United States History on the Web and in the Library: Comments and Conversations on Resources, Search Strategies, and More

A service for the faculty and students of the State University of New York at Buffalo and beyond.

This note will be sent to appropriate groups of faculty and students at the University at Buffalo.

Since 8 June 2005 I have published a blog designed to interest and serve scholars and students of American history. It’s evolving, but it has reached a point where I’d like to share it with you and encourage you to visit it regularly. Before going public, I wanted to have a sufficient number of posts to give an idea of what future posts will be like, so please explore the archive for June. Select it by clicking the link on the bottom right. Until this point, I have announced this blog only on the list I edit for H-Net, H-HistBibl. United States History on the Web and in the Library is designed for quick and easy consultation and will be added to several times over the course of a week. Please do me one favor; however, when viewing the blog select a text viewing size that results in two columns.

This blog will be comprised largely of short, readable, hyperlinked posts that introduce electronic as well as print resources and search strategies, highlight resources on topics of interest to me and – and based on my reading of department interests – of interest to UB’s history department community. I will also comment on resources that complement specific courses and assignments and I will solicit input on a variety of local concerns, from your evaluative comments on electronic resources we’ll try on trial, to whether to offer specific workshops or create course- or topic-specific guides to library and Web materials. If I am successful, the blog will take on the character of an interactive magazine. This is because the blog format allows readers to comment easily on each post. I’ll reserve the option of excluding comments that lack concision or relevancy. Each month’s postings will be archived and, over the course of the academic year, may be “re-posted” or referred to as appropriate.

I think the blog format offers distinct advantages over either a printed or Web-resident newsletter, listserv post, or library guide. These formats are useful, but – for various reasons – lack the immediacy and spontaneity of the blog format. Both authors and readers, creators and users, are better served by this format. The platform on which this blog is built allows for attractive presentation and the display of images, film and audio clips, and – of course – easy hyperlinking to discussed resources. Further, the typographic display of information is attractive and will become even more so over time. Finally, this is a very unobtrusive way of communicating with you, it’s very efficient for me, and – because the blog will be archived monthly – useful posts can be referred to any time you need them.

On the far right, you’ll find a convenient list of classified hyperlinks to Web resources useful for exploring, studying and teaching American history.

If you have suggestions or special requests – things you’d like me to comment on -- please let me know by responding to this post or sending me an e-mail. Please spread the word to friends, students, and colleagues. Once the academic year begins, there will be an advertising campaign.

Charles D’Aniello
Room 321
Lockwood Memorial Library
Amherst, New York 14260
Office: 716-645-2323, extension 424
Fax: 716-645-3859
E-mail: LCLCHARL@buffalo.edu