NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION

NARA is our nationís archives in DC and at several regional locations. They offer:

• online databases
• online bibliographies on Am. History subjects
• online full text documents
• education materials!

Note: "where is ñ how do I" window at the top of each NARA page: easy links to

• Constitution
• Declaration of Independece
• Bill of Rights,

Example: the Bill of Rights has links to an essay on the constitutional convention (VUS 5) ñ detailed but easy to read . It also has a transcription and images of the original. Note: further down the page, past the document itself, a link to the Virginia Declaration of Rights ñ related source (VUS 5d)

Can also use Search feature ñ example: ìMarshall Planî: brings up results from NARA, ourdocuments.gov, Truman library etc. (VUS 12A)

The Research Room page : Documents and related resources

Research Topics: breaks the available information into subject collections, which include:

• articles
• lesson plans on historical subjects.

Example: Civil Rights : find the article ìLBJ Fights the White Backlashî (VUS 13B)

Other sites: [at the end of the list] shows links from other government departments and private organizations on the same topic.

Point out the Digital Classroom: lesson plans and more.

• complete texts of primary documents
• information on teaching w/ documents

Teaching with documents: series of lesson plans ñ start w/ Revolution all the way up to Watergate.

Example: Revolution and the new nation - ìImages of the American Revolution (VUS 4) uses significant primary text

• links to all the images
• info on where this topic fits into the National Standards
• suggested in-class activities.

Tip: note the bottom two links: worksheets for analyzing documents and photographs (VUS 1a)

Good subject collection: the Constitution Community: all constitutional issues (VUS 5, 6C, 7C)
[note that all of these are on the Teaching w/ Documents page as well, this is just a topic distillation]

Good features of the Digital Classroom:

• it has its own search function.
• Cross-referencing to images, to documents, to related resources ñsimilar to American Memory.

Warning: not all documents in the NARA site are reproduced legibly, and in some cases no transcription is provided.

Final Tip: two below the Digital Classroom: Presidential Libraries ñ donít forget these libraries and their staff when you are researching a particular president! All of them have websites with significant information, text and images, online. Example: see Ronald Reagan online at his library: text about Presidency includes a significant section on Cold War (VUS 12D)

NOTE: "(GOVT. ##)" or "(VUS ##)" refers to the corresponding Virginia Standard Of Learning (S.O.L.).

WORKSHOP:
SITES ABOUT U.S. HISTORY

• Avalon Project
• Ourdocuments.gov
• SIRS
• American Memory
• National Archives & Records
• Vietnam Project

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