Many images from the Library of Congress are available in several formats: lower resolution JPEG (.jpg), higher resolution JPEG (.jpg too but a larger file size) and TIFF (.tif). TIFF files are the largest and, therefore, the highest resolution files. TIFF files are often crucial to focus on analyzing small text or other details in primary…
This is a guest post by Ruth Ferris, an elementary school librarian from Billings, Montana, and a grantee in the TPS Regional Grant Program. It is always a pleasure when I can connect my love of books with my love of history, seasoned with technology. One favorite tool is ThingLink, which allows you to take a picture and embed links…
ThingLink is an online tool that allows you to layer images and videos with text, web links, and other media files. Most digitized primary sources from the Library of Congress, including most text documents, are saved as image files so ThingLink is a great tool for analyzing and annotating primary sources directly on the sources…
Can an article from 2009 really be useful in helping educators think about the pedagogy of integrating technology with primary source learning? The answer is absolutely! To learn why and how, read the TPS Journal article Technology Integration and Primary Sources: Linking the Learner to Learning written by Peggy O’Neill-Jones, Director of the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary…
This is a guest post from Kerry Gallagher, a Technology Integration Specialist at St. John’s Prep, a 1:1 iPad school serving grades 6-12, and former middle and high school history teacher. We learn about the lives of our friends partly through the images they share with us on social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and…
Dig deep into a variety of teaching with primary sources topics. The TPS Journal, formerly titled the TPS Quarterly, is an online, peer-reviewed publication focused on pedagogical approaches to teaching with Library of Congress digitized primary sources in K-12 classrooms. Each issue provides sections related to the issue’s thematic focus: a feature article, an elementary primary source activity, a…
Poetry 180 is a project of two-time U.S. Poet Laureate (2002-2003) Billy Collins. The Poetry Foundation describes Mr. Collins, “Dubbed ‘the most popular poet in America’ by Bruce Weber in the New York Times, Billy Collins is famous for conversational, witty poems that welcome readers with humor but often slip into quirky, tender or profound observation…
If you’re looking for some fun science facts to intrigue and delight your elementary students, head over to the Everyday Mysteries section of LOC.gov. This part of the Library of Congress website gives answers to many of life’s most interesting scientific questions, all of which were asked by researchers and answered by librarians from the Library’s Science Reference Services….
Padlet is a digital bulletin board in which you can pin comments and ideas in the form of text, documents, images, videos and more. In the video tutorial below we show how Padlet can be used to allow students to collaborate on a primary source analysis. Custom background image containing primary source analysis tool columns Primary source…
Do you have a class website or web page? If you do and you love Library of Congress primary sources as much as we do, here’s a way you can provide your students with direct access to all the fantastic resources compiled on the TPS-Barat Primary Source Nexus teaching resource blog. Simply add a custom Google search…
Cornell University Library describes an annotated bibliography as “a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation.”Lisa Oppenheim from the Chicago Metro History Education Center notes that annotations for National History Day (NHD) and Chicago Metro History Fair should…
There are many digital citation tools available to help students properly cite the sources used in research projects. Below is a brief overview of five free resources. EasyBib Pros: numerous source types; auto search and annotation options; free Android and iOS apps and a Google Docs Add-on Cons: multiple advertisements; does not offer Turabian style Styles:…