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The Smithsonian Collections has a vast collection of objects, documents, photos, etc. ranging from ancient civilizations to current historical events. According to the Smithsonian website there are "7.4 million digital records available online through the Collections Search Center." This site would be a great resource for students when searching for primary documents. 

The Smithsonian is the world's largest museum and research complex that provides materials for educators, students, and researchers and allows the user to make connections while providing a multitude of activities and instruction to learn from. This site allows its users to access a plethora of information from different tabs and links allowing its users to explore research centers, exhibitions, events, cultural programs, collections, museums and zoos through interactive tools, links, videos and websites. Smithsonian also provides a newsroom that feeds updates and information about the Smithsonian.

One of the greatest museums in the entire world. The website is great for middle school-high schools. It brings history to each and every person who accesses it. No longer do you have to travel so far to learn so much. It would be a great use to students looking for primary resouces.

This site provides primary sources with lots of topics for research. Students can browse through historic newspapers, old photographs, film, sound recordings, and more. Some of the topics include American history, maps and geography, religion and philosophy, and sports and leisure. There are even short webcasts that are very informative.

"The Library's mission is to support the Congress in fulfilling its constitutional duties and to further the progress of knowledge and creativity forthe benefit of the American people." http://www.loc.gov/index.html

Library of Congress site was designed to support Congress in fulfilling its constitutional duties and to further the progress of knowledge and creativity for the benefit of the American people. This site allows its users to search collections that include: American memories, print and photography, historic newspapers, preforming arts, veteran's history, sound recordings, film, maps, and manuscripts. Users can access and research this information via digital collections (i.e.) podcast, websites, iTunes or they can search the library catalogs that will prompt them to do a basic search or guided search to ensure they are locating the correct information

This is a cool website because users can manipulate the documents, create their own collections, and use the documents they collect to make a poster or movie all from one website. It is easily searchable by subject and returns a variety of document types. The technology could also fall under the AASL standards of using technology to create new ideas and products to share.

I really liked this site, I thought the features on it were different and it was very visual. You can shuffle and look at random documents or use the search function. When you are looking at an item there are tags you can click on to look at similar items and also additonal links for related websites. You can add documents to your "collection" by dragging the image. There is also a backtrack function where you can look at all the documents you've look at incase you can't find something you previously saw and didn't move to your collection. There are pathway challenges which are an activity using documents and you can also create posters or movies.

This website is set up so you can click on a picture of a historical document, event, or landmark, and it pulls all kinds of related articles, in an aesthetically pleasing arrangement. The main document is in the center of the screen, with everything else surrounding it. It is totally visual, and would be great for middle school to high school students.

National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's photo library is a primary source for ocean and nature photographs. It is arranged by topic collections. Some of my favorites include: National Severe Storms Laboratory Collection (severe weather), It's a Small World Collection (around the world in alphabetical order), and Coral Kingdom Collection (vertebrates/invertebrates,plants). Excellent examples are provided for use with student lessons (i.e. coral kingdom for living vs. nonliving organisms) as well as student research materials.

The ipl2 website not only allows its users to access both national and international newspapers and magazines online, but it also provides its users quick and simple ways to search for materials with the click of a mouse (i.e.) for kids or teens, resources by subject, or special collections created by ipl2. The site permits researchers to search specific categories such as: art and humanities, education, law, government and political science, as well special collections for presidents and literary criticisms. The site offers a unique 24 hour a day help desk, where students and volunteer library and information science professionals provide answers to your questions via email.

The Louisiana Digital Library features digital collections of maps, manuscripts (letters, diaries, etc.), images/photos, video/audio recordings, newspapers and more. Collections can be accessed by topic, institution, media format, geographic focus, and time period. The time period collection includes a great visual time line with prominent historical events featured for easy acquisition. This would be useful for student/educator historical research; jazz music and New Orleans culture as well as state hurricane information. Many collections would be beneficial in establishing of geographic/cultural context for several literature connections.

Promotes "government information in order to engage K-12 students in learning about history, culture, science, and government through games and other interactive activities; to assist teachers and school librarians with locating teaching aids, lesson plans, and exciting tools to enhance students' learning, and to provide librarians with a collection of free government resources to advance their reference interview and collection development decisions." http://govdocs4children.pbworks.com/w/page/8811722/FrontPage

"The G. Robert Vincent Voice Library is a collection of over 40,000 hours of spoken word recordings, dating back to 1888. The collection includes the voices of over 100,000 persons from all walks of life. Political and cultural leaders and minor players in the human drama are captured and cataloged to serve the research needs of a local, national and international user base. Clients include students and faculty of Michigan State University, other scholars and researchers, broadcasting networks, news agencies and film, video, and Web production companies. Access to Voice Library holdings is determined by copyright law. Most items held in the public domain are available for online listening as mp3 files. Look for the "Listen" button. Copies of many other items may be borrowed through Interlibrary Loan, via a public or university library. Some fees may apply." http://www.si.edu

This site was created by the National Oceanic and Atmopshperic Association in an effort to share photographs collected by the personnel who work for the agency. This would be a great site for students to collect visual artifacts (past and present) for assignments dealing with weather events and ocean life.

Even though this is not an American affiliated site, the British Library has excellent resources for educators.  I enjoyed the variety of tools and resources it had to offer.  One particular area that I enjoyed exploring was their "Timelines: Sources from History" that allows you to explore collection items from ancient civilizations to the present day.  There was also this one section pertaining to a century of children's songs, rhymes and games, which presented children's culture in Britain over the years. I found this to be very intriguing because I did not expect to see a special area designated only for children's games of the past. In addition to explaining these games there were also curriculum links highlighting drama, history, art, citizenship, etc. 

Harvard provides web-accessible collections consisting of journals, manuscripts, government documents, microform, music scores, and recordings. There is a great deal of information through the Harvard Libraries both online and in person. 

Good source for periodical items that include many different topics. You can view some letters, pictures, ads, etc. All of these things can give one a view into the culture of the day. Could be a good source for some biographical information which might not be found elsewhere.

The NMAH Collections found at this website could be used for both students and teachers of all ages. This is a great way for students to see some of the artifacts in the Smithsonian. For example,a digital photo of cast iron shoes worn by a chemist can be viewed. There is also a nice timeline feature where the user can select an era and a timeline with artifacts from that time period appear. When the user clicks on the artifact, a larger picture pops up along with a description of the item and a link to the Smithsonian collection in which it is found.

This site has many features including podcasts, audio, and video as well as photo, print, and other primary source documents arranged by era. Users can search from the beginning our country to the present. One of the most unique features of the site was the collection Battle Lines: Letters from America's Wars. This section has 5 different categories of letters from soldiers, one from each era. There is a digital copy of the letter as well as an audio recording of the letter. This would be great to use with second language learners or struggling readers since the text is read to the user. Next to the picture there is also a photograph or print from the same era as the letter. A description of the letter's author is also printed next to the letter. A transcript which is easier to read than the original is also available.

This site focuses on original letters and contains audio files from the battlelines starting at the Revolutionary War to the Iraq War. Through these correspondences, a student will be able to have a better understanding of what war is like for the soldiers and their families from daily happenings to major events. Grades 6 +. Photos, print documents, a teachers guide, and a section called "teachable documents" help makes this a great site to help learn about different eras in our nation's history.

LOVE this website.  Letters from most American wars from Revolutionary War to Iraq.   Each letter appears on the screen and includes a recording of the letter read aloud.  Very powerful to hear the types of details soldiers wrote.  Each page also includes information about the solder. 5 categories to choose from with many letters in each.  The categories are enlisting, comforts of home, love, combat, and the end of the war.

The museum of Edgar Allan Poe collection database includes primary source documents such as letters, photos, and personal/family items. This is a good literary resource for middle and high school students-complete with teacher and student resources. Great opportunity for English/Language Arts department and library collaboration.

This is a collection of documents on law, history, and diplomacy. In World History we talk about many of these documents, so it would be interesting to have students read them and try to imagine how it felt to be a part of that event or history. For example, students can read the Balfour declaration to decide how Jews might react to it, and how Palestinians might react to it.

This site provides digital copies of historical documents which can be searched by century or by topic. The Avalon Projects collects records in the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government. Records include information from the ancient civilizations to the 21st century.

I love this website for its primary sources and because they are listed by time period. It makes narrowing down a subject or selecting a time period easier for students. It also allows students to browse through different time periods if they aren't sure what topic they want to research.

This is from the Library of Congress's main page. It is a collection of historical newspapers from 1836-1922. It would be a great source of information on what else was going on during main events, such as the civil war. It would also be a great way to show people reacted to events during that time period.

This website is a collection of manuscripts, letters, maps, printed pamphlets, etc. ranging from 1943 through the present time. This site seems to mainly focus on the Revolution, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras. One nice feature for educators is their unit lessons on popular historical events in history. Each unit is provided with visual aids, primary sources, and other learning tools associated with the topic. 

The Gilder Lehrman Institute provides users access to information regarding American history. The sight provides a tab that allows the user to search by era (i.e.) The Civil War or World War II. It also allows the user to access historic documents by collection or access through online exhibitions and encouraging the use of interactive learning tools such as videos, testimony, and timelines. The site also provides students with the neat opportunity to submit their work into essay contests and compete against students from all over the United States.

This website offers a wide variety of source documents relating to American history, such as photos, maps, letters, diary excerpts and pamphlets, from the 1400's through today.

The Internet History Sourcebook is a collection of historical, modern, medieval documents, maps, primary and secondary sources, literature resources, and bibliographies. This is a great resource that covers a very large span of history and information. The only downside to this site is that it has very few images.  

This site has a collection of declassified information from testimonies, congressional records, and presidental papers. This website can help find primary government documents relating to events in American History. Audio clips, articles, and picture are included for a resource for ages 6-12.