Ancestry.com is Back!

Ancestry.com Library Edition is once again part of our database selection. This is a fantastic genealogical resource, in fact the largest online resource of its kind with 4 billion records from around the world! Some of the records you can search include birth/death, military, census lists and immigration.

It’s a great tool to start researching your family history. There are charts and forms to help you with your research including a downloadable family tree.

To access Ancestry.com you have to come in to the library, you cannot access it from home. However you can use our other genealogy database HeritageQuest Online from home.

Live from the NYPL

The New York Public Library has a great event series called Live from the NYPL. Obviously it’s not very convenient for us to attend, but thankfully there is an archive of past events on audio and video with printable transcripts all the way back to 2005.

‘Live from’ includes discussions, performances and more. High profile appearances have included Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison, Spike Lee and Werner Herzog. The events are diverse with enough variety in themes and content to please everyone. As new shows are continually added it’s well worth bookmarking the site.

Art Through Time

Art Through Time: A Global View is a 13 part educational video series highlighting the art and history of different cultures around the world. These interesting documentaries cover numerous themes from an art and culture viewpoint such as nature, portraits, conflicts and dreams.

The videos are very informative with artists, experts, museum and gallery curators discussing a wide variety of art, culture and history. Each video runs about 30 minutes are available on demand for free!

Civil Rights Digital Library

The Civil Rights Digital Library is a great educational resource illustrating the history and struggles of the Civil Rights Movement.

On this site you will find articles, photographs, political cartoons, documents, audio recordings and original television footage.  You can browse a timeline of events, people and places.

There is a wealth of resources for those interested and especially for students from this collaboration between universities and libraries.

Eyewitness

Eyewitness: American Originals from the National Archives is a really interesting site. On this archive you can find first hand accounts of some of the key moments in U.S. history including diaries, photographs and paintings.

The website is divided into different areas by a common theme. These include titles such as Confrontations for Justice, Scenes from Hell, Free at Last, Passing of an Era, Leaders in Crisis and America on the Move.

There are a wide variety of moments covered often with high quality images and scanned documents that are printer friendly. Take a look and step back in time!

If you’re looking for primary historical resources don’t forget to check our online database called Footnote. It has almost 60 million items! You can access it from the library or from home.