Collections

Overview

Right below the banner image on loc.gov, you will see a list of links to special features. Digital Collections will be the second link. The Library of Congress has made digitized versions of collection materials available online since 1994, concentrating on its most rare collections and those unavailable anywhere else. To search across all collections, click on the Home Page link for Digital Collections. It is also helpful to pick a specific collection and drill down one more level.

In Digital Collections, you can view maps & photographs; read letters, diaries & newspapers; hear personal accounts of events; listen to sound recordings & watch historic films. The digital collections used most frequently by teachers in TPS ER workshops are Chronicling America: Historic Newspapers, Panoramic Maps, Detroit Publishing Co., National Child Labor Committee and America's Story for Kids. The value in searching in a specific Collection is that you will discover essays and featured selections by the Library of Congress staff who work with that collection every day. In Chronicling America, for example, you will find a link to recommended topics where newspaper articles from one topic such as the Johnstown Flood Disaster of 1889 are listed. You will also find secondary commentary to establish context for the primary sources.

Write About It

Record your responses on this document.

1. Explore one of the 5 collections described in the Overview paragraph above or search within the Digital Collections section at loc.gov for a different collection topic that aligns with your local curriculum. Check out the Teacher Resources that are sometimes linked in the left menu of a collection. Also, browse the Articles and Essays that are linked at the top of a Collection Home Page for secondary information and Teacher Resources.
2. What primary source from the Digital Collections section at the Library of Congress do you think you can utilize in your classroom?
3. What did you learn and what questions do you have about searching and using primary sources from the Digital Collections in a classroom or PD workshop?