Thing 8: Databases

I decided to check out more thoroughly the databases that we have here at Pioneer Ridge. There are several good databases here that I've used in the past like Opposing Viewpoints or Discovery Education Streaming (awesome place for video clips if you haven't tried it I highly recommend it).
Today I decided to dig deeper into the Historical Newspapers database from ProQuest. Since my students have an upcoming research assignment dealing with inventions and inventors of the Industrial Revoltuion, I thought I would see what sort of sources I could find at this database.

Some of the information the database provides includes articles (I found one on how the sewing machine changed society from 1858). The database also provides a timeline so that the researcher can focus in on a particular era if he/she so chooses. There are full articles available here as well as just the abstract of the article if you just want a basic idea of what is contained in the article.

I think the Historical Newspapers database is user friendly. One drawback is that the articles can be difficult to read even if you open them in a new window. This is likely due to the age of some of the articles. Considering a lot of them are transferred from microfiche or maybe even some older technology, that's not too surprising. If one has patience, the articles can be deciphered, but I do see this as a possible drawback trying to get some students interested in printed information that is tough to read at times.

I think one benefit I could point out to students about the Historical Newspapers database is that it is a simple way to look for and find entire primary sources about a research topic in history and they are available for free! I would recommend this database to all the Social Studies teachers for sure and maybe others looking for primary sources for another type of research project.