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INFOhio Electronic Resources Spotlight #1
“Primary
Source” Resources
November 5, 2003
Annals of
American History is proving to be a very useful and popular addition to INFOhio’s Core Collection of Electronic Resources. Annals of
American History is the online version of Encyclopaedia
Britannica’s standard reference work of the same title, containing more than 2,000 primary source
documents from 1493-2002. More than 1,500 authors are represented with speeches, essays,
poetry, court decisions, and other documents important to our nation’s history. In
addition to the articles, the editors have added 700 images and multimedia files.
 To
Access: From
one of the grade-level access points, click on the link to this resource. You will notice the letter
I inside a circle (the Information symbol) beside the second link. This will take you
directly to a Getting Started Guide, a PowerPoint presentation and a four-page
tutorial from Britannica. These will provide quick resources to get teachers and students
started using Annals
of American History.
AMICO: Art Museum Image Consortium – Don’t
forget that works of art are "artifacts" and also considered “Primary
Source” items. This would include such items as paintings, sculptures, photographs
and architecture. AMICO Library
includes all of these, as well as brief information about the artist. As in Annals of American History, click on the
Information symbol for help getting started.
EBSCOhost – Select just ONE database,
for instance MasterFile Premier, and enter your search term/s. If documents exist, at the top of your results screen you
will be able to choose the material type: magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, reference
books, primary source documents, biographies or images. The
primary source documents consist of congressional testimony, political transcripts,
articles from the American Reference Library and more. If you select more than one database, the material types
will not display.
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 American
Memory Project – American Memory is a
gateway to rich primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United
States. The site offers more than seven million digital items from more than 100 historical collections.
These items include documents, photographs, maps, films, narratives, and even video and
audio recordings. Lesson plans and teaching ideas
using these resources can be found by clicking on “Learning Page.”
 Ohio Memory Project – Discover primary
sources from archives, historical societies, libraries and museums that document
Ohio’s past from prehistory through the present. In
addition to the digital items, Ohio Memory provides Featured Scrapbooks
by pulling together resources on a specific topic. Students
and teachers can also create their own “scrapbooks.”
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Not
listed on the INFOhio site, but other premier sites:
 NARA: National Archives & Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is
an independent Federal agency that preserves our nation's history and defines us as a
people by overseeing the management of all Federal records.
From the main page, you can access the Charters of Freedom – the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights
– which have been refurbished and
are now back on display in the National Archives building in Washington, DC. For lesson plans and other teaching suggestions using
NARA, click on “Digital Classroom."
 Using Primary Sources on the Web - Written
by the Instruction & Research Services Committee of the Reference and user Service
Association History Section in the American Library Association, this site describes
primary sources and how to locate, evaluate and cite them.
Sheila Benedum
Librarian, Bay High School
Electronic Resources Spotlight Coordinator
Suggestions
INFOhio participants and visitors to this site are encouraged to submit suggestions to
INFOhio about our Electronic Resources and ER Spotlights. |
