ARCH 231: Mesoamerican Archaeology

Welcome to the class research guide for ARCH 231: Mesoamerican Archaeology with Dr. Munson. This guide will provide recommended library resources including definitions, reference materials, and databases. 

You can find information on creating citations with Chicago (author-date) style at Snowden's Online Citation Station or at the in-person station on the first floor of the library. Librarians are also happy to help you with citing!

The following definitions are important concepts to understand as you locate sources and work on your Group Research Projects: 

• Reference Resources: a great place to start your research! Entries in reference resources tend to be short and can help you gather background information and define unfamiliar terms from your readings. Our physical reference materials can be found on the first floor of Snowden Library and include encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and handbooks.
   
• Scholarly Journal Articles: these sources are written by experts in their field to communicate research and findings with other scholars and students studying that subject. Scholarly journal articles often use more technical and/or subject specific language, so it is good practice to first build an understanding of your topic through reference resources and books before reading. 
   
• Peer-Review: also known as refereed, this is the process of submitting an article for publication through an external review of other subject experts that evaluates the quality of scholarship and validity of the methodology and procedures.