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Library of Congress ONLINE!

Download Overview [PDF/27k]

(one-hour demonstration or two-hour workshop)

Take a guided tour of the Library of Congress Web site! To help you take advantage of the wonderful primary sources you will discover, sample the Library’s services and resources, including Ask A Librarian, Today in History, Portals to the World, the Learning Page, and more!

Treasure Hunting

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(one-hour demonstration or two-hour workshop)

Feeling overwhelmed when trying to search the Library of Congress’s Web site? Learn the characteristics and scope of different search tools on the Library of Congress Web site. Practice using resources designed to streamline the search process. Develop search strategies that can be adapted, modified, and translated into classroom success.

Analyzing Primary Sources

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(two-hour workshop)

What do primary sources tell us? What questions do they raise? Learn how the Object Observation analysis strategy and tool can be used with primary sources with your students in your classroom.

Make It and Take It!

Download Overview [PDF/25k]

(two-hour workshop, minimum)

Primary sources should be seen, felt, examined, and heard! Transform the digital versions of Library of Congress primary sources into real objects that can be used off-line, or combine them in multi-media presentations.

Congress Present: Searching THOMAS

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(one-hour workshop)

What are Members of Congress doing?  What are their positions on the issues?  Follow debate on current issues and learn how your members voted.  Explore THOMAS, the Library of Congress Web site for Congressional materials, and become an active participant in the legislative process!

Gathering Community Stories

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(two-hour workshop)

Gain a unique perspective on your community’s history and cultural identity by gathering oral history interviews. This workshop introduces the layperson to the process of collecting oral history and focuses on a critical phase of the process, the interview.

The Internet: Fact or Fiction; Web Site Evaluation Strategies

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(one-hour workshop)

How do you locate sites that are accurate, relevant, current, and unbiased? How can you help others evaluate web sites and the information they provide? Learn to examine web sites and create evaluation criteria that make the World Wide Web the research tool it can be.

Sleuthing With Maps

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(two-hour workshop)

Maps are windows to the cultural, political, and physical world around us. They capture a space in time and define it according to parameters set by the mapmaker for an intended audience. Learn to explore historical maps and discover the surprises they yield.

The Spy Map and General Washington

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(one-hour workshop)

It’s December, 1776. The Declaration of Independence was signed five months ago and Britain has sent troops to quell the rebellious Colonials. There have been skirmishes, with the British remaining victorious. It is bitterly cold, the colonial troops are hungry, poorly clothed and ill-equipped, unpaid, and ready to return home. General Washington receives timely information from a “very intelligent young gentleman” and formulates a plan. Using the spy’s map, accompanying letter, and the official Revolutionary War battle map, discover what General Washington learned and trace his path in an important battle of the Revolutionary War.

“To Light Us to Freedom and Glory Again”: Civil War Poetry with a Purpose

Download Overview [PDF/29k]

(one-hour demonstration or two-hour workshop)

Poetry written during the Civil War was used as a vehicle for the individual to express opinions and attitudes. Using the Library of Congress's online collections, explore how poetry written by soldiers and citizenry from the North and the South helped unify citizens, inspire troops, memorialize the dead, and overcome the anger and resentment of both sides in the aftermath of the war.

Audience

Programs are appropriate for teachers, librarians, media specialists, and university faculty.

Cost

All programs are free. We ask that you dial us, thus any connect charges are yours.

Scheduling

Events may be scheduled Monday – Friday, during normal working hours, Eastern time. Times are flexible, depending on Library staff availability, time zone differences, and varied work schedules across the country. Programs should be requested at least two weeks in advance of the proposed conference date.

Technical Specifications

• ISDN-based video conferencing (384 kbps) capability compatible with the Polycom FX system.
• For workshops, a computer lab setting with a presentation system viewable by participants; machine to participant ratio of 1:2 or 1:1.

• Tailor the program to meet your needs and goals for your participants.
• Provide a presenter(s) with expert knowledge in the topic.
• Provide handouts for the host site to photocopy and distribute.
• Facilitate the event, with co-facilitation by the host site.

• Contact us
• Provide information needed to make the event relevant to participants (goals, number of participants, grade levels and professions represented, prior acquaintance and use of primary source materials).
• Facilitate the presentation locally. Have extra support staff to assist in computer lab if needed.
• Create resources and handouts per Library instruction. If needed, download files for the workshop from the Library web site prior to the event.
• Schedule and conduct an equipment compatibility check no later than a week prior to the event.
• Ensure that Internet browsers can play multimedia files in American Memory. See American Memory Viewer Information.
• Make It & Take It workshop requires availability of graphics software application to crop and resize images (examples: Photoshop Elements, Paint Shop Pro, Graphic Converter)