Research Links

All of the links on this page lead to search options open to the public. Some offer full text online for free and some offer full text but charge a fee for the download. Others, and this includes most of the library collections catalogs and research databases, provide only citations, or in some cases, citations and abstracts.

If you find that you need the full text of something that you have found in a catalog-only source, and it is not available locally, there are still three basic options open to you:

• Repeat the search by title and author in the appropriate free or fee-based full-text database (several are given below).

• Request the materials through your local public library's interlibrary loan service. (Allow for up to two weeks delivery time for interlibrary loan. Because of the heavy demand on university and college library systems, you may receive faster service for the same materials from your local public library)

• Purchase the materials with a special order at your local bookstore or from one of the many online booksellers . Most books in print in the United States, and a less complete selection of world titles can be purchased from online bookstores.

  For new web-researchers, a last two suggestions:

• Start early and allow plenty of time to do an online search. Some sites load very slowly, and it can take up to ten times as long as you expected to find and download a text that you need--longer if you don't already know where to find the text.
• This page assumes you don't have access to a research institution. Some of the sources given here charge the public a fee for each download but maintain institutional service contracts with schools and libraries. So, before you pay for a download, see if you can download it for free through your institutional account.

General Research Links

• The Library of Congress
  The library of Congress has, besides its huge online catalog, a surprisingly divserse range of primary and historical sources available as full text and image downloads at no charge.



• Temple University Libraries
  Includes online catalog, a few research databases available to the public.
  • The Internet Resources Page offers a wide variety of electronic sources organized around the disciplines.



• University of Pennsylvania Libraries
  This is a good source for folklore specific as well as general research.
  • The Selected Web Sites are fairly comprehensive and there is a section of links for folklore.



• Carl Uncover
  Offers free database search of scholarly articles database. The full text of articles, is available on a fee for download basis.
  • Note: According to a press release on the website, Ingenta bought Uncover in January of 2000. Expect changes.



• Ingenta
  This is a gateway to subcriber journals. You can perform searches for free. Fees for journal subscriptions or pay-per-use are determined seperately by each journal.



• newslibrary.com
  This is a great source for newspaper articles from around the United States and Canada. All articles can be downloaded for a small fee.

• Social Science Information Gateway
  Well organized, highly professional gateway to links in all branches of the social sciences, from Anthropology to Business and Philosphy to Women's Studies.



• The Ur-List of Anthropological Resources
  This is anthropology heaven. Hundreds of links in an easy to follow tree organization.

• The American Folklife Center's Resources in Ethnographic Studies:
  Some links to online materials, but this link is about the study of ethnography and folklore: programs, societies, archives and exhibitors, etc.



• Folklife Center Collections
  This is where you will find some of the great folklore collections of the American Folklife Center, including sound and video downloads.



• Indiana University Folklore Links
  Some links for forlklore research at Indiana University.



• Newfolk
  Broad range of folklore topics and approaches, particularly strong in contemporary issues


Southern Council for Folk Culture
Information about public folklore projects in the Southeastern United States


• Vietnam Veterans Oral History and Folklore Project
  Terrific site with articles, links, and materials about the songs of Vietnam. Plan to spend a while, it pulls you in.

• Amazon.com.
  One of the earliest and most established web-based booksellers. They have recently opened a university section, and have branches in the UK and Germany.



• Barnes and Noble.
  Currently Barnes and Noble is eating all the University Bookstores on the East Coast. However, online service and prices are comparable to Amazon and other major online booksellers.



• Borders Books.
  Another walk-in bookstore chain with a significant online presence.


Bookstore Metasearch


• AddAll Book Search
  This site searches over 40 bookstores to find the best price for any book you search. If you have a preferred online bookseller, this probably isn't worth your time for new books. However,
  • AddAll Used and Out of Print Book Search.
    searches a wide range of online used book services. This one can save a lot of time looking for a hard to find book.