Re: libraries

John W. Hoopes (jhoopes@CARIARI.UCR.AC.CR)
Thu, 19 Oct 1995 21:56:35 -0600

On Thu, 19 Oct 1995, Elizabeth Vance wrote:

> I was wondering about Anthropology collections. Is there any library in
> the US that has *everything* anthropological in nature? Is Tozzer the
> best library, as far as Anthro goes? I was searching the Library of
> Congress, and they didn't even have all the articles I needed. Wouldn't
> it be lovely if there was a library for Anthropology that had every
> book, every journal, every dissertation (for Anthro, that is) ever
> written? I'd be in heaven (not *the* Heaven, just *a* heaven).

Elizabeth,

In my own, biased opinion (I used it as a graduate student and also
worked as Indexer for a year while I was finishing my dissertation), Tozzer
Library at Harvard is indeed the best you'll find. They do not have copies
of every anthropology dissertation--you'll only get close to that at
University Microfilms (and not even there will you find older ones)--but
they receive over 1000 different journals and collect virtually everything
that is published. What makes it especially nice is that they index just
about EVERYTHING, including chapters in edited volumes, book reviews, and
a variety of miscellaneous items. Much of this appears "Anthropological
Literature", the best index to periodical literature and edited volumes,
which is now available on CD-ROM and makes an excellent supplement to the
original Tozzer catalog on microfiche.
About the only other library that comes close is the one at the
Royal Anthropological Institute in London. Tozzer is pretty much your
best shot at bibliographic heaven!

John Hoopes