The Anthropology of Aging : a guide to library resources

Contents:

Starting points
Finding books
Finding journal articles
Web resources

Starting Points

When you need to define your topic and/or get some background reading try consulting a dictionary or encyclopedia on aging.

The guide to Anthropology dictionaries/encyclopedias will help if you need explanations of anthropological terminology or theory.

To find overviews on the subject try the following:

Cultural context of aging : worldwide perspectives (1997) [print]
[Uses the concept of culture to explore the parameters of aging and being old in a worldwide context, thus providing a cross-cultural and qualitative approach to social gerontology. Some support material for the text is available via the Web]

Old age : constructions and deconstructions (1994) [print]
[Approaches the subject from a social constructionist perspective, and draws on a variety of detailed ethnographic accounts of the old]

Old age : cultural & critical perspectives (1994) [electronic]
[A critical survey of significant developments published in vol.23 of the Annual review of Anthropology). Also available in print format]

Finding Books Using The Library Catalogue

Books can be found by searching the library catalogue. Keyword searching is probably the best way of identifying material, and your results will be maximised by using keyword searching techniques such as truncation and Boolean searching, and by incorporating subject headings into your search where appropriate. Here are some examples on how to construct searches:

"older people" and "cross-cultural studies"

"older people" and (china or japan)

(aging or aged) and multicultural?

Finding Journal Articles Using Databases & Bibliographies

Journal articles can be found through databases listed in the Databases for Anthropology guide - of particular relevance for Australian topics are FAMILY (Australian Family & Society Abstracts), MAIS (Multicultural Australia & Immigration Studies) and APA-FT which covers Australian topics in the humanities and social sciences

In addition, there are bibliographies of books & journal articles in the library which are probably most useful for identifying earlier material.

Web Resources

Association for Anthropology and Gerontology
[A multidisciplinary group dedicated to the exploration and understanding of aging within and across the diversity of human cultures]

Australian Dept of Health & Ageing
[Provides information about specific programs, subjects and initiatives developed by the Department and agencies]

Reference information on older people
[This is a Council on the Ageing (Australia) guide to key print & web resources]

Last update: 25 May 2009 Helen Attar