Technology Connections: Online Tools for Primary Resources

Amy Woods
Fall 2016

Citation: Moorefield-Lang, H. (2016). "Technology connections: Online tools for primary resources." School Library Connection, Nov/Dec 2016. 35.

Summary: In the Instructional Leadership Column of the latest School Library Connection, author Heather Moorefield- Lang, an associate professor of Library and Information Science, highlights a few helpful sites with great online sources for primary sources:

• Library of Congress features "historic newspapers, digital collections, photographs and veteran histories." With tons of easy-to-search, digital archives, this is a great resource for students. 
• The Smithsonian site contains a variety of resources great for language arts, history, science, and other K-12 courses. This site is vast, so librarians will want to share searching strategies with students before they delve into their research. 
• Digital Vaults is an interactive site "where users can work with photos, documents, and popular media from the National Archives." This interactive tools provides great opportunities for students to create a story with their sources. 
• DocsTeach features primary sources from the National Archives. Teachers can access letters, photos, speeches, posters, maps, and videos, spanning American history, to create rich learning experiences for students. 
• IWitness is an excellent resource for first person accounts of the Holocaust. The site features over 1500 videos from survivors and witnesses. 
• Zoom In is an interactive site that features both primary and secondary sources. Designed for U.S. history students, the site also provides lessons and ideas for teachers. 

Evaluation: There are tons of online resources available to teachers and it's hard to keep track of all of them. Although this article is by no means exhaustive, it does provide a "best of" list for primary sources.