Primary Source Designs for Learning Handbook

Exploration 9: Learning American Memory Collections

Understanding Goal

American Memory searching is like going on an expedition. Prepare for exploration by packing "search term" supplies.

Investigative Question

What are the steps to planning an American Memory Search?

Patron Actions

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Library of Congress searching is like going on an expedition. Get ready for exploration by packing "search term" supplies.

Step 1: Describe your topic. Think about dates, people, places, and facts that you know. Organize your thoughts from broad ideas such as explorers to specific terms such as Lewis and Clark.

Step 2: What questions do you have about your topic?

Step 3: Thinking about what you know about your topic and your questions, what are some key words that might help you locate information? Brainstorm synonyms for key words, keeping in mind the language we use today may be different then language used in the past. See Synonym List for historical words related to various topics.

Step 4: How will you search in American Memory? Strategy examples include: search across all collections, browse collections limited by Topic, Time Period, Format or Place, search within one collection.

Search Strategy	Collections that hold promise*	Search terms

*To locate potential collections, search across all collections with your key words. Notice the collection titles that come up. Go to those collections and search within those collections. Browsing the collection descriptions on the following pages may be useful.

Don't forget to save the items you find. Make sure that you copy the exact title (in bold under the thumb nail on the bibliographic record) or the permanent URL or the bibliographic record.

Copyright information is found on each item under Rights and Reproductions on the bibliographic record.