Digital Collection: Highway 89 Collection

HIGHWAY 89 COLLECTION

Contents: This collection includes photographs, manuscripts, and printed materials related to Highway 89 that runs through the western part of the United States. Exhibits, a map, timelines, and browsing tools assist users in exploring the materials.

Classroom Connections: Use this project as inspiration for creating a local history project focusing on a local road. Or, seek out other highway collections include Lincoln Highway at http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/linchigh. Also, look for back country byway projects. Use the History Pin project for ideas https://www.historypin.org/en/.

Featured Digital Objects: 
Architecture - https://goo.gl/AVdcIx
Billboards and Signs - https://goo.gl/rlk2WT
National Parks - https://goo.gl/nOzE8S

To visit the collection, go to http://www.highway89.org/.

Website Review: Disability History Museum

THE DISABILITY HISTORY MUSEUM website hosts a digital collection, educational materials, and museum exhibits exploring the historical experience of people with disabilities and their communities.

The Library Collections section contains a broad range of digital objects including letters, memoirs, chapbooks, postcards, photos, cartoons, and more that shaped the experiences of people with disabilities. Users can browse by category or search the collection.

The Education section provides ideas for teaching with primary sources. The materials explore ways to weave disability history topics into history, civics, and literature classes. After exploring an overview, users can examine lesson plans and other teaching tools of interest.

The Exhibits section is currently under development.

With over 3,000 primary source documents and images to explore, librarians will find this website to be an excellent tool for weaving the historical experiences of people with disabilities into the curriculum through the use of primary sources.

To visit the website, go to http://www.disabilitymuseum.org/.

Website Review: Smithsonian Learning Lab

THE SMITHSONIAN LEARNING LAB provides access to digital resources across the Smithsonian’s 19 museums, 9 research centers, and the National Zoo.

The project contains three major sections: discover, create, and share.

The Discover area provides easy access to the collections. Users can do a general search. Or, the search can be refined to include specific types of resources, exhibits, or resource providers. Details about each item can be viewed. In addition to the standard search, users can also select from surprises, what’s trending, and recent discoveries.

The Create section allows students and educators to build and customize their own collections including annotating and tagging objects. Teachers can create lessons and assignments to go with their collections. Resources including files and websites can be added.

The Share component allows users to share their collections, assignments, and projects with the global community. Teachers can assign particular collections or assignments using password access.

To use the system, teachers and students will need a login. This provides access to a Dashboard of options.

Librarians will find that this website provides an excellent entry point for building classroom collections, resources and activities with teachers across the curriculum.

To visit the website, go to https://learninglab.si.edu/.

Website Review: American Museum of Natural History YouTube Channel

The AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY YouTube channel contains hundreds of fascinating videos on a wide range of topics.

Dozens of playlists feature video collections of interest to students such as Kid Science, Nature’s Fury, Bison, Dinosaurs, Space, and more.

The videos range from very short clips to longer viewing experiences. Some of the videos provide an inside looking into how museum exhibits are created and the science behind the exhibits.

Use the search tool to seek out topics of interest within the AMNH YouTube channel.

Librarians will want to mine the channel for videos that can be directly connected to the science curriculum. Also, seek out STEAM related videos such as those related to science, math and origami.

To learn more, go to https://www.youtube.com/user/AMNHorg.

Website Review: Smithsonian Encyclopedia

The SMITHSONIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA provides access to a multitude of online resources through an easy-to-use interface.

The online encyclopedia is organized into themes including Art and Design, History and Culture, Science and Technology, Mysteries of the Universe, A Biodiverse Planet, World Cultures, and The American Experience. Each section provides links to activities and games, fact sheets, online exhibitions, online features, reading lists, and research resources. While the resources are designed for the general public, they’re very useful for middle and high student projects.

Users can also explore by topic from aeronautics to women’s history or by resource type such as activities, games, online features, and teacher resources.

The Kids Favorites section is specifically designed for children. It provides access to dozens of activities and games found throughout the Smithsonian website. It also provides access to Fact Sheets that would be great for informational reading activities. Online Exhibitions of particular interest to youth are also provided including topics such as Abraham Lincoln, Butterflies, and Dinosaurs. Online Features include Invention Stories, Lewis and Clark resources, and the Dynamic Earth.

Librarians will want to spend some time mining this wonderful online resource matching the information sources with specific curriculum area needs.

To explore the website, go to http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia.

Website Review: Google Cultural Institute

GOOGLE CULTURAL INSTITUTE is an astounding online resource focusing on art, history, and world wonders. It even contains powerful tools for creating online galleries and exhibits.

The Art Project section includes art collections from around the world. Users can browse the exhibits, zoom in for an up-close examination, and take virtual tours of art museums. Artwork can be searched by creator, medium, event, place, person, media, and date.

The Historical Moments area contains online exhibitions focusing on significant moments from human history. Exhibits represent the photos and historical artifacts of museums and personal collections. Historical materials can be browsed or searches. Don’t miss the new First World War and World War II: D-Day exhibits.

The World Wonders section brings both the modern and ancient world heritage sites to life using Google Street view. Like the other exhibits, the materials can be searched or browsed.

Tools allow users to share, compare, and save the collections. Those interested in building their own collections can “request an invite” to participate.

To learn more about the exhibits, go to https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute.
To build your own exhibit using their powerful online tools, go to https://www.google.com/opengallery