History on-line

Library of Congress is only a keyboard away

December 13, 1995
Web posted at: 2:57 p.m. EST

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- One-hundred-thirty year-old photographs have a group of eighth-graders hooked on Civil War research. Looking into the faces of soldiers, the boys see faces not so different from their own. "When you read you try to imagine what it might look like," one said. "When you look at a picture, it is very different."

The dramatic photos and other historical documents are now available on the Internet, direct from the Library of Congress. For Hammond Middle School in Alexandria, -- hard-wired to the Internet and located in the heart of Civil War country -- the research is a natural. "The pictures, the photographs, the text -- it is outstanding," said an amazed Gwendolen Harrison, the school's library media specialist.

But two years ago, the research would not have been possible. That's because the Library of Congress has just begun putting on-line its unique historical items -- 5 million of them. The process is being paid for in part by $19 million in private donations.

One million on-line requests come in every day; the number has tripled since January "This is only the tip of the iceberg," said the library's Martha Dextor. "And yet teachers I've talked to say they are so excited to hear about what we have right now." (136K AIFF sound or 136K WAV sound)

Ironically this storehouse of democracy, which is home to the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address, has long been off-limits to school children. But the on-line collection is giving people of all ages access to original historical documents.

The first-hand accounts of the Great Depression are very popular. "Oftentimes, the children are surprised by how ... first of all, something 'ancient' could be so real," Dextor said, and that even in things so long ago -- that "people were talking like we do."

Dextor believes the emphasis on computers will not make the library obsolete. "We found in schools that have used their materials electronically -- using sound, using pictures, manuscripts and other things they have seen on-line -- (students were) stimulated ... to go on and do further research in actual libraries."

A CNN-USA Today poll supports that. Ninety-one percent of Americans surveyed said they believe libraries will still be needed in the future, despite all the advancement in computers.

But without a doubt, library usage will be different. "I haven't pulled a World Book Encyclopedia off the shelf in a long time," said librarian Harrison, a firm believer in computers. "I head immediately for the Internet."

History on-line

Library of Congress is only a keyboard away

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