Golden Nuggets of History

This is why I don't update the blog often enough. I'm usually on one of these fine sites.

• Google Books. This is one of my favorite resources on the internet. Imagine a massive library full of anything you can imagine, from all over the world. You just have to know how to use it. Search for something you're interested, or use one of my recommended search terms: Who's Who; Names; Medicine; Incantations; Folk tales; Heraldry; Register; Hymnals; Lettering; Alphabets; Slang; Phrases; Recipes; Fairy tales; Nursery rhymes; Song book.

• Google News Archive. This is another amazing resource from the benign dictatorship that is Google. I think it was Juvenal who said "The People now restrains itself and and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses." Well, in that vein, I'm pretty sure that Google is plotting world domination, but as long as they keep Google Books and the News Archive around, I won't care. Actually, sometime last year, right after I discovered the archive, it disappeared. Now, just as mysteriously, it's back. I suppose people complained. But you should check it out. There are hundreds of papers archived, with 1000s of issues, spanning from the late 18th century to yesterday. For my local readers, The Tuscaloosa News has issues dating back to 1910.

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met has done an amazing job of digitizing their collections. This is why I recommend this site over those of the Smithsonian or the Louvre. Just play around on the site, view highlights, or search the collections (which is what I do). From the homepage, mouse over the "Collections" tab. Click "Search the Collections." Go to town.

• The British Museum. I've only recently fallen in love with the British Museum's website. The link here should direct you straight to the Collection Search page. Here I recommend searching by time period. Also, you may want to check the "Images Only" box. That way, it only returns items that have been photographed. What makes the British Museum site neat, at least for someone like me, is that the conservation reports and information gleaned from scientific analysis is available. The information is pretty technical, but it's a really great way to learn about the level of effort and skill that goes into preservation work. Personally, I'm taking the knowledge gleaned from these reports and applying it to the care of my own collection.

• Google Art Project. For all you art snobs out there, Google Art Project lets you browse masterpieces from the world's art museums. You can zoom in and view the works so closely, that every stroke and crack is visible. Pretty cool.

• Christie's. This is the equivalent of window-shopping at Tiffany's. The items for sale at the world's most prestigious auction house, unlike those at a museum, are actually for sale. Unfortunately, you will never be able to afford 99% of the objects for sale. However, it is still fun to look, and browsing their auction results can teach you a lot about appraising antiques. Sotheby's is the other powerhouse of auctions, however, Christie's site is easier to navigate.

• Library of Congress. The LOC features an immense digitized archive of printed material. It's an awesome resource, but I have to say, the ease of navigation leaves a bit wanting.

• Shorpy. This is my favorite history blog (after my own, of course!). Shorpy is an archive of high-resolution negatives, dating from the dawn of photography in the 1840s to the 1950s.

• Family Echo. In one of my earlier posts, I talked about how to access ancestry.com for free with a student ID, or at your local library. However, the free edition doesn't include the ability to make a family tree within the program. And if you've ever tried to make one by hand, especially one that goes further back than your great-grandparents, you know it's no easy feat. I recommend Family Echo to make a tree online. It's free, and easy to use.