There's so much information out there on the web. Some more reachable than others, and some more valuable than others. You can search for most anything on the internet and this day in age, it seems like the go-to search engine is Google. If you have a question and don't know the answer, typically the first thing you would do is Google it! I remember being in elementary school... even early middle school and any projects or research history, biography, or anything that required extensive research that was due for class was all done on an encyclopedia. I'd go home, and on a shelf there would be a dusty full set of Encyclopedia books in Alphabetical orders. Those books were so useful, sometimes boring, but useful! They've also become so underrated and to my knowledge, almost extinct! I feel like I lost a sense of my childhood and may actually consider finding a full, intact edition to add to my at home library. Anyhow, everything has changed so much since we've come into such a progressing digital age. So much so, that not even Google can find what your looking for all the time. There's so many great, informational resources that don't get enough credit therefore aren't generated in basic searches enough. In order to really get the best information in relation to history, utilizing the search engines with the most relatable information is your best bet. For instance, if your wanting to know the history of your county, searching your local libraries and colleges would bring about way more direct information than a Google search would. I decided to do a little research and see what I found relevant at a few different sites.
I've looked a bit at a local library site, Prince William Public Libraries and browsed a bit to see what was there. Initially it was a bit confusing, but I found my way. I stumbled upon what I had previously mentioned that was offered to my daughter in elementary school which was an entire digital library that could be used anywhere! As long as you had your library card, you were free to enter and browse the hundreds of topics and information at your fingertips. I also found other resource information ranging from The New York Times Historical Newspaper Collection, to biographies, and baking. You're able to view ancestry information for Virginians and also download all your state documents in one place. What I thought was neat about this site was that you could read, listen, or watch many resources in their digital section, and each of those categories had a sub category to choose from. If I were looking for information from a Newspaper, this would be a great source the find that. They had many digitized newspaper collections which includes the date ranges of publications which helps take some of the guess work out.
Next, I headed over to the NOVA Campus library to see what I could find and what was the most interesting to me. There were of course the typical college research guides listed by subject and a multimedia section to access video, audio, and images, but my favorite was the College history section called Nova Historical Collections. This area of the digital catalog allows the viewer to have access to information such as annual reports, yearbooks from previous years, and commencement programs. What I wasn't thrilled about was that I wasn't able to actually click any of the listed information and didn't have an easy time finding it utilizing the search option. I'll have to spend more time navigating that feature and find where it leads me to. Overall, their database is decently large and the site is user friendly and offers tons of educational material to your fingertips. It was also a bonus that I didn't have to login to access the titles that I clicked on to try out either. If your looking for college resources or even history on any specific college, going directly to that website seems to be the most valuable way to go.
Since I live in Virginia, I thought the next best stop to check out some digital media would be the The Library of Virginia. They've got their main page in subsections based on who you are and what your looking to achieve by visiting the site- I like that, simple and not wasting much time with what I need. I went on to look at the Virginia Memory section which was super intriguing. I went under the Making History section and entered the Transcribe subsection which opened a world that collided the past and the present. I say collided because it allowed the preservation of the past while using the digital technology of the present to make it exceptionally easy to view something that you wouldn't so easily be able to read and definitely much more complex to get your actual hands on. I was fascinated with the historical transcripts. I was able to bring them in, close and personal, and really take in the beauty of the original writing. If you appreciate the context of this type of history in such detail, head over to your local state library, or any state library and see if you are also able to find digitized historical material like this. I've always leaned more towards biography, and non-fictional reads, so I can enthusiastically say, I will be returning to this site and searching many more state libraries to see if I can find more transcriptions or handwritten documents like I did today.
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