholars in African studies.

Africa-wide

Provider: Ebsco

Offers access to multi-disciplinary information on Africa including books, journal articles, maps and music recordings. Some materials are in full-text. Covers 19th century-present.

Anthropology plus

Provides abstracts on journal articles, and reports in many fields including social, cultural, and linguistic anthropology; archaeology, ethnology, folklore and interdisciplinary studies. Covers publications from the late 19th century to the present.

Sociological abstracts

Holdings:
1963-

Publisher: Bethesda, Md. : Cambridge Scientific Abstracts,

Provider: CSA

Provides abstracts of journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations and conference papers in the fields of sociology, social work and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Records added after 1972 contain in-depth abstracts of journal articles. Covers 1963-present.