News Archive

87 posts found under Content Showcase. Showing page 4 of 5.

Summer of Archives: Gorgeous historical book covers

Who doesn’t love a beautiful book cover? Our latest installment in the Summer of Archives series contains a smattering of stunning 19th and 20th-century book covers designed by the likes of Margaret Armstrong (1867-1944) and Will Bradley (1868–1962), among others. All images courtesy University of North Carolina at Greensboro, via the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center and DPLA.

August 26, 2014

Summer of Archives: Historical Cats

Yup, cats. Good ol’ cats. This week’s installment in our Summer of Archives series is all about our fuzzy feline friends, fount of cuteness for millennia. In case you missed it, last Friday, August 8, was International Cat Day, which you can belatedly celebrate (or relive!) by checking out the newest album.

August 11, 2014

Summer of Archives: Forever Loops

The Summer of Archives is back with more archival finds from DPLA. This week we’re featuring short animated GIFs that seem to seamlessly loop forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever. All of the moving images used for this post are courtesy the National Archives and Records Administration, via DPLA.

July 28, 2014

DPLA in the Classroom: Resources on Slavery in the U.S.

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I am an eighth grade Language Arts teacher working at the DPLA this summer, researching ways the DPLA is useful for instructors and students alike. My exploration of Japanese Internment revealed how the DPLA’s wealth of primary sources can help engage students and promote deeper understanding. In this post, I will examine resources related to a different period of American history – Slavery in the U.S. These texts and images may be useful to Social Studies classes focusing on the antebellum period, or to Language Arts classes reading slavery-related texts (e.g. Laurie Halse Anderson’s Chains, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, etc.)

July 24, 2014

Summer of Archives: Firing on enemy lines in 16 steps (1918)

The Summer of Archives is back this week with another installment of awesome archival finds from the wide world of DPLA. This week we’re featuring rare footage of US military operations in France during World War I. The 16 GIFs in this installment depict crews of US Naval Railway Batteries preparing and firing artillery rounds deep into German military operations in Verdun, France in 1918.

July 16, 2014

Finding family information through DPLA

Retired Director of Historical Services  for the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, New York and Community Rep Larry Naukam explains how DPLA offers new opportunities to family researchers as a growing number of small institutions making content available online.

July 15, 2014

DPLA in the Classroom: Resources on Japanese Internment

As an eighth grade Language Arts teacher, I often find myself sifting through a list of messy links on Google. I scour crowded Internet pages for background information on Of Mice and Men or the Great Depression. And all too often, after landing upon tens of amateur resources with suspect information, I end my search frustrated and empty-handed. During times like these, the Digital Public Library of America could be an extremely useful tool. The DPLA provides access to thousands of primary sources that teachers can incorporate into classroom units at the middle, high school, or higher-ed levels. This summer, I am researching ways that teachers can utilize the DPLA to enhance learning and encourage exploration in their classrooms.

July 10, 2014

“Putting It on the Line”: Citizen Participation in the Democratic Process, Georgia State University’s Digital Collections

Stephen Zietz is the Head of Special Collections and Archives at Georgia State University. The department has a staff of six professional librarian/archivists and four paraprofessionals and is distributed across campus in five locations. Over the last six years, Special Collections and Archives has expanded it collections scope and reenergized its oral history program.

June 25, 2014

DPLA and Imgur publish second post in its Summer of Archives series

The Summer of Archives is back! This week, we bring you a collection of colorful summertime postcards from mid-century America. These vintage linen color postcards, printed by Tichnor Brothers Inc. (Boston) and held at the Boston Public Library, are perfect little glimpses into America’s favorite summertime locales circa 1930-1945.

June 16, 2014

DPLA teams up with Imgur for the Summer of Archives

We’re excited to announce that DPLA is officially teaming up with Imgur, the popular online photo-sharing platform, to launch an experiment in their gallery from now until August. We’re calling it the Summer of Archives. The idea is simple: throughout the summer we’re going to pull together some awesome collections of images and gifs using open materials found in DPLA.

June 2, 2014

Connecting to Oral Histories

Mary Battle, Public Historian at the College of Charleston’s Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, describes the value of oral histories as a teaching tool and highlights some of her favorites from DPLA.

May 1, 2014

A visual tour of innovations in musical instruments

Music is universal. All cultures have music in their history. How they go about making that music and with what instruments differs. Music of non-Western cultures (and even instruments used in Western folk music) has long been made with objects of necessity, like gourds, shells, and animal skins. DPLA has some fantastic image examples of […]

April 23, 2014

National Library Week: 10 fascinating historical images of libraries and their patrons

Happy National Library Week! Libraries have been cornerstones in communities for decades. Now, at the DPLA, content can go beyond neighborhood residents checking books and in and out of their local libraries. Those same valuable and historic resources, from institutions across the country, are now available to millions of users—for free. To celebrate, here is a list of 10 fascinating historical images of libraries and the publics they serve.

April 16, 2014

Get behind the wheel!

The DPLA is an incredible source for research on to cars stories, be they related to personal stories, historic milestones, or just a glimpse into car culture. This post details some of the car-related selections I came across in the DPLA that I found interesting.

April 3, 2014

10 awesome videos from DPLA’s collections

While most DPLA users are familiar with the millions of images and texts in our collections, most may not be aware that we also have a growing assortment of some 15,000+ video records. These videos cover a tremendous range of subjects, from WWII-era public service documentaries to contemporary interviews with well-known musicians.

March 14, 2014