Anthropology: Open Access

Becoming Human is a fast-paced, irreverent introduction to evolutionary theory, especially human origins. The book is based on the Open2Study MOOC, 'Becoming Human,' created by Dr. Greg Downey and Open Universities Australia. The book discusses traces of evolution in our bodies, basic evolutionary theory from Darwin to the genomic revolution, sexual selection and reproduction, and how human brain development affects our evolution, including into the future. Copiously illustrated, with some interactive diagrams, videos of Dr. Downey presenting the material are also available through Open2Study.

Author: The American Folklife Center, Stephen Winick and Peter Bartis

This 2016 updated edition is designed for born-digital documentation, which requires a whole new set of practices—new ways of recording and new methods of preservation. Since the first edition appeared there has also been a surge of interest in personal archiving. Preserving family history, genealogy, and community history has never been more popular.

Author(s): Barbara Welker

Where did we come from? What were our ancestors like? Why do we differ from other animals? How do scientists trace and construct our evolutionary history? The History of Our Tribe: Hominini provides answers to these questions and more. The book explores the field of paleoanthropology past and present. Beginning over 65 million years ago, Welker traces the evolution of our species, the environments and selective forces that shaped our ancestors, their physical and cultural adaptations, and the people and places involved with their discovery and study. It is designed as a textbook for a course on Human Evolution but can also serve as an introductory text for relevant sections of courses in Biological or General Anthropology or general interest. It is both a comprehensive technical reference for relevant terms, theories, methods, and species and an overview of the people, places, and discoveries that have imbued paleoanthropology with such fascination, romance, and mystery.

This is an open access textbook for introductory physical or biological anthropology classes. Designed for San Diego Community College.

Author(s): Susan Stebbins

Native Peoples of North America is intended to be an introductory text about the Native peoples of North America (primarily the United States and Canada) presented from an anthropological perspective. As such, the text is organized around anthropological concepts such as language, kinship, marriage and family life, political and economic organization, food getting, spiritual and religious practices, and the arts. Prehistoric, historic and contemporary information is presented. Each chapter begins with an example from the oral tradition that reflects the theme of the chapter. The text includes suggested readings, videos, and classroom activities.

"Perspectives" is the first peer-reviewed open access textbook for cultural anthropology courses. It is produced by the Society for Anthropology in Community Colleges and available free of charge for use in any setting.

Books in this subject area deal with anthropology: the study of human beings, everywhere and throughout time.
Completed books include "Introduction to Paleoanthropology" and books nearing completion include "Cultural Anthropology."

This course covers the basic areas of anthropology including biological evolution, the prehistoric evolution of early civilizations, language, culture and social life, and the analyses of the nature and variability of human institutions. However, the components that deal with cultural anthropology are heavily emphasized.

MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity. OCW contains several dozen Anthropology and related courses.

Hundreds of anthropology related learning objects are listed here.

Find modules by HCC's own Carol Laman here as well as over 150 more Anthropology related modules and course pages.

OER Commons is a public digital library of open educational resources. Explore, create, and collaborate with educators around the world to improve curriculum. There are several hundred Anthropology and related resources here.

The Department of Anthropology, a part of the National Museum of Natural History, maintains ethnographic, archaeological, and human biological collections numbering over two and a half million items and the nation’s premier archives devoted to anthropological manuscripts and film. Anthropology collections document world cultures past and present and the history of anthropology. Information on collections, conservation, and research is available through the databases and web pages listed below.

• Collections Search Center (CSC) - The Collections Search Center provides easy "one-stop searching" of more than 5.4 million of the Smithsonian's museum, archives, library and research holdings and collections from across the institution. Selected fields from Anthropology’s ethnographic, archaeological, and archival databases are included, and the CSC provides links to the specific online databases listed below.
  
  
• SIRIS: Smithsonian Archives, Manuscripts, and Photographic Collections - SIRIS provides access to archives and libraries across the Smithsonian. It is the primary database for the NAA and the HSFA, following national archival standards to manage, describe, and provide access to research resources. There are over 107,000 anthropology records with information on manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings and films and over 80,000 digital images and an increasing number of sound and film clips.
  
  
• Department of Anthropology Collections Database - This database provides access to catalog records for the archaeology and ethnology collections, with 420,000 records representing an estimated 2.5 million individual objects. The online database includes selected information from the catalog about objects, including their identification, place of collection, and cultural attribution. More than 111,000 images of objects are available, and more are added as they become available.
  
  
• John Wesley Powell Anthropology Library - The Anthropology Library is one of 20 branches in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries system. It supports the research, publication, exhibitions, and public programming of the department and the wider Smithsonian. The collection reflects the important role that the Smithsonian played in the development of anthropology as a formal discipline in the United States.