Infographics and The Library of Congress:
A Colossal Collection of Resource Riches

I forget sometimes how lucky I am that I grew up in the Washington DC metro area and have within 25 min of my front doorstep (ok, maybe not 25 with DC traffic, right!?) but close by is one of the largest collections of rich resources in the world - the United States Library of Congress. But don't fret, you don't need to travel to DC to enjoy the FREE and open globally to everyone in the world the resources, lesson plans, and primary source documents  through their amazingly extensive online website for teachers.  In these tough economic times when districts are discontinuing paying for online research databases this is a goldmine of FREE resources. (Have I said FREE enough? LOL) Oh and you can tell from the title of this post that I love me some alliterative action! But why not?




"Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man"

Use the Creative Commons infographic below to "sell' all the great stuff that's available AND FREE from the Library of Congress to your teachers of all subjects doing research. Especially our Social Studies partners! (See exciting Social Studies Chat announcement below!) I've added the infographic below AND links to the teachers resources as a link from our Research Resources Wikipage!  

(Click HERE for the FULL Size of this infographic)


(Full size of the graphic above)


INFOGRAPHIC LUST:
Easily the latest, greatest thing to visual learning is the Infographic. But, Infographics themselves are not so easy to create. Enter the free and still in beta site Easel.ly which pretty much lives up to its name! With a few slick template choices, text, objects, and shapes to add anyone can create a slick looking free Infographic that adds interest, meaning, and comprehension to text-heavy content. WARNING: But please don't become an Info-doofus - just because it's in an Infographic does NOT mean it's true...or relevant. Of course if you don't want to use this FREE site you can always pay upwards of $299 for a customized Infographic from 99Designs! (But why would you?)
(Photo from Patent Nonsense)

Back story: I regularly get emails with unsolicited suggestions for blog topics - it's sometimes truly flattering & informative and sometimes (usually) annoying. My blog fodder ain't for sale peeps! I blog about what I wanna blog about and I'm oppositional to boot so unless you're part of my Personal Learning Network (that's you dear reader not those company marketers or people sellin stuff) making suggestions --I'm not gonna bite. Harumph!

But sometimes I get stuff that even though it's promoting or created by a commercial venture it's really so cool I gotta share it. This is one of those times! So, thanks BestCollegesOnline! But other marketers? Don't hold your breath - I can't be bought - I can be rented by inviting me to speak at your conference or consult with you...but not umm bought. (Rent? Eep! OK, somehow that sounded better in my head!)

Social Studies Chat & The TL Virtual Cafe
Social Studies teachers + Teacher Librarians = A winning combination!
Join us at the TL Virtual Cafe for a FREE webinar on February 4th for a #SSChat & #TLChat collaboration with Ron Peck!

Below are pictures I took back in 2005 when our district Library Media Specialists went on a "field trip" to the Library of Congress! It was AWESOME!


Comments

  1. Librarian TiffJanuary 17, 2013 at 11:33 AM

    Oh my gosh, these pictures make me swoon! I want to take a field trip to the Library of Congress and go pic-crazy! We're considering taking our Beta Club to DC next year and I'm so excited!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. @GwynethJones - The Daring LibrarianJanuary 18, 2013 at 11:05 AM

    Thanks Tiff dear for your comment! That would be A-Maze-ING! It truly is a swoon-worthy place - awe inspiring! Ring my celly if you come on up & we'll paint the town #LibraryStyle!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Primary Source LibrarianJanuary 24, 2013 at 7:27 PM

    Hi, Gwyneth. I've been sharing your fabulous infographics with some folks from the Teaching with Primary Sources program, and they are thrilled! I, too, have been in touch with Best Online Colleges, and they've been completely generous with their permissions to use their big Teaching with the Library of Congress infographic, which they produced in house. Nice.

    One person noticed that a -c- was missing from the Common Core poster in the word Resources. Any chance you could edit it and repost it on Flickr? Thanks so much!

    I get to spend three days at the Library of Congress next week. Every time I go there, I have to pinch myself.

    Best,
    Mary Johnson

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @GwynethJones - The Daring LibrarianJanuary 26, 2013 at 1:59 PM

      Thank you for your comments & fixed! I NEED great readers like you (and your peeps!) to keep me on point! Editiing ain't my fortay! ;-) LOL
      Cheers!
      ~Gwyneth

      Delete
  4. UnknownFebruary 3, 2013 at 3:53 PM

    I live easel.ly. I used it with my 7th geaders to create infographics based on polls they gave to the school. We had to put that project on hold for a collaborative projrct witb the social studies teacher, but the beginnings of their projects were fantastic!

    ReplyDelete

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