A few months ago Google began offering access to an unprecedented collection of photographs available as part of the Google Image search.  Google has partnered with LIFE Magazine to offer the LIFE Photo Archive, a fully searchable database of images from the extensive collection amassed over the years by LIFE Magazine.

According to the Official Google Blog:

“This collection of newly-digitized images includes photos and etchings produced and owned by LIFE dating all the way back to the 1750s.

Only a very small percentage of these images have ever been published. The rest have been sitting in dusty archives in the form of negatives, slides, glass plates, etchings, and prints. We’re digitizing them so that everyone can easily experience these fascinating moments in time. Today about 20 percent of the collection is online; during the next few months, we will be adding the entire LIFE archive — about 10 million photos.”

This incredible visual resource is available for “personal non-commercial use only” providing students a valuable research tool.  Fourth Form students working on their research papers may find inspiration by browsing the image collection for their assigned date range.  Additionally, students researching a particular photographer could search for works by that artist, and students researching specific events could find images related to that event.

Whatever your research needs are, be sure to take time to browse through the LIFE Photo Archive.

Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard & Elgar Mitchell practicing moon landing procedures inside LM simulator, 1970.

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1. Twenty Years After the Fall
2. New Reference Book: Nature and the Environment in 20th-Century American Life
3. Primary Source Round-up: Something for Everyone

Just in time for the Fourth Form research paper assignments, Ohrstrom Library staff members have prepared an online research guide to help you through the process.  The Fourth Form Paper Research Guide has been added to the Ohrstrom Blog and contains key information, such as:

• A list of reference books in the library that are chocked full of primary source materials
• A list of reference books in the library that feature chronologies and timelines
• Search strategies for finding other books on your topic
• Tips on finding periodical articles in magazines, newspapers, scholarly journals, reports, and more
• A list of librarian approved web resources for accessing photos, census data, artwork, video and other documents

You can access this research guide by clicking HERE.  There are also permanent links in the blog sidebar under the “Research Guides” list heading, a link in the fly-out menu of the Ohrstrom Library website under “Research > Research Guides”, and a link on the Ohrstrom Library main page in Blackboard (Click on “Ohrstrom Library” in your course list).

This research guide will be your best friend over the next few weeks, so be sure to bookmark it and visit it often throughout the research phase of the assignment.  For additional research assistance contact Ms. Sanborn or any of the Ohrstrom Library Staff.

Related posts:

1. A Friend Indeed: Fifth Form Paper Research Guide
2. Fourth Form Paper: Go with the Flowchart!
3. Library Research at ASP