Primary Source

Three scientific organizations: the American Meteorological Society, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Institute of Physics (Center for History of Physics) have developed this site to collect the first-hand accounts of those involved with the Greenland Ice Sheet Projects (GISP1 and GISP2) and the development of deep-core ice drilling. The site asks for the memories of scientists, engineers, students, financial backers and others who participated in these research efforts. Participants can send material to the American Institute of Physics, which runs the site, or join an online discussion newsgroup on a variety of topics relating to the GISP efforts. In addition, there is a brief historical essay on ice drilling and its scientific importance and links to other related sites. This site is funded by the Sloan Foundation.

Part of the Library of Congress American Memory Project, this site offers full-text transcriptions of 23 popular 19th-century periodicals digitized by the Cornell University Library and the Preservation Reformatting Division of the Library of Congress. Among the periodicals on this site are literary and political magazines, as well as journals like Scientific American, Manufacturer and Builder, Garden and Forest, and the North American Review. Each periodical is accompanied by very brief (10-15 word) notes on the name and location of the publisher and the years and volumes covered. With the temporary exception of Garden and Forest, each periodical's full text is searchable by keyword and phrase. A special presentation offers a roughly 750-word essay on the historical background of Garden and Forest by Sheila Connor, the Horticultural Research Archivist at the Arnold Arboretum. There are also links to related American Memory resources. The site's broad sampling of periodicals provides an easily navigated source for articles and editorials on a number of 19th-century political, cultural, and social issues.

A few discussion threads on programming language and software engineering. Little to offer and outdated. Note: page uses frames-click on Sloan project to access History of Programming Languages and Software Engineering section.

This American Memory site records the mapping of North America and the Caribbean from 1750 to 1789 through images of maps in the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress. Most items on the site are also included among the 2000 images in Maps and Charts of North America and the West Indies, 1750-1789: A Guide to the Collections of the Library of Congress, compiled by John R. Sellers and Patricia Molen van Ee (1981). Currently the site contains roughly 2000 images. Maps and charts will be added to the online exhibit gradually. Selected images include original manuscript drawings by famous mapmakers like Samuel Holland, John Hills, and John Montresor; maps from the personal collections of men like Admiral Richard Howe and the comte de Rochambeau; and large groups of maps by three major 18th-century London publishers: Thomas Jeffreys, William Faden, and Joseph Frederick Wallet des Barres. The online collection allows researchers to compare editions, styles, and techniques of mapmakers from Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Holland, Italy, and the United States, and to follow the development of specific maps from the manuscript sketch to the finished, printed version. Each image is accompanied by descriptive notes (100-150 words) and a list of the medium, date and place of publication, condition, call number, and repository. The site also includes a 1500-word essay on mapmaking during the American Revolutionary era and links to 12 other American Memory sites containing related materials. Researchers can browse this site by geographic location, subject, creator, and title, and can search the site by keyword. This site is ideal for students and teachers interested in mapmaking in the 18th century and in exploring how maps helped to illustrate American culture.

The American Institute of Physics has combined exhibits with educational syllabi, and archives in this deep site. Included are exhibits about Madame Currie, Albert Einstein, the electron, the transistor and Werner Heisenberg and the Uncertainty Principle. Archives include thousands of digitized images in the Emilio Sagres visual archive, and the book and manuscript catalogue of the Neils Bohr library. The site also includes online syllabi and sample readings for history of physics teachers, information about accessing information at AIP, and online newsletters relating to the library and Center for History of Physics.

The collection is divided into seven general themes: Civil War, Slavery and Abolition, Religion, Education, Self-Help and Self-Improvement, Travel and Westward Expansion, and Poetry. Each section opens with a 200-word descriptive essay, and each book featured on the site is accompanied by notes on the author, full title of the work, date and place of publication, and the publisher. The site is keyword searchable and can be browsed by subject, author, and title. The site is ideal for exploring late-19th-century literature and popular culture.

This project, produced by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, looks to expand the recent history of electric lighting and energy issues relating to lighting. An example of "participatory history," there is an attempt to record online the stories and memories of the people who have produced or dealt with electric lighting. This group includes: electricians, engineers, electrical researchers, inventors, utility workers, city planners, architects, retailers, consumers, and anyone else who has taken part in the buying, selling, installing, and designing electric lighting. Extensive input forms are available for each of these groups to add to the electronic archive the Smithsonian is building. The site also includes historical essays on commercial, industrial and residential lighting, particularly focusing on the last 30 years. An extensive bibliography, including articles and books from both professional societies and the popular press, adds to the background material on the site.

This Library of Congress American Memory site features images and descriptions of 623 railroad maps selected from more than 3000 regional, state, and county maps in the Library's Geography and Map Division. The selected items represent the variety of cartographic styles and techniques used in maps created for a range of purposes, including railroad surveys, U.S. General Land Office maps, surveys for rights of way, general surveys for railroad company reports, maps used by commercial publications, ticket agents and the public, and route guides to encourage commerce and travel by rail. The maps on this site were featured in the cartobibliography Railroad Maps of the United States: A Selective Annotated Bibliography of Original 19th Century Maps in the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress, compiled by Andrew M. Modelski (1975). A descriptive summary of 50-100 words and notes on the scale, publication place and date, medium, call numbers, and repository accompany each image. The site also includes a lengthy (3000-word) essay outlining the history of railroads and maps, a bibliography of eight related works, and links to many American Memory sites containing related materials. The site can be searched by keyword and browsed by geographic location, subject, map creator, title, and railroad lines. This site is ideal for students and teachers interested in the history of railroads, cartography, and transportation in the United States.

This site provides essays, timelines, and personal recollections of the history of research on plasmids, extremophiles and second generation antibiotics. Currently, only the plasmid portion of the site is fully developed. A timeline of plasmid research outlines major breakthroughs from 1903-1969, a glossary covers most of the important terms related to the field, and an extensive bibliography covers published papers on plasmids from the 1940s and 50s. Microbiologists and others involved with plasmid research can add their comments and recollections to the site's archive. In addition, the site contains links to other sites and professional associations interested in the history of microbiology.