Coverage of anthropology by major electronic indexes: a comparison

Librarians increasingly encounter decisions related to the use and/or purchase of an expanding body of bibliographic databases. This article examines the coverage of anthropology literatures in major academic indexes widely available in electronic format. Eight databases were selected for comparison, including three subject‐specific indexes, two multidisciplinary social sciences indexes, and three general academic indexes. Indexes were compared for their coverage of a core list of 135 anthropology journals as well as journals relevant to anthropology in other social science disciplines. In addition to journal coverage, several index characteristics were also compared: years of coverage; timeliness; extent of indexing; record structure; search software; and availability of controlled vocabulary, abstracts and full text. It is concluded that each database has relative merits and weaknesses and that these multiple factors must be considered within the context of local conditions in order to determine which database products are appropriate for meeting local information needs.