Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you did not
resolve to spend less time online—if you did, this post is not for you.
The rest of you, however, might find this
link, sent by Billings elementary school librarian Ruth Ferris, interesting.
The link is to a post by David Bryne, who
blogs at freetech4teachers.com.
Titled “9
Sources for Historical Images,Documents, Videos, and Audio”, it includes
some great links (along with useful hints for using those links).
Byrne recommended several sites I had not
yet explored, like the Library of Congress’s National Jukebox (music from all
eras) and The Travel Film
Archive, “a collection of hundreds of travel films recorded between 1900
and 1970.” (A search of Montana revealed a 1900 silent film clip of a train
arriving in Helena and six promotional films for Glacier, from the 1920s through
1950s.)
Other links Byrne recommended were old
favorites, including Google Books,
described in his post as “one of my go-to places for old books and magazines.” I
use Google Books often for historical research—it is a great tool for all of us
who don’t have easy access to a research library, and it’s amazing what you can
find.
For example, try typing in Month Day
Montana--e.g., July 14 Montana--into the search field in Google Books and then skimming the entries
that pop up. In this instance I learned that, according to Montana: History
of Two Centuries, miners uncovered significant placer deposits at
Last Chance Gulch, on July 14, 1864. (I discovered this neat trick
when I was looking for “this day in Montana history” items).
Or enter a company name—I did this recently
with Crane and Ordway (a plumbing company that built a warehouse in Billings in
1920) and uncovered a full text version of their 1922 periodical, The Valve
World.
Happy surfing—and make sure to come up for
air.
This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away free. I love seeing website that understands the value of providing a quality resource for free.
ReplyDeleteRegards
Historic map