Finding New York Military History on the Internet Heidi Bamford April 17, 2013 Who holds New York s historical records?! Federal, state and local governments! Public libraries local history collections! Historical societies and museums! Schools, colleges and universities! Businesses and professional organizations! Religious and community organizations 1
! Check for: Evaluating Sources n Authority who created the information? n Accuracy is the information based on facts? n Authenticity facts verified and consistent? n Currency when created? Last updated? n Coverage Accounts for multiple pov?! Evaluating History Websites (SUNY/Oswego)! Evaluating Websites (Cornell University) Tip: Know Your Boundaries!! The Mapping of New York State! Atlas of Historical County Boundaries! NYS Counties History! Early New York (Rootsweb) 2
**TIP: Use the Search or Help links for Maximizing Potential Hits! Examples: n batavia AND new york (separate terms with quotes) n batavia AND new york (all words in one quote) n batavia, new york (omit the AND) n Batavia, New York (try using caps) n Batavia, New York (caps, no quotes) n batavia, new york (no caps, no quotes) n batavia new york (no caps, quotes, punctuation) n Batavia, NY (abbreviations) Checklist for NY and Local History on the Internet! Directories! Union Catalogs! Institutional Catalogs! Online Guides, Exhibits! Online Finding Aids, Indexes! BLTs Blogs, Listservs, Twitter! 3
Locating NY Repositories & Resources National Directories University of Idaho's Repositories of Primary Sources Digital-Librarian.com ArchiveGrid n Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives! Combine catalogs of several institutions Union Catalogs! Can usually search holdings of all included institutions at once! Useful when you do not know where material is located 4
Union Catalogs NUCMC National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections o Search for specific person o o Search for an organization s collection Search for material on a topic World Cat **Tip: Add terms like records or papers or manuscripts to subject search terms to get more historical records! New York State Archives & New York State Library! New York State Library n Holds non-government records! New York State Archives n Holds records of state government! New York State Archives Research Tools n Topical guides (finding aids) n Web exhibits n Digital collections 5
Union Catalogs continued New York State Library s NYS Library/Archives/Museum Catalog & Historic Documents Inventory (HDI) Access PA Early Canadiana Online (ECO) Harvard University Web Accessible Collections Institutional Catalogs - LOC! Library of Congress - Home Library of Congress Digital Collections Library of Congress American Memory George Washington's Diaries at LOC 6
National Archives! Archives Resources Catalog (ARC)! Access to Archival Databases (AAD) n Presidential Libraries New York Institutional Catalogs & Guides! New York State Military Museum! New York Historical Society! New York Public Library Digital Gallery NYPL Civil War Soldier database 7
Other New York State Resources! New York VetFriends! NYS 3Rs (Library Councils)! New York Heritage! NY History Net! NY Gen Web Local Institutional Catalogs & Guides Monroe County Library System (Local History) Buffalo History Museum FRANK Rochester Museum & Science Center LIBCAT Historic River Valley Hudson American Field Services History 8
Other Online Exhibitions & Guides! SI: Library & Archival Exhibitions on the Web Smithsonian Archives Collections Online! The Virtual Wall (Vietnam)! Library of Congress Online Guides! PBS Programs n The War That Made America PBS on the Mexican War PBS Series: The Great War The Perilous Fight (PBS WWII) PBS: Battlefield Vietnam Web Sites Full Text and Index Links! Digital Book Index! Internet Archive! ipl2 (Internet Public Library)! Buffalo History Index! BuffaloResearch.com 9
Conclusion! What questions do you have?! Thank you for attending! 10