PRACTICE EXERCISES

These are quick and fairly easy exercises we gave participants directly after demonstrating a particular site.

Virginia Commonwealth Web Site

1. Use the General Assembly site to find your legislator.

2. Find a bill on a topic of your choosing from the current session of the General Assembly. What is the most recent legislative action related to this bill?

First Gov

1. List two ways that you can find a copy of The National Security Strategy of the United States of America.

2. Is the National Security Council a cabinet level agency, an independent agency, or is it associated with some other office, like the Department of State or the Department of Defense?

Google UncleSam

1. How could you find statistics on United States oil imports by country?

Thomas

1. What is the status of H.R. 768?
[Hint: We're dealing with the 107th Congress.]

2. Where can you find the text of the most recent Congressional debate on the Presidentís reference to Saddam Hussein purchasing uranium from the African country of Niger?

3. How can I find full-text references to discussions in the House concerning a treaty with the Creek Indians from the First Congress, 1789-1791?

Project Vote Smart

1. What committees does Rep. Bob Goodlatte serve on?

2. What can we learn about his positions on issues according to the National Political Awareness test?

3. How did he vote on the Internet Equity and Education Act of 2001?

Opensecrets

1. Did Rep. Bob Goodlatte get most of his money from PACs (political action committees) or from individual contributions during the 2001-2002 election cycle?

2. Is this the most recent cycle for which we have data on Rep. Goodlatte?

3. Who were his top three contributors?

National Security Archive

1. What are two ways I could find documents related to President Kennedyís conflict with Cuban leader Fidel Castro?

OurDocuments.gov

1. How much did the U.S. pay Russia for the territory of Alaska? How much does that come out to per acre? (Hint - if the page you are using does not have a "search" box, don't forget you can use Edit - Find in your browser.)

SIRS

1. How could I find the syllabus for Roe v. Wade, and the Supreme Court justicesí opinions (majority opinion and dissenting opinion)?

2. How could I find information on the United Statesí relationship with Saudi Arabia, including a map, background information about Saudi Arabia, and news articles?

American Memory

1. Where can I find a list of all collections from the Civil War era (might include collection from somewhat earlier and later years, too)?

2. Using the Collection Finder, find audio recordings of interviews with Americans about the attack on Pearl Harbor.

NARA

1. The Virginia Declaration of Rights (found on the NARA website) and the Bill of Rights (found on NARA and on ourdocuments.gov) are closely related. Find the equivalent Bill of Rights articles for Virginia Declaration sections 9 and 12.

Vietnam Project

1. Take a look at the four sections of the Vietnam Project (Vietnam Center, Vietnam Archive, Virtual Vietnam Archive, and Oral History Project). How is each section different, in terms of the types of documents available?

WORKSHOP:
EXERCISES

• Practice exercises
• Quiz exercises

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