Social Sciences	Contents of Social Sciences ............................................. Databases of Primary Source Material
Technology-Supported Solutions that Work

Databases of Primary Source Material in Social Sciences Description: The marriage of scanning technologies with sophisticated media databases and the Internet have encouraged many institutions; primarily museums, universities and government agencies; to populate their Web sites with a plethora of first-hand historical documents. In earlier times these documents would have been available only to select researchers willing to travel to the dark recesses of museum libraries where the documents are stored. Today, complete images and text versions of these documents are readily available on the Web. The availability of these rich resources allows students to move beyond the sanitized boundaries of textbook descriptions of history into the slightly messy but infinitely more interesting world of true history.

Developer/Publisher: Smithsonian, Library of Congress, many other museums, universities and government agencies.Examples: Ellis Island Records Grade Levels: Pre-kindergarten through first grade Cost: May also be useful for other at-risk early-grade students.

Effectiveness: While the application of these resources within the curriculum has not yet been demonstrated to have a specific impact on test scores, research suggests that, when used within an inquiry-based program, they have been shown to increase "motivation, self-directed thinking, self-initiated activity, construction of meaning, analytical analysis and collaboration." (Berson, 1996)

When used within an inquiry-based program, this curriculum has been shown to increase "...motivation, self-directed thinking, self-initiated activity, construction of meaning, analytical analysis and collaboration." Berson, 1996)