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Category: Development of the Industrial United States (1877-1914)

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Information Literacy: Building Observation and Questioning Skills with Newspaper Ads

Posted by: Danna Bell

As we were designing our series of posts on information literacy we were drawn to the American Association of School Librarians “Standards for the 21st Century Learner.” These standards focus on the importance of students being effective readers, not just of printed text but also of images, video and sound recordings.

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Multimedia Moment: A Mystery Sparked by a Century-Old Film

Posted by: Danna Bell

In my first Multimedia Moment post, I focused on the action in actuality street scenes. One of the films, the 1897 Edison film Corner of Madison and State Streets, Chicago, showed people walking across the street with large signs that appeared to be advertisements. I instantly wanted to know what was written on the signs.

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Don’t Believe Everything You Hear or Read

Posted by: Danna Bell

In the most recent "Right to the Source" column in NSTA’s magazine The Science Teacher, Michael Apfeldorf discusses reactions in the early 20th century to reports of life on Mars. He explains that as early as 1894, scientists noted that conditions on Mars would not support life, but wild theories persisted in popular media. That reminded us of the Library's many April Fools' Day posts featuring primary sources that should not be taken at face value.

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Integrating Historical and Geographic Thinking

Posted by: Danna Bell

The latest edition of The TPS Journal, an online publication created by the Library of Congress Educational Outreach Division in collaboration with the TPS Educational Consortium, explores how the five themes of geography can be applied to analyzing primary sources, providing students with multiple perspectives and contributing to greater understanding of a topic.