Primary Source Designs for Learning Handbook

Chapter 2 - Develop American Memory Expertise

American Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. It is a digital record of American history and creativity. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the public as a resource for education and lifelong learning.
(Reference: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/about/index.html)

American Memory primary sources may contain material not suitable for students.

This chapter describes the primary sources and other resources available through American Memory. Explorations in this chapter help to develop an understanding of how American Memory is organized.

Research patrons with an understanding of the concept of a "collection of collections" will have strategies for beginning research and will save time through more productive searching.

Girl sitting on stacked trunks belonging to Norwegians going home to Norway . (1910) Library of Congress, American Memory, Photographs from the Chicago Daily News, Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society.