Prologue Magazine

NARA's Library: Reference at Your Desk

Summer 2003, Vol. 35, No. 2

 

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(Photo by Richard Schneider)

The Reference at Your Desk feature is a compilation of ready reference web sites selected to address the needs of ALIC's records community. ALIC librarians review each link on the web pages to ensure that sites are authoritative and informative. Among the topics included on the Reference at Your Desk (RAYD) section of the website are Terrorism, Exploration, Photography, Genealogy, and Archives & Records Management.

RAYD's Terrorism page is designed to collect resources that will be useful to researchers in the future. Looking forward, ALIC conjectures that this topic will be a widely researched one, and the page represents ALIC's efforts at identifying the current online and printed materials that will complement the records when they arrive at NARA.

The Exploration page, primarily focusing on the westward expansion of the United States, and particularly on the explorers themselves and their survey results, is an important topic for genealogists. Included on this page are links to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, whose bicentennial celebration began this year.

The Photography reference page includes digital photographic collections organized by century as well as information on the history of photography and how to care for photographic collections. This RAYD page includes an extensive index, searchable alphabetically by photographer and subject.

The Genealogy page augments the print collection in ALIC and provides access to many valuable online family history databases. It includes instructions on how to do genealogical research using NARA resources, online resources and databases, and more. There are also links for vital records research and ethnic heritage resources.

The Archives & Records Management page combines links on archives and records management resources with links to professional organizations such as the Society of American Archivists, discussion groups and electronic mailing lists, and recent research in the field. See the "Quick Facts about NARA" section for an interesting overview of the agency's history and programs.

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Articles published in Prologue do not necessarily represent the views of NARA or of any other agency of the United States Government.
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