AFRI-L202: Occultism in Africa

Summer 2012
Instructor: Dr. David Adu-Amankwah

---

Guest Lecturer: Dr. Marion Frank-Wilson, Librarian for African Studies
May 18, 2012

How to Find Information in the Wells Library:

IU's African Studies collection ranks among the top tier of such collections in the United States. The focus of our collection is on various disciplines across the humanities and social sciences, i.e., history, literature, languages, folklore, political science, economics, anthropology, etc.

We collect in all formats (print, microform, video, audio), and our collection is equally strong in historical sources (including many primary source type materials) as it is in contemporary materials.

You should be able to find most of the sources required for your research papers here without having to do interlibrary loan. However, if you do request items via interlibrary loan, keep in mind that it may take 2-4 weeks for them to arrive.

Access to the African Studies Collection:

1. Ask the Librarian: Marion Frank-Wilson (mfrankwi@indiana.edu, 812-855-1481, Wells Library E660)
2. Consult the African Studies Collection at their website.

How to Find Sources:

For Books:
Search IUCAT or IU Worldcat

Examples:
a) Author: Fortune, Dion

b) Title: What is occultism?

c) Keywords:
Occultism AND Africa
Witchcraft AND Ghana
etc.

For tips on effective keyword searching, see: Boolean Operators.

You may submit an interlibrary loan request directly from WorldCat. Keep in mind that it may take 2-4 weeks for books to arrive, whereas articles can generally be obtained faster.

For Articles:

Selected online indexes can be found by going to: Resources by Subject - African Studies

Africa-specific indexes:
Africa-Wide Information (formerly Africa-Wide NiPAD)
African Studies Abstracts Online

Other, discipline-specific indexes:
ATLA Religion
Academic Search Premier
Historical Abstracts
AnthropologyPlus
MLA International Bibliography (for literature, folklore, popular culture)
JSTOR

Try these keywords:
Trokosi
Trokosi AND Slavery
Trokosi AND Ghana
Trokosi AND Women
Ghana AND Traditional Religion
Ghana AND Witchcraft
Africa AND Witchcraft
Ghana AND Occultism
Ghana AND Indigenous Beliefs
Ghana AND Indigenous Knowledge
Ghana AND Indigenous Magic
Fetishism
(Human) Sacrifice
Talismans
Shrines
Traditional Religion
Astrology
Parapsychology
Traditional Healers
Spiritual Healers
Medicine AND Religion
etc.

Evaluating Websites:
Evaluating Internet Resources (links to resources)
Evaluating, Navigating, and Citing the Web and Electronic Resources
Evaluating Web Sites

Need help finding electronic full texts of journal articles?
How do I find electronic full-text articles with IU~Link? (screencast tutorial)

Other Useful Websites:
Africa South of the Sahara: Religion in Africa
Religion in Africa on the Internet (Columbia University)
H-Africa (important listserv for African Studies--look at discussion threads on topics such as ritual, voodoo, witches, primitivism, mami wata)
Information Commons, Wells Library (tips for conducting research, writing papers, and more)