Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | May 12, 2013
The real reason I have not written a blog post for months is that my work with the Library of Congress has taken over my “leisure” time. In other words, I flunked retirement. Nevertheless, when I took on the job of coordinating the beta test of a new learning network for teachers interested in using […]
Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | November 18, 2012
Last week at the request of one of my colleagues at the Library of Congress, I compiled a list of organizations and individuals who regularly tweet about primary sources. Just in case I had missed any, I searched Twitter for the keywords primary sources. Since I follow teachers and education organizations almost exclusively, I was surprised […]
Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | June 18, 2012
Since I started a consulting job with the Library of Congress in late March, I’ve led a whirlwind life, complete with a previously planned two-week trip to Portugal and Spain, a two-day Teaching with Primary Sources Consortium meeting in Washington, a week-long Summer Teacher Institute at the Library of Congress, meetings, gallery openings, graduations, and […]
Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | November 15, 2011
I want to pass on three blogs that I regularly read for their teaching ideas and valuable links to primary sources. I hope you’ll add these to your own RSS feeds. Just look for this RSS icon to subscribe: Teaching with The Library of Congress This is a relatively new blog written by Library of […]
Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | October 5, 2011
Something has been bothering me about QR codes. When teachers first learn about QR codes, they immediately start thinking of all the ways they can use them to make learning more exciting. Their minds race ahead to projects with QR codes, scavenger hunts with QR codes, QR codes that introduce students to new concepts, and […]
Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | September 14, 2011
So often I think that I have to write something profound in my Primary Source Librarian posts that I simply decide not to write anything at all. I suspect that’s a challenge for many bloggers. So today I’m just going to catch up on a few of my summer workshop activities. Maybe that will help […]
Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | January 22, 2011
About a year ago, with encouragement from my friend Nancy White (@nancyw), I began to use Twitter. One year later, I agree with Nancy 100% that it has become my professional development tool of choice. The 500 or so educators I follow on Twitter supply me with endless links to thought-provoking education-related articles, blog posts, […]
Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | September 20, 2010
I depend a lot upon New York Times book reviews when selecting books to add to my “I wish I had the time to read” pile. Between listening to my growing collection of audible.com books on my iPod while working out at the Y and reading about 1/5 of the books I put on hold […]
Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | August 21, 2010
When I give workshops on teaching with primary sources, I always ask participants to define the term primary source and to give examples. Participants always offer “eyewitness reports” as an example. It stands to reason, then, that the ability to analyze eyewitness reports for point of view, accuracy, and context is an essential primary source […]
Mary, The Primary Source Librarian | August 9, 2010
Time passes swiftly when you’re NOT writing a blog. Apparently I needed a longer vacation from blogging than I predicted back in January. What have I been doing? Well… Two trips to Europe–Sicily in April and Brittany (northwest France) in June. I continued my Italian studies and brushed up on my once fluent French. Hours […]
