Using Primary Sources on the Web

This brief guide is designed to help students and researchers find and evaluate primary sources available online. Keep in mind as you use this website, the Web is always changing and evolving. If you have questions, please consult your instructor or librarian. Primary sources are the evidence of history, original records or objects created by participants or observers at the time historical events occurred or even well after events, as in memoirs and oral histories. Primary sources may include but are not limited to: letters, manuscripts, diaries, journals, newspapers, maps, speeches, interviews, documents produced by government agencies, photographs, audio or video recordings, born-digital items (e.g. emails), research data, and objects or artifacts (such as works of art or ancient roads, buildings, tools, and weapons). These sources serve as the raw materials historians use to interpret and analyze the past. Additional Explanations and Examples of Primary Sources Benjamin, Jules R.

American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and Settlement Worldbuilding: Fantasy Religion Design Guide by Joe Wetzel (joewetzel at gmail dot com) [If you like this article, check out the other Worldbuilding articles on this website using the sidebar navigation.] Depending on your campaign setting idea, in the early stages you may only need a bare minimum of details about your religion. In cases like these make sure you flesh out any particular deities you need (for example if a character is a Cleric or Paladin describe that god in at least bullet points and note any needed game statistics or mechanics such as the god’s domains) and build up the religion later when it is needed or when you have an intriguing idea. But if religion, gods, or a pantheon is a key aspect of your campaign setting idea, you’ll want to work it up in detail early during your fantasy world’s development. Creating a fantasy religion can be as long and detailed task as you want. Religion can provide another venue for conflict and drama in your game world. Multiple Religions? Universal: The world has one religion.

History General History Resources American Experience Access to PBS series about American history. Many programs are available online. American Historical Association As the professional organization for historians, the AHA advocates for the profession and provides information, awards and grants, and resources for educators. Archiving Early America This site provides historical documents from 18th century America. A Biography of America This site was designed to be a self-contained college-level history course. Center for History and New Media Links to general history resources as well as specific events. Discover History The National Park Service offers links to Features of People, Places & Stories and Features of Preservation, Guidance & Grants. History & Social Studies This site from the National Endowment for the Humanities provides lesson plans about American history. History Collection University of Pennsylvania Libraries' links to resources with text archives and image sites. National History Day U.S.

Sanborn® Fire Insurance Maps Sanborn® Fire Insurance Maps for Georgia Towns and Cities, 1884-1922 consists of 4,445 maps by the Sanborn Map Company depicting commercial, industrial, and residential areas for 133 municipalities. Originally designed for fire insurance assessment, the color-coded maps relate the location and use of buildings, as well as the materials employed in their construction. The maps indicate which city utilities--such as water and fire service--were available. Fire insurance maps document the changing face of towns and cities, providing highly detailed information for each neighborhood and block. The Library of Congress web site refers to them as "probably the single most important record of urban growth and development in the United States during the past one hundred years." The Sanborn Maps® database is a project of the Digital Library of Georgia as part of Georgia HomePLACE.

Library surveys Library surveys are a useful way to align your library resources and services to meet teacher and student needs. Contents Purpose of your survey: what you want to find outDeciding on who to survey - and whyTips on how to create a good surveyCollection development surveysInformation literacy surveysLibrary use and environment surveysTeacher surveysSurvey methods Purpose of your survey: what you want to find out Have specific goals and purposes in mind before you create your survey. For example, information on favourite genres and authors could be used to: Develop your collection (fiction, non-fiction, magazines, online resources)Engage reluctant readers by shoulder-tapping them with a selection of books they may enjoyInspire displays and shelving decisions Surveying students on their attitudes toward reading at the beginning and end of a year / unit can be a useful way to: Deciding on who to survey - and why Always keep your purpose in mind when deciding who to survey. Teacher surveys

Electronic Texts, Primary Sources and Digital Libraries See Also: Archives & Manuscripts | Audio, Video, Multimedia | French Literature | History | Images | Literature | Magazines & Journals Looking for a particular title or author? Best starting place is the Online Books Page, John Mark Ockerbloom's index to full-texts on the Web with links to more than 30,000 books in various formats. ABU: la Bibliothèque Universelle - Over 288 searchable French e-texts, ranging from Balzac to Zola, listed alphabetically by author and title. Academy of Natural Sciences - Philadelphia. The Albert M. Primary Sources: Workshops in American History - Produced by WGBH Boston. 2001 and provided by Annenberg Media. “12 high school history teachers explore the use of primary-source documents in the research and interpretation of American history.” Antologia (frammentaria) della Letteratura Italiana - Riccardo Scateni.AntologÃa del Ensayo Ibero e Iberoamericano - Created and Maintained by José Luis GÃ³mez-MartÃnez. Walter Crane's painting book Terrorism and U.S.

reference for writers - Drug Addict Characters Information Internet History Sourcebooks Project Internet History Sourcebooks Project Paul Halsall, Editor Last Modified: Nov 4 2011 | linked pages may have been updated more recently The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use. Update Information 2006: In 2006 the Internet History Sourcebooks Project is undergoing a major overhaul to remove bad links and add more documents. 1. This project is both very large and fairly old in Internet terms. 2. 3. Feedback and Help While I encourage notes, comments and feedback in general, I am unable to reply to all of them. For guidance on homework, research, how people lived/ate/dressed in the past, see the various Help! I am unable to help locate details about your family, or give translations of your name or nickname into Chinese (a very common request)! Statement on Copyright and Fair Use Course Pages by Paul Halsall