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The Library

ANTH 281a: Graduate Library Orientation: Books & eBooks

Library Catalogs

Library catalogs are good places to begin looking for books & e-books by keyword, author, title, or subject.  These database do NOT search the content/text of books however. 

Looking for a journal?  Search by the title of the journal (not the title of the article).

Browsing Anthropology Books in Geisel Library

The main area for anthropology books is on the sixth floor of Geisel Library, in the area with call numbers beginning with the letters GN:


  GN49-298        Physical anthropology.

  • GN51-59            Anthropometry
  • GN62.8-265       Human variation
  • GN269-279        Race (General)
  • GN280.7            Man as an animal.  Simian traits versus human traits
  • GN281-289        Human evolution
  • GN282-286.7          Fossil man.  Human paleontology
  • GN296-296.5     Medical anthropology

  GN301-674        Ethnology.  Social and cultural anthropology

  • GN357-367        Culture and cultural processes (social change, structuralism, diffusion, etc.)
  • GN378-396        Collected ethnographies
  • GN397-397.7     Applied anthropology
  • GN406-517        Cultural traits, customs, and institutions
  • GN406-442              Technology.  Material culture    
  • GN448-450.8            Economic organization.  Economic anthropology
  • GN451-477.7            Intellectual life
  • GN478-491.7            Social organization
  • GN492-495.2            Political organization.  Political anthropology
  • GN495.4-498            Societal groups, ethnocentrism, diplomacy, warfare, etc.
  • GN502-517               Psychological anthropology
  • GN537 674            Ethnic groups and races
  • GN550 674                By region or country
  • GN700 890        Prehistoric archaeology

     The books in Geisel Library are arranged by a system called Library of Congress Classification.  The letters and numbers ("CALL NUMBERS") on the label applied to the spine of each book represent this classficiation.  The call numbers are used to keep the books in order, arranged by subject and subarranged by author.

E-Book Collections

The UC San Diego Library regularly purchases ebooks.  Most are listed in Roger along with other library materials.  Another way to access ebooks is through a publisher/vendor's collection, a few of which are listed here.  For more information see our guide on Ebooks at UCSD.