ANTH 340/689R: Method And Theory In Archaeology

Web page created by Otis A. Chadley, Social Sciences Team, UM Libraries
Instructor: Professor Paul A. Shackel

Scope: This guide will assist you in locating resources on your topic, as well as, information related to archaeological method and theory. Due to licensing agreements, some of the electronic resources available by remote search are restricted to current students, faculty, and staff at the University of Maryland, College Park. For further assistance, E–mail Otis Chadley, ochadley@umd.edu, the subject area specialist, or call 301-405-9282.

Outline

• Understanding Your Topic
• Finding Books & Nonprint Materials
• Finding Magazine Articles
• Finding Journal Articles
• Finding Newspaper Articles
• Finding Useful Web Sites
• Citing Materials Correctly
• Conducting Off Campus Research

To gain a general understanding of your subject, consult reference sources such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks. For additional clarification, discuss your assignment with the course instructor. Also, refer to your assigned textbooks for more information.

Reference Sources (A Selected Listed):

• Archaeological Method and Theory : An Encyclopedia (MCKREF STACKS CC 75 .A654 2000 Noncirculating)
• Encyclopedia of Historical Archaeology (MCKREF STACKS CC 77.H5 E53 2002 Noncirculating)
• Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology (MCKREF STACKS CC 70 .K56 2000 Noncirculating)
• Finding Funding : Grantwriting From Start To Finish, Including Project Management and Internet Use (MCKREF TABLE 1 LB 2825 .F522 2001 Noncirculating)

Online Reference Sources:

Visit our library homepage at http://www.lib.umd.edu and click on Reference Shelf.

Search the online catalog for books and nonprint materials. To locate information, consider searching by subject word/s. Use trucation (*) to retrieve various spellings of a concept. Examples of subject word/s searches might be:

archaeolog* and (method* or theor*)

archaeolog* and (ethno* or sex* or politic*)

Other methods of locating information in the online catalog include author, title, and subject searching. When conducting a subject search, consider using Library of Congress subject headings. Our Reference Librarians can help you find such headings.

To restrict your search by media type (i.e. videos, compact discs, etc.), language, and date, use the Advanced Search Option on the online catalog.

(Not Scholarly)

Magazine articles appear in popular periodicals such as Time and Newsweek. The articles are written for the general audience and are often produced by individuals who are not experts on the topic under discussion. In addition, magazine reports are usually absent footnotes and bibliographies that support claims made within the articles. To locate magazine articles, visit the University Libraries' Homepage (http://www.lib.umd.edu), and click on Research Port. Under Subject Category, click on General/Multidisciplinary,and select a database to search.

Journal articles are scholarly publications. The articles are written for a specific audience and usually produced by experts on the topic under discussion. To support claims made in journal articles, writers include footnotes and bibliographies to research studies. Use a subject specific database to locate journal articles. To locate journal articles, visit the University Libraries' Homepage (http://www.lib.umd.edu), and click on Research Port. Under Subject Category, click on Anthropology or Archaeology, and select a database to search. Also, use other subject categories of databases to locate journal articles.

Newspapers provide timely information on a variety of topics. To identify relevant newspaper articles on your subject, visit the University Libraries' Homepage (http://www.lib.umd.edu), and click on Research Port. Under Subject Category, click on News Sources/Current Events, and select a database to search.

Don't use data from Web sites until you consider authority, accuracy, purpose, content, currency, design, organization, and ease of use. In brief, evaluate Web sites. To locate Web sites on your topic, use various Internet search engines. For a listing of search engines, visit http://www.internettutorials.net/engines.html . For archaeological related resources and sources of funding, refer to the Web sites listed below.

• Archaeology On The Net
• ArchNet
• The Historical Society For Historical Archaeology Website
• National Archeological Database
• National Endowment For The Humanities
• NEH'S Web Site About Grants

Do not plagiarize. Use a style guide to correctly cite ideas you borrow from books, journals, the internet, or other sources. Don't borrow concepts from others without giving credit in your research. Among the style guides are, American Antiquity, APA, Turabian, MLA, Chicago Manual of Style, and AMA.

Which style guide should you use? Ask your course instructor.

• AAA Style
• American Antiquity Style
• APA Style
• Turabian Style
• MLA Style
• MLA Style (A Detailed View)
• Chicago Manual of Style
• AMA Style

Everyone may search the catalog of UM Libraries and the University System of Maryland. Due to our licensing agreements, most databases and e-journals are restricted to current students, faculty, and staff at the University of Maryland, College Park.

To search library holdings, visit our Web site at http://www.lib.umd.edu. Click on "Catalog."

To search databases and e-journals, visit our Web site at http://www.lib.umd.edu. Click on "Research Port" and review screen commands.

Other than "Research Port," you may access library resources through your WAM Account or VPN (Virtual Private Network). For details, visit http://www.lib.umd.edu/ETC/wam.html.

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