MVRHS Library

Kevin McGrath

Islam – History and Culture

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Crescent & StarYou should always be wary of your sources no matter what subject you are researching.  And no subject requires as much caution as religion.  You’d only have to be half-aware of world events over the last 2,000 years to realize that religion is a controversial subject.  Relying on published sources is a good idea — knowing about the author and publisher at least gives you a reasonable expectation of the bias behind the information found.  Because everything is biased.  See if you can figure out what that bias is.

Encyclopedia Britannica
Search for “Islam” in Britannica.
Why start with anything else?  Britannica has a reputation for reliable information.

Gale Virtual Reference Library

Published articles about Islam. The GVRL is a database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources – all published by well-known and reputable sources. Most importantly, these articles are written by historians and academic scholars.

World History in Context
Islam (World History in Context)
Published references articles

More in depth: Book-length sources

questia_logo

Islam (Questia School)
Full-length e-books and articles about Islam.

Still need info? Free on the web

Grab an Advance Review Copy Here

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Advance Review Copies from Bunch of GrapesWe’re working with Bunch of Grapes to provide you with a selection of Advance Review Copies (ARC’s) of some recently published YA books (well, the “Advanced” part is a bit weird since they were just published, but you get the idea.  Let us know if you want to be on the list of those getting ARC’s before they’re published).

Interested in taking one of these?  Here’s how it works:

  1. Instead of borrowing one the usual way, just let us know which one you took.
  2. All we want in return is a “shelf talker”, few sentences from you describing the book.  Here’s a little guide. Your description might end up on the shelves at Bunch of Grapes!
  3. Return the book if you want (we’ll put it back in the pile), or pass it on to someone else.

Research on the Progressive Era

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Secondary Published Sources

Search US History in Context above or browse through articles on the following topics:

Primary Sources

Click on the timeline for “1895-1904: Populism, Imperialism, and Reform” to see some of the key documents that inform us about the history of this time period.

Library of Congress American MemoryWomen’s History (American Memory)
Pamphlets, photographs, scrapbooks, and more.

dpla

Over 5,000,000 items (!) spanning human history.  Browse by date, or search for a specific subject.  Be specific.  Also has a few interesting exhibitions, including: Bread and Roses Strike of 1912: Two Months in Lawrence, Massachusetts, that Changed Labor History

Websites

Best of History Websites

Websites on the Progressive Era
Go here for the laundry list of great websites.

Essay on an American Life

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For Mr. Sawyer’s class.

As you think about how to write your essay, and finding a theme in your selected person’s life, here are some resources to help you focus your thoughts:

Finding someone

Biography in Context Start here to browse or search for biographies of Americans. Click on “Browse People” to narrow by category (for example “Notable Women”).

American National BiographyIs your person in the American National Biography?  This is a great source that “offers portraits of more than 18,700 men and women — from all eras and walks of life — whose lives have shaped the nation.” This set of books is on a cart near the front of the library (if not, look in 920.073).

Book-length biographies in the MVRHS Library are shelved in “921” (near the back on the right).

American Identity

The description of this college course is helpful: “What defines an American? Is it the love of liberty, the pursuit of justice, the urge to invent, the desire for wealth, the drive to explore, the quest for spiritual values? The paradox of the American identity is that although the United States is a melting pot of many different traditions, motives, and ideals, there are nevertheless distinctive qualities that define the American character.”

Professor Allitt identifies theses themes in describing the lives of several Americans in US History:

  • “Lack of Fatalism” (ie Never Giving Up)
  • “Energetic Approach to Problem-solving” (ie Invention and Innovation)
  • “Faith in Economic Growth” (ie Hard Work Pays Off)
  • “Dedication to Education“
  • “Devotion to Religious Liberty“
  • “Belief in Equality“

Issues in The Glass Castle

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For Ms. Cowan’s classes.

To find info related to mental illnesses and disorders, try searching here:


National Institute of Mental Health
Check out NIMH’s list of mental health topics.

Find background info on just about any topic in the Britannica:Encyclopedia Britannica
Search Encyclopedia Britannica.

Tour PovertyUSA (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) (Video)

Related Books on Poverty:

Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming

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A few highlights from this recent talk by the inimitable Neil Gaiman:

The prison industry….found they could predict very easily [how many new cells to build], using a pretty simple algorithm, based on asking what percentage of 10 and 11-year-olds couldn’t read…

There are no bad authors for children, that children like and want to read and seek out, because every child is different…

Fiction is a gateway drug to reading…

Fiction builds empathy. When you watch TV or see a film, you are looking at things happening to other people. Prose fiction is something you build up from 26 letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you, and you alone, using your imagination, create a world and people it and look out through other eyes…

The library is a community space. It’s a place of safety, a haven from the world. It’s a place with librarians in it. What the libraries of the future will be like is something we should be imagining now.

It gets better….read it here.