FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                              October 23, 2006

WORKSHOP TO TEACH ACCESS METHODS FOR ‘AMERICAN MEMORY’ PROJECT

            The Government Documents Department of the Northwestern Oklahoma State University Libraries will sponsor a free workshop Tuesday, Nov. 7, to teach participants how to effectively access the archival collections provided by the Library of Congress “American Memory” web site.

            The workshop will begin at 1 p.m. in the Shockley Hall computer lab. Interested persons should contact Verna Graybill, government documents librarian, at (580) 327-8576 or vpgraybill@nwosu.edu, to reserve a space. The workshop is open to the public, but if it overfills, preference will be given to university employees.

            Most of the collections available through “American Memory” come from the Library of Congress itself, but some are from major libraries within the United States. These collections include books, manuscripts, sheet music, maps, early motion pictures, photos and sound recordings.

            Graybill said that because Oklahoma is approaching its centennial, a special focus will be placed upon resources that are unique to Oklahoma.

            Steve Beleu, director of the U.S. Government Information Division of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries, will conduct the workshop. He has been involved with the “American Memory” project since the early 1990s. Beleu and his staff were involved as testing personnel and critical evaluators for the site during the early history.

            Graybill also said the web site is a particularly helpful resource for future educations as it contains primary resources, as well as grade-appropriate lesson plans that utilize those primary resources.

-NW-

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