While I'm officially the Head of the Science Reference Section, I spend most of my time working with the collections, answering reference requests and creating webcasts, book displays, and bibliographies. I work with text-books, journals, diaries, cookbooks, reminiscences, biographies, magazines, pictures, electronic sources, manuscript materials, microforms, artifacts--everything you might expect to find in a Library. I especially like the 18th and 19th century materials and learning more about the daily lives of our forefathers--their foraging techniques, what they ate, how they cooked and cleaned, what they wore, and how they spent their time.
Because our division covers the humanities and social sciences I would definitely get questions relating to religion, but I might be at the desk when someone was researching the history of catsup, ideas about beauty in the 1860s or wanting a list of consulting firms who helped incumbents win senate races , 1980-2012 (real questions!). I love the variety of both questions and researchers. And researchers in the Main Reading Room need only be 16 or older (and curious) in order to use our collections, which makes for a wide world of topics and interests.
This year's NSTA conference will take place from March 12-15 at McCormick Place West in Chicago, Illinois. Education staff from the Library of Congress will be in booth 533 in the exhibit hall from March 12-14. We hope you will visit us and learn more about how Library of Congress resources can support science lessons.
Using primary sources in the science classroom can offer a meaningful historical perspective on the evolution of scientific ideas and reinforce key practices employed by the world's great scientists.
I had been looking for ways to integrate research skills for a fifth grade class that is currently studying space and motion. The new Library of Congress "Understanding the Cosmos" eBook gave a great selection of primary sources that could help support that topic.
Using historical primary sources - documents created at the time under study - in science can propel teaching and learning about the nature of science, the practices of real life scientists, the impact of science on society and culture, and more.
We're delighted to introduce the Library of Congress 2015-16 Teacher in Residence for audio and visual materials. Since 2000, the Library of Congress has selected an exceptional teacher to advise and collaborate with its educational staff. Tom Bober, a librarian at RM Captain Elementary in Clayton, Missouri, has used primary sources on historical and scientific topics from the Library of Congress to help students construct knowledge.
It may not feel much like fall in most of the U.S., but even in the absence of autumn leaves, school doors are opening and educators are preparing for--or beginning--a new year of teaching.
In that spirit, we'd like to welcome you to another year of teaching using primary sources from the online collections of the Library of Congress! The Library offers millions of primary sources for free to all on its Web site, loc.gov, and its education program supports teachers as they use these powerful items effectively in the classroom.
