Docsteach.Gov From The National Archives

Abstract

     Over the last 20 years, digital scanning technology and the Internet have combined to provide educators with access to a huge volume of primary source material. The National Archives' Archival Research Catalog ARC) alone contains over 150,000 digital images of documents, photographs, maps, and other records (http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/). This treasure trove is a wonderful resource although in some ways frustratingly rich.
     Teachers in need of a good, teachable document probably do not have time to wade through an electronic mountain of digitally scanned primary sources. If they have found a primary source, they might be stuck on how to use it in the classroom. The National Archives' new website DocsTeach (http://docsteach.org/) offers a solution. It combines a large, growing, but easily searchable database of over 4,000 of the Archives' most teachable documents with a dynamic set of interactive activity-building tools. The primary sources contain historical content, and the interactive tools offer a means of developing students' historical and critical thinking skills.