There are two ways to browse content on the TPS-Barat Primary Source Nexus: by content category or by using the top navigation menus. Content Categories Each post on this blog is assigned to one of five categories listed in the Browse Content Categories box in the middle column on the homepage. Primary Source Picks: curated primary source sets from the Library of Congress Teaching & Learning: primary source teaching resources—activities, lessons, and projects—and teaching … [Read more...]
Using Sources: Chronicling America Newspaper Pages
December 14, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Historic newspapers contain a wealth of information about the past, providing a snapshot of social and cultural values of a certain place and time. You will find news stories, feature articles, editorials, cartoons, advertisements, stories, poems, art and more. All of these can be useful to help contextualize events and people from history. According to the Center for History and New Media, George Mason University, “Historians generally use newspapers for three purposes: learning facts about … [Read more...]
Finding Resources: World Digital Library
April 2, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Overview The World Digital Library (WDL) provides access to multilingual primary sources from around the world. It's mission is to promote cross-cultural awareness and understanding by highlighting the stories and achievements of all countries and cultures. WDL "is a project of the U.S. Library of Congress, carried out with the support of the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO), and in cooperation with libraries, archives, museums, educational institutions, … [Read more...]
Using Sources: Citing Digitized Sources from the Library
November 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment
LOC.gov provides researchers of all ages access to millions of digitized primary sources. When using these sources in research or learning projects, it is important to provide citations. Citing primary sources requires the researcher to think carefully about the source—who created/published/distributed it, when was it created, and from where was it accessed. Citing sources ensures that full credit is given to the creators and publishers of sources and that others will be able to locate and … [Read more...]
Finding Resources: Ask Us, Ask a Librarian!
October 22, 2014 by Leave a Comment
If you've browsed and searched the TPS-Barat Primary Source Nexus and still can't find what you were looking for, feel free to contact us with questions about Library resources or strategies for teaching with primary sources. We also welcome you to leave a comment on any post. You can get help directly from the Library of Congress too. The Ask a Librarian resource provides several different avenues to get your questions answered. There are links to email forms for a variety of Library … [Read more...]
Finding Resources: Searching the Primary Source Nexus
October 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment
There is a search box at the far right of the top menu bar. You can use it to search the content of posts and pages published on the TPS-Barat Primary Source Nexus. It is generally good practice to limit your search query to 3-5 words. The search engine used on this website does not recognize search operators (i.e., quote marks or +) and will ignore certain words such as articles, conjunctions, prepositions, pronouns and question words. Search results are sorted by the following criteria: … [Read more...]
Tech Tool: Digital Primary Source Analysis Tool
June 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Library of Congress digital primary source analysis tool is an especially great resource when you want to model a primary source analysis or when you want to complete a class or collaborative primary source analysis. The tool can be used with numerous types of primary source analyses and features prompts for the Observe, Reflect and Question columns as well as the Further Investigation box; the precise number of prompts for each is dependent on the primary source format … [Read more...]
Finding Resources: America’s Library
January 29, 2014 by Leave a Comment
America's Library is filled with stories about the history and culture of the United States, richly embellished with all types of primary sources. The website is a great way to introduce younger students and lower level readers to the Library of Congress and primary sources. You can access America's Library by clicking the Kids & Families link, found in the main, center section—Collection Highlights—of the Library website homepage under the Especially for header. On the Kids … [Read more...]
Using Sources: Viewing, Saving & Printing Maps
November 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Overview The Library of Congress cartographic collection is the largest in the world and contains millions of maps, thousands of which are available online from the LOC.gov website. The Library interface allows you to zoom into these digitized maps in incredible detail simply through your web browser, save the maps in a variety of sizes for offline viewing, and even print the maps out. Viewing maps online Click on an item from a search result to view the map's bibliographic record and a … [Read more...]
Finding Resources: What’s Available When LOC.gov Is Offline
October 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Sometimes LOC.gov and some of its associated sites are not available. Whether that's because of maintenance or a government shutdown, don't despair. Here are some ways to access great Library resources. Congress.gov legislative information on Congress.gov available World Digital Library primary sources from numerous partner institutions, including the Library of Congress, available Library of Congress Flickr account image sets available, including access to larger images and … [Read more...]
John Brown led a raid of Harper’s Ferry. Check out our