Library Guides:  
Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness

Created by Kathie Lewis and Connie Fly

Reference Collection:
The Reference Collection is on the Main Floor of the COS Library

Sexuality and the World's Religions    R 291.178 S518

Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America     R 305.8 G151  also available online in the Gale Virtual Reference Library
    This two volume set provides information on the country of origin and the circumstances surrounding major immigration waves. The articles also cover acculturation, assimilation, family and community dynamics, language, religion, employment and economic traditions, politics and government. This set extends its scope to include the Native American Groups who were here before us.

American Immigrant Cultures: Builders of a Nation   R 305.8 A512
    This two volume set takes a culture and provides a brief overview of the country of origin, immigration history, the culture's assimilation in America, and social organization. Depending on the culture, this set may also cover Socioeconomic characteristics, Housing, Health care and Education, Family and Kinship, Interpersonal Relationships, Cultural Resilience and more. Each article includes a bibliography, that can lead you to some excellent sources.

WorldMark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life   R305.8 W927
   This four volume set provides information on ethnic groups in various countries. The three-five page articles provide a brief overview of the country and then goes on to cover a variety of topics. These topics include; Rites of Passage, Family Life, Cultural Heritage, Food, and more.

Encyclopedia of World Cultures    R 306.097 En56
    The strength and weakness of this 10 volume set is that it looks at the various small cultural groups throughout the world. It doesn't necessarily follow the current political boundaries that set countries apart. The set does contain some excellent information on traditions, family units, religion and gender roles.

Encyclopedia of Multiculturalism   R 306.4 En56
    This reference set discusses both ethnic groups and topics such as Health and Medicine.

Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups  R 973.04 H339
    An older, yet useful, one volume work arranged by ethnic groups.

Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: How to Do Business in Sixty Countries    R 395.52 M882
     Cultural overviews, Behavior Styles, Protocol and Business Practices.

International Encyclopedia of Sexuality   R 306.7 In61
    Each chapter in this book is devoted to a particular country. Each of the 31 chapters includes an overview; comparisons of life cycles between men's and women's gender roles; infancy and early childhood, school years, young adulthood, and old age.

Refugee and Immigrant Health: A Handbook for Health Professionals    R362.1 K32

 You Eat What you Are: People   R 394.1 B248
    This book examines the history and traditions of meal patterns, eating customs, regional specialties, and distinctive methods of food preparation commonly used by more than 170 cultural groups around the world.

Death and the Afterlife - A Cultural Encyclopedia   R 398.03 T245
    This one volume set covers the funeral customs and views of death of various ethnic groups.

A Celebration of Customs and Rituals around the World    R 394.2 In53

Tobacco in History and Culture: An Encyclopedia    R 394.14 T628

You are Cordially Invited to Weddings: Dating and Love Customs of Cultures Worldwide  R 392.5 M834

Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Folklore and Folklife    R 398.03 G816

Encyclopedia of Native American Healing    R 615.8 L991

Encyclopedia of Native American Shamanism: Sacred Ceremonies of North America  R 615.8 L991

The Asian American Encyclopedia    R 973.0495 A832

The Latino Encyclopedia  R 973.0468 S345

Encyclopedia of the African-American Culture and History  R 973.En56

Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture   R 980.003 En56

Encyclopedia of Modern Middle East    R 956.003 En56

Books on Reserve

Do's and Taboos Around the World for Women in Business    910.202 D722

Gestures: The DO's and TABOOs of the Body Language Around the World   302.222 A972

American Indian Healing Arts    R615.88 K21

Online Book Catalog

Using the online COS book catalog, find the Title tab section. Type in the words Culture and Customs and press the enter button. There will be a list of books that start with those words and end with a country. You may also go to the subject tab and type in the name of your country.

Examples of subject headings and/or key words to use in searching:

Examples of useful titles:
    Islamic Society in Practice  297.0962 F646
    Rationing Health Care in America   362.1 C561
    Ethnicity and Family Therapy  616.89 Et84

NetLibrary eBooks:

     This is a set of over 3000 titles of books that are available only online. This database was purchased for COS students and you must create a password on campus before using this database off campus. Access to the NetLibrary is available from the COS Library Home Page. Use the same subject headings and key words that are suggested for the online catalog.

Electronic Resources

    The Electronic Resources that are available to COS students are located here.  These electronic resources are not web sites even though they are accessed through the Internet. They are periodical databases that the COS Library has purchased. Academic Abstracts indexes over 850 journals and approximately 125 of these journals are full-text in the database. The other databases include full-text articles from newspapers and other resources.

    One of the Electronic Resources available is CountryWatch. This database contains a list of countries from which to choose. A wide variety of cultural information is available on each country including articles on cultural etiquette.

    If you are going to access these sites off campus you will need a login and password. This information is available at the Information Desk on the main floor of the library.

FindArticles.com - Right now this web site continues to provide free database searching with links to many full-text articles.

World Wide Web Resources

COS Library's Web Site:

Multicultural Health Issues
    Several excellent links to sites providing information on the health issues of various ethnic groups.

Cultural Diversity Guide for Health Professionals
    Although this site is directed to those providing health care in Australia, it has some excellent basic information about various ethnic groups and how they have handled health care in their own culture.

On the page entitled Library Guides there is a section on Ethnic Studies. Books titles and web links are listed for each ethnic group.
    

For Questions and Comments, please mail to:  kathiel@cos.edu or  connief@cos.edu