Anouncement of American Memory Fellows

[danna bell-russel]

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Third Annual Educators Institute to Aid Participants in Use of
Electronic Primary Sources

The National Digital Library Program of the Library of Congress has
announced the selection of 50 educators to participate in the 1999
American Memory Fellows Program. The program is an opportunity for teams

of outstanding middle and high school humanities teachers and
library/media
specialists to improve the teaching of American history and culture in
their schools by using digitized primary sources from the Library.

"The American Memory Fellows Program is a chance for the Library to
partner
with educators across the nation in exploring the value and utilization
of
electronic primary sources," said Librarian of Congress James H.
Billington.
"The 50 educators who will come here this summer will be instrumental in

helping us spread the word about our National Digital Library Program's
importance to education."

The American Memory Fellows will gather in Washington, D.C., for a
National
Digital Library Educators Institute, July 18-23.  Fellows will learn
about
the Library of Congress's digitized American Memory collections of
photographs, documents, manuscripts, maps, sound recordings and motion
pictures available at <http://www.loc.gov/>.  During the Educators
Institute, the Fellows will share in a professional development
experience that will shape the way the Library's unique American Memory
collections are used in schools across the country.

The 1999 Fellows join 100 graduates of the 1997 and 1998 Educators
Institutes.  Like their predecessors, the 1999 Fellows will create
teaching
units based on the nearly 2 million American Memory materials now
on-line.
Then, in school year 1999-2000, Fellows will test their teaching units
in
the classroom and will revise them for eventual dissemination to the
education community through both the Library's World Wide Web site and
at
professional education forums nationwide.  Interactive teaching unit
ideas
proposed by the selected American Memory Fellows have included projects
on
Latino immigration, the life and times of Frederick Douglass, the
"electrification" of America, historical and literary components of
storytelling and American history through music.

The Educators Institute "has been the most stimulating experience of my
professional life," said Jane Garvin, of St. Joseph's Academy in St.
Louis, Mo.

Liz Horn, Boise High School in Boise, Idaho, said, "I am an important
link
that will bring this material to students. ... The digital collections
will
open opportunities to students who have not had access to this type of
material before."

Twenty-five, two-person American Memory Fellows teams, selected by an
independent review panel from 151 teams of applicants, comprise
teachers,
librarians, curriculum  coordinators, media specialists and other
educational professionals from across the nation. The American Memory
Fellows are frequent users of technology in the classroom, and they are
experienced using primary sources to motivate students, promote critical

thinking, and help students connect history to their own lives.  Each
Fellow
is an active leader in the field of education and has the ability to
disseminate his or her expertise to educators in their region.

American Memory Fellows will also cooperate throughout the school year
in an
on-line National Digital Library Teacher Network.  Through this forum,
they
will exchange ideas and learn from each other through organized on-line
discussion groups.

The American Memory Fellows Program is part of the National Digital
Library
Program, which aims to make available 5 million American history items
from
the collections of the Library of Congress and other repositories by
2000,
the Bicentennial of the Library <http://www.loc.gov/bicentennial/>.  The

National Digital Library Program is one of the Library's birthday "gifts
to
the nation."  The 1999 National Digital Library Educators Institute is
made
possible by a grant from an anonymous donor, who is helping the Library
reach out to the education community.