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The Hulbert Taft, Jr. Library

Foundations: Mesoamerican Civilizations: Maya

MAYA   

Secondary Sources

Secondary Sources will have more specific information about your topic.

  • Secondary source books written by scholars which present a new interpretation or thesis based upon a synthesis of primary sources, scholarly journal articles, and other secondary sources.
  • Sometimes there will be an entire book, sometimes you may have to assemble information from multiple monographs.
  • Secondary sources will usually have a bibliography of materials for further study.

 

BOOKS ON RESERVE AT THE CIRCULATION DESK To ensure equitable access, all reserve materials are to be used only in the library for the duration of the project.

TO BORROW RESERVE BOOKS:

  1. Use the links above to identify which books you would like to borrow.
  2. Ask Library Staff at the Circulation Desk for the specific books you would like to use.
  3. We will retrieve the books from the reserve shelves and sign them out to you.
  4. When you have finished using them or at the end of class, RETURN the books to a Library Staff Member.

General (more than one civilization)

  • America's first cuisines / Sophie D. Coe. F1219.76 .F67 C64
  • The ancient American world / William Fash and Mary E. Lyons. F1219 .F27 2005
  • Ancient civilizations of Mexico and Central America / Herbert J. Spinden. F1219 .S767 1999
  • Ancient sun kingdoms: Aztec, Maya, Inca / Victor Wolfgang von Hagen. E65 .V6 1962
  • New world and Pacific civilizations: cultures of America, Asia, and the Pacific / Ed. by Goren Burenhult. GN303 .I4 1993 vol. 4 (oversize)

Maya

  • Ancient Maya civilization / Norman Hammond. F1435 .H35 1982
  • The conquest of the last Maya kingdom / Grant D. Jones. (an online ebook)
  • Daily life in Maya civilization / Robert J. Shar. (an online ebook)
  • Everyday life of the Maya / Ralph Whitlock. F1435.W65 E9 1987
  • Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World / Lynn V. Foster. F1435 .F676 2002 (also an online ebook)
  • Lost cities of the Maya / Claude Baudez and Sydney Picasso. F1435 .B38513 1992     PS
  • The Magnificent Maya / The Editors of Time-Life Books.  F1435 .M35 1993
  • The Maya / Michael D. Coe. F1435 .C72 1999  2 copies
  • Maya art and architecture / Mary Ellen Miller. F1435.3.A7 M55 1999
  • The Maya: life, myth, and art / Timothy Laughton. F1434.2 .R3 L3 2004
  • Maya, the riddle and rediscovery of a lost civilization / Charles Gallenkamp. F1435 .G16 1985
  • The mystery of the ancient Maya / Carolyn Meyer and Charles Gallenkamp. F1435 .M56 1995
  • The rise and fall of Maya civilization / J. Eric S. Thompson. F1435 .T497 1966
  • Secrets of the Maya / The Editors of Archaeology Magazine. F1435 .S43 2003
  • The world of the ancient Maya / John S. Henderson. F1435 .H6 1997

If you have any questions,

see Mr. Padgett or Ms. Taylor

OR email us at 

spadgett@taftschool.org  

  taylorp@taftschool.org

We're here to help!

Primary Sources

Primary Sources

Sources created by those who lived it

Any document, image, or artifact created at the time of the topic being researched is a primary source.

Examples include: eyewitness accounts, autobiographies and memoirs, diaries, letters, speeches, reports, newspapers, household and day-to-day objects, clothing, works of art, architecture, and photographs.

Please note: primary source documents are a reflection of the time and culture in which they were created and may contain language or images that are considered offensive today.

 

Primary Sources in Books / eBooks

 

Primary Sources in Online Subscription Databases

  • Ancient and Medieval History Click on the Primary Sources tab above your search result list. NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools.
  • Daily Life Through History Use the Filters button at the top of your search results list to select Documents and media, which may include primary source artifacts and images. NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools
  • Gale in Context: World History Select Primary Sources from the menu bar on your search results page. NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools.
  • Modern World History Click on the Primary Sources tab above your search result list. NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools.
  • World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras Use the Filters button at the top of your search results list to select Documents and media, which may include primary source artifacts and images. NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools.
  • World History: The Modern Era Use the Filters button at the top of your search results list to select Documents and media, which may include primary source artifacts and images. NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools

 

Primary Sources on the Internet

To find more primary sources on the internet, you can search your terms with the phrase AND documents OR "primary sources"

  • For example: Maya AND documents OR "primary sources"

Find Trustworthy Websites

 

Wikipedia's general disclaimer: "Wikipedia cannot guarantee the validity of the information found here. The content of any given article may recently have been changed, vandalized or altered by someone whose opinion does not correspond with the state of knowledge in the relevant fields."

  • Britannica Academic Articles include links to recommended websites.
  • SweetSearch, A Search Engine for Students searches only credible websites approved by research experts. 
  • Limit your search to reliable domains by including the following phrase 
    • AND site:edu OR site:ac.uk 
    • (edu for educational institutions in the U.S.; ac.uk for educational institutions in the United Kingdom)
    • For example: Maya AND religion AND site:edu OR site:ac.uk
  • Note: be aware that universities may allow their students to use their edu domain. If there is a tilde (~) in the address, it may be a personal student page which is not monitored by the institution. 
Google Web Search

NoodleTools Tips for Citing Books / eBooks and Primary Sources

 

PLEASE NOTE: Do not copy and paste complete citations from electronic sources. NoodleTools cannot generate footnotes from copied and pasted citations.

 

To cite a book, first choose the NoodleTools option that best describes where you found it:

  • Database = an ebook found in a Taft Subscription Database such as Infobase eBooks.
    • Click on the citation tool on your source page to determine if you can export the Chicago-style citation directly to NoodleTools.
    • Choose Book.
    • You must provide the permanent URL for your source. Look for any of the following on the page: permalink, persistent link, stable link, durable link, "Get link",Cite, or Citable Link.
    • Choose the name of the database, using the pull-down menu under My library's databases.
    • Complete information about the book (author, title, publication place, publisher, and publication date).
  • Website = an electronic book found on the Internet using a search engine like Google.
    • Choose Book.
    • Copy and paste the URL for the book from your browser address bar. 
    • Enter author, title, publication place, publisher, and publication date. If there's an ISBN, search that number to get the information about the book.
  • Print or In Hand = a book in the Reserve collection behind the main desk or found upstairs in the Main collection.
    • Choose Book.
    • Using information in the book, enter author, title, publication place, publisher, and publication date.

Note: Print and electronic books can also be cited in NoodleTools using the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) . For a print book, look for the ISBN and associated barcode on the back cover or on the back side of the title page. If you don't find it, a library staff member can help. Books published before 1967 won't have an ISBN.

International Standard Book Number - Wikipedia

To cite a Primary Source, first choose the NoodleTools option that best describes where you found it:

  • Database = a document found in a Taft Subscription Database such as Ancient and Medieval History.
    • Click on the citation tool on your article page to determine if you can export the Chicago-style citation directly to NoodleTools.
    • You must provide the permanent URL for your source. Look for any of the following on the page: permalink, persistent link, stable link, durable link, "Get link",Cite, or Citable Link.
  • Website = a site found on the Websites page of the course guide, found through a web directory like SweetSearch or a search engine such as Google. 
  • Print or In Hand = a document found in a book in the library. For example: in a reference book or a secondary source.

Next determine what kind of primary source you are citing:

  • Look at the list of options in NoodleTools. Is it a newspaper article, a speech, a letter, or another item listed? If so, choose that item type.
  • If you are not sure, you can use "Anthology / Collection" which enables you to cite a source found within another source.