Peer Review

American Journeys is a digital library of more than 18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration. These documents include Viking sagas about Canada in AD 1000, diaries, maps, pictures, travel logs, and the Lewis and Clark expedition journals. Authors, besides Lewis and Clark, include Captain Cook, Leif Ericson, John Smith, LaSalle, Coronado, De Soto, and Columbus. The site provides both page images and the OCR text of pages, as well as a brief essay on the background of each document. Several types of search mechanisms -- field, keyword, and full text -- allow users to find passages on research topics. The site also contains a section of "Resources for Teachers." Here instructors will find suggested topics for student essays, lesson plans, and several short pieces that cover issues such as (a) how to talk about the world view and language of the explorers in the classroom and (b) finding other primary sources on early exploration. American Journeys is a collaborative project of the Wisconsin Historical Society and National History Day. One of its target audiences is high school students exploring National History Day's 2004 theme, "Exploration, Encounter & Exchange."

Collection, Reference Materials

In-class, homework, individual, lecture, team, lifelong learning

• Browsers: The optimal browsers for viewing American Journeys documents are Internet Explorer 5.5+ on PCs, and Safari 1.0+ on Mac. Other browsers, such as PC Netscape 6+, Mac Netscape 7+, and IE 5.2 are supported; however, these browsers do not display previous or next page navigation in the document viewers. Internet Explorer 4.x and Netscape 4.x are not supported. • Java Script: Java Script is required for pages to display and function properly. • Adobe Acrobat: Adobe Acrobat 5.0 or higher is required to view and print reference maps and document facsimiles. • Cookies: The My Favorites capability requires cookies.

• Working with and interpreting
• Primary sources;
• Topics for National History Day
• Exploration of North America
• Indigenous cultures as seen by Europeans and early colonists

High School, College General Ed, lifelong learning

Basic US History and Western Civ post 1200