civil war online
DESCRIPTION
The handout from our "Civil War Online" class on April 13, 2011TRANSCRIPT
Kathryn Bergeron Adult Services Librarians
Civil War ResourcesBaldwin Public Library
April 13, 2011
How to access databases from home:
Go to: http://www.baldwinlib.org/databases Find the database that you want:
o All of these databases below will be listed under different categories.o Or try the a-z databases list. You can go directly to that list by going to:
http://www.baldwinlib.org/databases-a-z/ Click on the link for that databases Type in your library barcode and pin number
o If you have an Alternate ID, make sure that you enter it in all CAPITALS Voila! You’re at the database
Library Databases:
(1) Ancestry Library: ACCESSIBLE ONLY WITHIN THE LIBRARYa. Favorite Feature: Try the Civil War Collection. Find resources like Prisoner of War records, cemetery
records, pension applications, and more.b. Favorite Feature: You can do general searches for American Civil War battles as well as for soldiers.
(2) Heritage Quest Online: Holds census information as well as local history and genealogical publicationsa. Favorite Feature: Search for Civil War publications to get more information about Civil War resourcesb. Favorite Feature: Search the Freedman’s Bank, a bank created in 1865 to serve freed slaves
(3) American History Online: Includes text, videos, images, maps, and morea. Favorite Feature: Go to the Topic Centers and choose “The Civil War and Reconstruction: 1860-1876”. If
you’re just looking to browse, this is a great place to start.(4) African-American History Online: Includes text, videos, images, maps, and more. It covers the American
Revolution to the presenta. Favorite Feature: Go to the Topic Centers and choose “The Civil War and Reconstruction: 1860-1876”. If
you’re just looking to browse, this is a great place to start.(5) Historical New York Times: The New York Times from 1851-2007 – Digital Images of articles and of full pages
a. Favorite Feature: Check the first page the day after a famous day in history: April 12, 1861 (the Battle of Fort Sumter) or April 14, 1865 (the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln)
(6) Also, try any of our encyclopedic databases:a. American the Beautifulb. Biography in Contextc. Encyclopedia Americanad. Grolier Multimedia Encyclopediae. New Book Of Knowledgef. World Book
Kathryn Bergeron Adult Services Librarians
Online Resources:
(1) Michigan and the Civil War: http://seekingmichigan.org/civil-war a. Sponsored by the Archives of Michigan, Seeking Michigan brings together Michigan historical resources
for your perusalb. Favorite Feature: This website is interactive as well as informative. Check out videos of Civil War re-
enactors, find events online, and even post your own photos of Civil War era monuments in your area(2) The Civil War: http://www.nps.gov/features/waso/cw150th/
a. Created by the National Parks Service, here you can follow along with the Civil War day-by-day.b. Favorite Feature: Are you interested in what the experts think about the Civil War? Look to the
“Reflections” section for articles by the best professors, authors, and other authorities on the Civil War.(3) The Valley of the Shadow: http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/
a. Compiled by the Virginia Center for Digital History and the University of Virginia Library, this resource follows one southern and one northern community from John Brown’s Raid through Resconstruction
b. Favorite Feature: Try the Valley Timeline to get a good sense of what is going on locally, state-wide, and nationally
(4) Civil War Widows Pension: http://www.footnote.com/documents/115520748/civil_war_widows_pensions/a. A scan of the Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Widows and Other Dependents of Civil War
Veterans, ca. 1861 - ca. 1910 from the National Archivesb. Favorite Feature: You get to see the actual text on this document (no transcription). So, enjoy all of the
extras of seeing an extra piece of paper. Find added notes; enjoy people’s handwriting (or don’t enjoy it). Use the bar on the left side of the document to zoom in and out and to adjust other settings.
(5) The Civil War on PBS: http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/ a. This website was made in conjunction with Ken Burn’s documentary, “The Civil War”. While it is a
commercial page, it has excellent information and is easy to navigate.b. Favorite Feature: Check out the “In the Classroom” section. Even if you are not a teacher, you’ll get tips
on things like researching the Civil War in your own town and links to collections from place like the Library of Congress.
(6) Civil War Maps: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/civil_war_maps/ a. “Civil War Maps brings together materials from three premier collections: the Library of Congress
Geography and Map Division, the Virginia Historical Society, and the Library of Virginia.”b. Favorite Feature: Look at a few different maps and understand the different ways that maps were drawn
and the different information that those maps contain. Then, check out the essay, “History of Mapping the Civil War” and read about mapping.
c. Also try “Selected Civil War Photographs”, also from the Library of Congress: http://international.loc.gov/ammem/cwphtml/cwphome.html
(7) Making of America: http://digital.library.cornell.edu/m/moawar/waro.htmla. By Cornell University, this resource holds a collection of Civil War documents that have been digitizedb. Favorite Feature: The relatively simple searches helps you to find exactly what you need while searching
a variety of documents.
Finally, if you’re interested in seeing some great photographs, check out National Geographic’s “Fort Sumter: the Spark of War”: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/04/pictures/110407-fort-sumter-spark-of-war/