The Website of Abbey Sacco
Library of Congress Produced By: The Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/index.html (202) 707-5000 Grade Levels: K-12 Subject Area: Social Studies Reviewed By: Abbey Sacco WEBSITE DESCRIPTION: The Library of Congress home page is clearly laid out and easy to navigate. The homepage is divided into several subcategories. On a sidebar there are sections for: Kids/Families, Librarians, Publishers, Researchers, Teachers and Visitors. The home page also has buttons at the top of the screen to: Ask a Librarian, View the Digital Collection, and to View the Library Catalogs. Another section of the homepage showcases the highlights of the collection with search topics such as: Webcasts, Places in the News, and Today in History. Another section has: News from the Library, Popular Topics, and a: Did You Know Section. The site can be a bit overwhelming if the user is unsure of what he or she is searching for. The site is constantly updated so the content is constantly being viewed and additions being made. ACCURACY OF CONTENT: The accuracy of the content is of the highest quality. The content is constantly being updated by the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. The site’s main purpose is to provide clear and accurate information to the viewer of historic events in World History. The site provides primary source documents in the form of pictures, newspapers, and letters. The site has several exhibitions that are changing frequently to educate all ages. The site also provides information about topics that are in the news today and connects it to historical events of the past. TECHNICAL QUAILTY: The website has links to interactive exhibitions that can be easily viewed. Several of the links in the WebCast section do not work unless the user has RealPlayer installed. The Library of Congress utilizes subscriptions to Podcasts through itunes. The Podcasts feature several different topics on the site. This is a great feature for those users that have access to itunes. Several of the interactive activities on the website require a flash plug-in to use the features. USE OF TECHNONLGY: The Library of Congress website is constantly updating, to keep up with the changing technology. This is made clear through the additions of Podcasts and WebCasts. The Podcasts are a way to share information that may not have been possible years ago. For example, if you are teaching the topic of slavery it is possible to subscribe to a Podcast that provides slave narratives for the students to listen to. There are also several interactive teaching techniques offered in the teacher section that uses technology to teach multiple themes. For example, there is an interactive game that teaches students how to analyze political cartoons. This is accomplished through definitions and a guessing game to teach how to step-by-step analyze primary source documents. ROLE OF STUDENTS: A students could navigate this site easily if he or she were to stay in the kids and families section. If a student is to venture too far from that section the site could easily become overwhelming. The kids and families sections is geared towards students and provides information that is at various student-reading levels. There is also a search feature if the student is working on research on his or her own. Students are able to look at primary source documents in the kids and families section without becoming overwhelmed by the other search features through the home page. ROLE OF TEACHER: The Library of Congress site is geared for teacher use. The: For Teachers link, on the home page provides: lesson plans, suggested activities, and primary sources that can be utilized in the classroom. The activities are clearly labeled with what grade level the activity is appropriate for. There is also premade graphic organizers for teachers to use when teaching map skills. The section also provides activities that aid in teaching students how to analyze primary source documents. There is an interactive activity that takes the student through how to analyze political cartoons from the time period of slavery through the civil rights movement. The activity illustrates the deeper meaning of political cartoons, which can be a difficult concept to teach. The activity shows students how to use a critical eye and look for the deeper meaning of the images. CLASSROOM USAGE: The Library of Congress can be used in the classroom by either, printing out primary source documents or using the pre-made slide shows to show the images of whatever time period you are teaching. Teachers could also utilize the lesson plans that the site provides or use the lesson plans for ideas of how to generate their own. The Library of Congress website is a great place for older students to search when working on research based projects that require primary source material. CRITIAL SUMMARY: The Library of Congress is a great website for finding primary source material. The site is constantly being updated by a highly creditable source. The site is also using technology to keep up with the changing school climate. The site however can be overwhelming for first time users or younger students. If a teacher is using the site in the classroom it would be best utilized within one of the subcategories instead of navigating the entire site. The site is a great place to find information for teaching any topic of history, but it is a very large database that would be best used with some guidance. OVERALL RATING (ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10): 8 EXPLANTION OF RATING: I gave the Library of Congress website an 8 out of 10 because of the sheer size of the website. The site can be very overwhelming for first time users or younger students. If a person is unsure of what they are searching for the site could easily frustrate them. The site is however a great tool to find numerous primary source documents to use in the classroom. The site also provides useful guides and aids to teach the subject matter to several grade levels. The site could also aid older students on independent research on various historical topics.
Home Page | Review of Digital History | Lesson Plan for John Brown | PowerPoint of 1960s | Web Quest for The American Revolution
© Abbey Sacco | Last revised 06/09/09 | asacco@sjc.edu Image from: www.planetware.com