1. Introduction

The primary authority for writing and editing in the NDLP is The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th edition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993). Other useful reference works are listed in the section on Editorial Support. The purpose of the writer's handbook is to provide guidance for issues that are not covered by the Chicago Manual, that need further clarification, or that deviate from Chicago recommendations. Online publication offers opportunities and bears constraints quite different from print publication and the conventions of online publication are still evolving. This handbook hopes to contribute to shaping those conventions.

"American Memory" is the name used by the Library of Congress for the multiformat historical collections that the Library offers on the Internet. The American Memory collection framework materials must speak to a broad audience of interested Web users ranging from lifelong learners to subject specialists, from elementary-school students or high-school teachers to members of Congress. To reach a global online audience, collection frameworks should convey information in a clear and coherent style using language that is appropriate in tone and substance. Presentations should be informed, accurate, and balanced. The writing should be technically correct and stylistically consistent.

The NDLP Writer's Handbook details various aspects of NDLP writing and editorial work and procedures. To help users find particular sections, a simple navigation bar runs down the left side of every screen. Links to each document on the handbook home page and to the handbook search page appear on each page. Entering any section or a part of any section of the handbook will cause the title of that section to appear bolded in the left navigation bar.

The contents of the handbook are as follows:

2. Substantive Writing offers guidelines for writing with attention to appropriate tone, accurate information, and clear language.

3. Mechanics of Writing covers points of language convention and usage that are particularly important to NDLP.

4. Editorial Process explains how informational content prepared for NDLP Web pages is treated by the editorial team during the production cycle.

5. Editorial Support offers information about online and print resources for writers and editors.

6. Collection Framework consists of descriptions of the purpose, content, and organization of the documents that commonly make up American Memory collection frameworks, along with examples of each kind of document.

7. The Learning Page outlines the purpose, content, organization, and editorial practices of the NDLP Learning Page and addresses the ways Learning Page staff coordinate their activities with collection teams and the Web design team.

8. Today in History links to a description of the mission and content of Today in History and provides information about its editorial practices.

9. Glossary provides a link to the glossary in Spelling and Special Terms.

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This handbook was launched and guided though its formative stages by Jeff Finlay. It is the outcome of hard work, energetic discussion, and commitment on the part of Library of Congress staff from October 1998 through June 1999. In particular, the efforts of the following people are acknowledged:

Martha Anderson Caroline Arms Katherine Arrington Emily Lind Baker Thomas Bramel Jeff Bridgers Beth Davis-Brown Nancy Eichacker Robin Fanslow LeeEllen Friedland Glenn Gardner Susan Manus Ursula Marcum Laura Graham Judith Graves Andrea Greenwood Abigail Grotke James Hardin

Jurretta Jordan Heckscher Guy Lamolinara Jan Lancaster Shirley Liang Karen Lund Christa Maher Tracy Meehleib Dominique Pickett John Pull Janice Ruth Evelyn Sinclair Barak R. Stussman Tamara Swora-Gober Deborah Thomas Catherine Tousignant Susan Veccia Linda White David Woodward

Corrections, queries, and suggestions should be addressed to Jurretta Heckscher.

(Top) September 1999

2. Substantive Writing

Good writing depends on good style and good writing for an online environment should be clear, lively, and easy on the eye. Outlined below are guidelines for writing American Memory collection framework documents so that they will reach the desired audience with the appropriate focus and tone. NDLP house style is outlined in the Mechanics of Writing subsections. See Editorial Process for further information about how documents are edited and revised during the production cycle.

Substantive Writing for the Web

The writing should be:

• Appropriate in tone and language for a wide-ranging audience, from students to specialists;

• Informed, accurate, and balanced;

• Clear, coherent, and easy to understand;

• Mechanically correct and consistent in every respect.

• Be neutral and factual;

• Use diction appropriate to a general audience;

• Use any editorial conventions and spellings that may be appropriate to a particular field of specialization;

• Explain specialized or unfamiliar historical terms in cases where using them is necessary;

• Avoid rhetorical flourishes, colloquialisms, and unnecessarily fancy vocabulary;

• Never use "we" or "our" (e.g., "Our collection includes four hundred photographs.").

To be informed, accurate, and balanced, NDLP documents should:

• Convey an awareness of the collection's current and enduring importance;

• Express perspectives on collection content that reflect contemporary research and discourse about the subject;

• Cite major sources used in preparing framework materials and give sources for any debatable statements made about the collection;

• Acknowledge briefly in a low-key, neutral manner collection materials that may be offensive to some readers.

• Use short paragraphs;

• Contain no unnecessary words or sentences;

• Use linking capability to avoid repetition (see "linking in text" below);

• Divide longer documents into separate linked sections, each with a descriptive subheading.

Linking in Text

When linking to a Web page outside of the Library of Congress site, for example, in a bibliography or Related Resources page, select only stable pages with verifiable content. Relatively safe examples include government-agency or educational-institution sites.

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3. Mechanics of Writing

The Chicago Manual of Style (2.63-64) describes two usages of the word "style." The NDLP Writer's Handbook follows these usages. Writing style, that is, language and content, is covered in Substantive Writing. The mechanics of written communication, those elements that are determined by the publisher's practice, are what is termed "house style." This section provides guidance for NDLP house style with special reference to language conventions and usage not covered in the Chicago Manual or requiring greater clarification. See Editorial Process for information about how documents are edited and revised during the production cycle. Subsections of Mechanics of Writing include:

3.1 Abbreviations and Names ( Chicago 14.1-57)

3.2 Illustrations: Captions and Legends (modeled on NDLP conventions)

3.3 Notes and Bibliographies (Chicago 15.1-425)

3.4 Numbers and Dates (Chicago 8.1-80)

3.5 Punctuation (Chicago 5.1-137)

3.6 Spelling and Special Terms ( Chicago 6.1-92, with table 6.1)

 

(Top) September 1999

3.1 Abbreviations and Names

General Guidelines for Abbreviations

• To the greatest extent possible, abbreviations should be kept out of running text, except in technical matter or as noted below. An exception is Building the Digital Collection, which is viewed as a technical section of the framework.

• General abbreviations, such as etc., e.g. , and i.e. are preferably confined to parenthetical references.

• Purely scholarly abbreviations such as ibid., cf., and s.v. are preferably used only in notes and other forms of scholarly apparatus.

Chicago 14.1-57 contains a comprehensive overview of all uses of abbreviations. Webster's Tenth Collegiate Dictionary and the American Heritage Dictionary are also excellent resources for abbreviations from all fields.

Abbreviations in NDLP Documents

Instances where abbreviations are most likely to appear include:

Acronyms (Chicago 14.15):

• Names of agencies and organizations may be abbreviated after one spelled-out use (e.g., Historic American Buildings Survey [HABS]).

• If the acronym is widely pronounced as though it were a word, the article is determined by the pronunciation of the word (e.g., an NDLP collection).

For more on acronyms and abbreviations with special NDLP application, see Spelling and Special Terms.

Names and Titles (Chicago 14.4-14):

• Abbreviations should not be used in personal names unless they appear thus in signatures (e.g., Benj. Franklin) or in quoted text.

• Civil or military titles used with the surname alone should be spelled out (e.g., General Washington); with full names, the titles may be abbreviated (e.g., Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum). See Chicago 14.5.

• Always abbreviate Mr., Mrs., Messrs., Ms., M., MM., Mme, Mlle, and Dr.

Personal names with Saint (Chicago 14.16) are usually spelled out in text (e.g., Saint Patrick).

Names of Places and States (Chicago 14.17):

• The names of states, territories, and possessions of the United States should always be given in full when standing alone. When they follow the name of a city or some other geographical term, they should be spelled out.

• The names of states, territories, and possessions of the United States may be abbreviated if they appear in lists, tabular matter, and mailing addresses. This also applies to the way places of publication appear in notes and bibliographies. For all these cases, use the forms given in Chicago 14.17-20.

Constitutions and Bylaws ( Chicago 14.56):

• In quoting from constitutions, bylaws, and the like, the words section and article are spelled out the first time they are used and abbreviated thereafter. Capital letters are traditionally used for these words:

  • SECTION 1. The name of the association . . .

  • SEC. 2. The object of the association . . .

  • ARTICLE 234. It shall be the duty of . . .

  • ART. 235. It shall be the duty of . . .

(Top) September 1999

3.2 Illustrations: Captions and Legends

In order to assist users in finding and properly crediting the source materials illustrating NDLP framework materials, illustrations should include descriptive information. Guidelines are offered below. The Chicago Manual (11.1-49) gives useful definitions for captions and legends for illustrations. Building on these, NDLP recommends the following conventions.

Writing the Caption and Legend

Whenever possible, use the language of the bibliographic record to make captions and legend. If you are using an uncataloged item for which no bibliographic record is available, follow the NDLP conventions listed below.

Captions (Chicago 11.24) are titles or headlines, usually placed below illustrations. Captions are never grammatically complete sentences, but if the caption and the legend are run together the caption ends with a period.

Legends (Chicago 11.24) are explanations consisting of one or more sentences, usually placed after captions.

Examples

Caption: Fenway Park in 1936

Legend: This photograph shows construction of a 23-foot wire fence on top of the 37-foot "Green Monster," built in 1912. The fence was raised above the wall as batters started to shatter windows on the street below.

NDLP Conventions for Captions and Legends

• Caption elements should appear in the order given in the table.

• Caption and legend information should include a link to the bibliographic record, when available.

• If a bibliographic record exists for an image but the image cannot be linked to it, derive caption or legend information from the bibliographic record.

• Thumbnail images generally link to larger reference images.

• Descriptive information should be placed as close to the illustration as possible. Beneath the illustration is generally preferred, but the final decision will be made with the NDLP Design Team.

Examples of Thumbnail Illustrations with Descriptive Information

Example 1: Caption derived from bibliographic record but record unavailable for linking

Mount Vernon in Virginia George Washington's home at Mount Vernon. Aquatint by Francis Jukes from Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. London: Pub'd by F. Jukes, 1800. Reproduction #: (b&w) LC-USZ62-1237

Example 1 is from the Colonial Period Time Line of the George Washington Papers. Note that additional publication information is listed after the repository/custodial Division and before the reproduction number.

Example 2: Bibliographic records available for linking

Joseph Jenkins Roberts, ca.1851

These photographs of the first president and First Lady of Liberia can be found in America's First Look into the Camera: Daguerreotypes, 1839-1862. To see images of other emigrants, search on American Colonization Society.

Jane Roberts, between 1851 and 1860

Example 2 is from the Learning Page Feature Presentation Immigration in American Memory. Note that the captions link to bibliographic records and a legend appears between the illustrations.

Example 3: No bibliographic record available for linking

Example 3 is from the Index to Materials Used in By Popular Demand: Jackie Robinson and Other Baseball Highlights, 1860s-1960s. The legend as it appears on the American Memory page has been abbreviated here.

Using Maps in Research Looking at Sanborn Fire Insurance maps helps researchers visualize a subject. In this case, a map of the Ebbets Field area emphasizes how small the Dodgers' home stadium was --surrounded by streets on all sides. Plate 52 in Brooklyn, New York, vol. 7 Published by Sanborn Map Company, c1932. (Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division). Reproduced with permission from EDR Sanborn, Inc.

3.3 Notes and Bibliographies

The Chicago Manual describes two different types of reference styles: Documentary-Note Style which is normally used in the humanities, and the Author-Date System, normally used in the sciences. The NDLP uses the Documentary-Note Style.

This section provides a guide to citation styles for text notes and bibliographic entries most commonly used in American Memory documents. Text notes are footnotes or endnotes referencing specific sources for framework documents. Bibliographic entries appear in collection bibliographies as suggestions for further reading or separately as a list of works consulted in writing framework documents. Bibliographic entries are intended to identify works in full bibliographical detail: name(s) of author(s), full title, and place, publisher, and date of publication.

For an explanation of all styles of notes and bibliographic entries, see Chicago 15.1-425.

This section also includes suggested styles for citing Internet documents (absent from the 1993 Chicago Manual).

For guidelines on constructing bibliographies, see Selected Bibliography. Further information about citation styles appears in Illustrations: Captions and Legends.

Documentary-Note Style

BOOKS

Single author

Note style:

1. Eric J. Hobsbawm, The Age of Empire, 1875-1914 (New York: Pantheon, 1987), 71.

Bibliographic style:

Hobsbawm, Eric J. The Age of Empire, 1875-1914. New York: Pantheon, 1987.

More than one author

Note style:

1. Michael Craton and Gail Saunders, Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992), 24.

Bibliographic style:

Craton, Michael, and Gail Saunders. Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992.

An edited work

Note style:

1. Anthony B. Tortelli, ed., Sociology Approaching the Twenty-first Century (Los Angeles: Peter and Sons, 1991).

Bibliographic style:

Tortelli, Anthony B., ed. Sociology Approaching the Twenty-first Century. Los Angeles: Peter and Sons, 1991.

Dissertation

Note style:

1. Andrew J. King. "Law and Land Use in Chicago: A Pre-history of Modern Zoning" (Ph.D. diss., University of Wisconsin, 1976), 32-37.

Bibliographic style:

King, Andrew J. "Law and Land Use in Chicago: A Pre-history of Modern Zoning." Ph.D. diss., University of Wisconsin, 1976.

Chapter from book

Note style:

1. Konrad Repgen, "What Is a 'Religious War'?" in Politics and Society in Reformation Europe, ed. E. I. Kouri and Tom Scott (London: Macmillan, 1987), 324.

Bibliographic style:

Repgen, Konrad. "What Is a 'Religious War'?" In Politics and Society in Reformation Europe, edited by E. I. Kouri and Tom Scott, 311-28. London: Macmillan, 1987.

Journal Articles

Note style:

1. Aileen Kelly, "Dostoevskii and the Divided Conscience," Slavic Review 47 (Summer 1988): 250.

Bibliographic style:

Kelly, Aileen. "Dostoevskii and the Divided Conscience." Slavic Review 47 (Summer 1988): 239-60.

Newspaper Articles

Note style:

1. "Gun Injuries Take Financial Toll on Hospitals," Chicago Tribune, February 24, 1994, sec. 1, p. 23.

Bibliographic style:

"Gun Injuries Take Financial Toll on Hospitals." Chicago Tribune, February 24, 1994, sec. 1, p. 23.

Encyclopedia Articles

Note style:

1. The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., s.v. "dress and adornment."

Bibliographic style:

no entry ["Well-known reference books are usually not listed in bibliographies," Chicago Manual, 15.293]

Nonprint Media

Film

Note style:

1. Frederick S. Armitage, Bargain day, 14th Street, New York. (United States: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1905), paper pos.

Bibliographic style:

Armitage, Frederick S. Bargain day, 14th Street, New York. United States: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1905. Paper pos.

Photograph

Note style:

1. Timothy H. O'Sullivan, "Incidents of the War" (Washington, D.C.: Philp & Solomons, c. 1865).

Bibliographic style:

O'Sullivan, Timothy H. "Incidents of the War" Washington, D.C.: Philp & Solomons, c. 1865.

Sound recording

Note style:

1. Leonard Bernstein, dir., Symphony no. 5, by Dmitri Shostakovich, New York Philharmonic, CBS IM 35854.

Bibliographic style:

Bernstein, Leonard, dir. Symphony no. 5, by Dmitri Shostakovich. New York Philharmonic. CBS IM 35854.

Internet Documents

Web site

Note style:

1. Pioneering the Upper Midwest: Books from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ca. 1820-1910 (Washington, D.C.: American Memory Project, Library of Congress, 1998), <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/umhtml/umhome.html>, accessed March 3, 1999.

Bibliographic style:

Pioneering the Upper Midwest: Books from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ca. 1820-1910. Washington, D.C.: American Memory Project, Library of Congress, 1998. <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/umhtml/umhome.html>, accessed March 3, 1999.

Electronic book on Web site

Note style:

1. John H. B. Latrobe, The History of Mason and Dixon's Line: Contained in an Address Delivered by John H. B. Latrobe of Maryland, before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, November 8, 1854 (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, and Co., 1855), 31, <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aap/aaphome.html> / Author Index / Latrobe, John H. B. [DIGITAL ID: (h) lcrbmrp t2205], accessed January 13, 1999.

Bibliographic style:

Latrobe, John H. B. The History of Mason and Dixon's Line: Contained in an Address Delivered by John H. B. Latrobe of Maryland, before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, November 8, 1854. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, and Co., 1855. <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aap/aaphome.html> / Author Index / Latrobe, John H. B. [DIGITAL ID: (h) lcrbmrp t2205], accessed January 13, 1999.

This citation reads thus:

1. go to page http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aap/aaphome.html
2. click on a link named "Author Index"
3. then click on a link named "Latrobe, John H. B."
   In brackets we've provided a unique identifier of the document, namely the digital ID, for final verification.

3.4 Numbers and Dates

Numbers

Guidelines for spelling out numbers:

• Spell out one through one hundred.

• Spell out numbers when used approximately: "About a hundred soldiers were killed."

• Spell out a number used as the first word of a sentence (Chicago 8.9-10).

Numbers in series: When enumerating a series, use numerals:

This collection contains 7 audiorecordings, 15 videorecordings, and 400 photographs.

Numbers in the same sentence but not part of the quantified category may be treated differently:

This collection contains 7 audio-recordings and 15 video-recordings from twenty-three states and 400 photographs by ten authors.

Consistency: When small and large numbers occur together in a group, set them all in numerals for consistency. When listing sets of numbers, Chicago 8.8 advises that "if you must use numerals for one of the numbers in a given category, then for consistency's sake use numerals for them all."

There are 25 photographs in the first box, 56 in the second box, and 117 in the third box, making a total of 198 photographs in the three boxes.

Quantities (Chicago 8.3-31):

• Units of measurement (Chicago 8.15) in running text should be spelled out. When many units of measurement appear together in text, use numerals with abbreviations (e.g., 9 g, 10 mph).

• Express round numbers above one million in numerals and words (e.g., 20 million).

• For percentages (Chicago 8.17-18), use numerals and spell "percent" (e.g., 20 percent). In tables and where many numbers appear, use %.

• Use commas in four-digit numbers (e.g., 4,508) except where the number is a page number (e.g., 1409).

Fractions (Chicago 8.14) are hyphenated as either adjectives or nouns (e.g., a two-thirds majority, two-thirds of those present). For decimal fractions (Chicago 8.17), use numerals (e.g., 3.14, 0.02).

Use numerals for numbered items such as parts of a book (Chicago 8.32) (e.g., chapter 5, part 2, page 35, volume 4).

Dates

Guidelines for spelling out numbers: (Chicago 8.33-46)

The year alone (Chicago 8.34) should be expressed in numerals, unless it is at the beginning of a sentence (Chicago 8.9). Era designations (Chicago 8.41) should be given in capitals, with the following style for periods and spacing: A.D. 1800, 75 B.C.

The day of the month (Chicago 8.36) in running text, notes, and bibliographies is written in the sequence month-day-year, with the year set off by commas:

October 6, 1966

On October 6, 1966, nothing happened.

Write the day of the month as a cardinal number (e.g., April 18, not April 18th).

Month and year (Chicago 8.39) are written in the sequence month-year with no internal punctuation (e.g., April 1993).

Centuries and decades (Chicago 8.40) should be spelled out in lowercase letters (e.g. ninth century, twentieth century). Spell out decades (the sixties, the seventies) or if the decade is identified by the century, write them as plural numerals (1920s, 1880s).

Compound adjectives should be hyphenated (e.g., a twentieth-century school of thought).

Time of day (Chicago 8.47) normally should be spelled out in text (e.g., quarter of four, noon, seven o'clock), but for emphasis write time in numerals, capitalizing A.M. and P.M. (2:30 P.M., 7:30 A.M.)

Form of Inclusive Numbers

Guidelines for form of inclusive numbers (Chicago 8.68-73):

Separating numbers with dashes (Chicago 8.68): Always write "167-72," never "from 167-72." As the dash implies 'from' and 'to,' it is redundant to use the words as well as the dash. Without the dash, however, write "from 167 to 172."

Inclusive years (Chicago 8.71):

When referring to years within the same century but after the first year of that century, use this style:

• the war of 1914-18

• 1968-72

• the years 1701-4

• 1701-68

• the years 1597-1601

• the winter of 1900-1901

• fiscal year 2000-2001

When inclusive years occur in titles, express all the digits:

The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy, 1921-1929.

Lifespans:

When displaying the span of an individual's life, express all the digits:

• George Washington (1732-1799)
• Calvin J. Coolidge (1872-1933)

(Top) October 2000

3.5 Punctuation

Punctuation should be used to make the author's meaning clear, promote ease of reading, and contribute to the author's style. The trend in contemporary writing is to punctuate only when necessary to prevent misreading of text (Chicago 5.1-2).

Writers should consult Chicago for guidance in specific instances, but the following are reminders for special situations:

Typography: For italicized text appearing in a sentence that is otherwise in Roman characters see guidelines in Chicago 5.4-6.

Quotation marks: See Chicago (5.11-13, 5.20, 5.28, 5.86-87, 5.96, 5.104) for guidance on using quotation marks with periods, commas, semi-colons, question marks, and exclamation points. In almost all cases periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, semi-colons outside, and question marks and exclamation points inside or outside depending on the intent of the punctuation.

Framework elements named in running text should be capitalized, but should not be enclosed in quotation marks. Thus: For further details see Acknowledgments.

Commas in a series (Chicago 5.57-61):

• Separate any list of three or more elements in a series with commas. If a conjunction joins the last two elements in the series, a comma is used before the conjunction:

  We have a choice of copper, silver, or gold.

• When the elements in a series are simple and all joined by conjunctions, no commas should be used:

  It is not known if the letter was written by Hamilton or Burr or someone else.

• When the elements in a series are long and complex, or involve internal punctuation, they should all be separated by semicolons (Chicago 5.94).

Other uses and rules for commas are described in Chicago 5.30-65.

Em dashes (Chicago 5.105-19): Use two hyphens to indicate an em dash in running text:

Because the data had not yet been completely analyzed--the reason for this will be discussed later--the publication of the report was delayed.

Warning: certain word-processing programs have default settings that automatically convert two hyphens to something else. WordPerfect, for example, converts two hyphens to its own format of em dash, which is later lost when the WP document is converted to ASCII for HTML markup. This default setting can be turned off.

Ellipsis points (Chicago 10.48-63):

• When appearing in the middle of a sentence, these should be written as . . . (that is, space dot space dot space dot):

  e.g., When I was four years old . . . I was brought from Boston to New York.

• At the end of a sentence, an ellipsis should be written as . . . . (that is, space dot space dot space dot space dot space):

  e.g., When I was four years old . . . I was brought to New York. My first sight of the Big Apple is forever imprinted on my memory . . . .

  Warning: certain word-processing programs have default settings that automatically convert . . . (three periods) to something else. WordPerfect, for example, converts . . . to its own format of ellipsis points, which is later lost when the WP document is converted to ASCII for HTML markup. This default setting can be turned off.

Hyphens: Correct hyphenation is one of the trickiest and most time-consuming tasks a writer or editor faces. As the language changes, conventions of hyphenation change with it. The earlier trend of stately progression from open compound to hyphenated word to closed compound has shifted toward a more rapid progression from open compound to closed compound, often skipping the hyphenated stage altogether. Writers should consult Chicago (6.32-6.42 and especially table 6.1), and, as Chicago recommends, a good dictionary.

• NDLP house style makes one exception to the guides given in Chicago. In the case of compound proper nouns, such as "French Canadian" or "African American," the compound should be unhyphenated when used as a noun, but if it is used as an adjective before another noun it should be hyphenated, as in "French-Canadian folk songs" or "African-American newspapers."

(Top) September 1999

3.6 Spelling and Special Terms

General Guidelines for Spelling

• Follow the guidelines for spelling and distinctive treatment of words outlined in Chicago 6.1-92. Note that table 6.1 in Chicago offers specific guidance on rules for spelling of compound words and words with prefixes and suffixes. NDLP and other staff writing documents for the Web should become thoroughly familiar with its content.

• The NDLP prefers that spellings be checked against Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (10th Edition), but will also accept the American Heritage Dictionary and the Random House Dictionary of the English Language. Use one dictionary consistently with any set of documents.

• The NDLP accepts spellings peculiar to certain disciplines (e.g., some specialists in North American studies prefer "archeology" rather than the more commonly found "archaeology").

• Where the dictionary offers two acceptable spellings for the same word (e.g., focused, focussed), choose the first and use that spelling consistently throughout a single set of framework documents.

• Use the following forms consistently:

  email	the Web
  home page	Web master
  multiformat	Web page
  online	Web site
  timeline	the World Wide Web

General Guidelines for Special Terms

• Follow the general guidelines for names and terms set forth in Chicago 7.1-161.

• Use words and terms in a manner consistent with their application and meaning across the NDLP.

• Use modifiers wherever necessary to clarify words and terms that may have multiple or ambiguous meanings.

• Express words and terms in ways that the general user can understand.

• When referring to an American Memory collection, use the term "online collection" rather than "collection," which may refer to the physical collection in the Library.

• When referring to a collection "item," specify whether it is a "digital item" or a "library item," as the two have very different meanings.

• In general, spell out acronyms the first time they are used within a document, except in lists and tables.

Glossary of Special Terms

4. Editorial Process

During the editorial process, collection framing documents (including annotations) are edited for correctness and clarity of language. The editors are primarily concerned with the style rather than the subject matter or visual design of the documents they review, although they may raise occasional questions about points of content or suggest changes in a document's organization to enhance its presentation in the online environment.

In all cases, editing follows the standards established by the Chicago Manual of Style (14th ed.), modified by the NDLP house editing practices outlined in the guidelines for mechanics and substantive writing sections of this handbook. The Library of Congress has a long tradition of stylistic excellence in its print publications, and it is the responsibility of the editorial process to see that the Library's online texts meet those same high standards.

Successful editing is a collaborative process that depends on continuous dialogue between writer and editor. It is vitally important, therefore, that the editorial team be involved in collection planning from a very early stage. These are the steps in the editorial process:

(1) Initial consultation. As soon as the collection's framework has been planned, team/project leaders meet with members of the editorial team to tell them what the framework will be like and to inform them of the production schedule.

(2) Document development. Framework documents are created by the collection production teams and/or the staff of the appropriate division, or by outside consultants. They may be edited by Division editors before being delivered to the NDLP editorial team. NDLP editors welcome information, questions, and discussion about framework materials at any point as they are being written: the more the editors know about a collection's special requirements before they receive the framework documents for editorial review, the more responsive they can be thereafter.

(3) Submission of document files. All framework documents must be delivered to the NDLP editorial team at least two months before a collection's release date. Documents should be delivered on disk in WordPerfect or Word. Collection production teams should be sure that each document has been fact-checked and spell-checked before delivery.

(4) Primary editorial review. Once a set of collection documents has been delivered to the editorial team, it is assigned to one of the editors for primary review. Editorial changes, which may concern spelling, punctuation, grammar, usage, style, organization, and (if necessary) content, are made in the electronic file. Occasionally, when extensive revision of a particular passage (or an entire document) is required, the editor simply makes a note of the problem and requests a rewrite and resubmission. The editor may also consult with the writer or collection project leader concerning problems or questions discovered during editorial review. Primary review is an extremely time-consuming process, requiring meticulous and multiple examinations of each document. The length of time it takes for any given collection depends on the length and quality of the documents submitted.

(5) Secondary review. Before an edited document is returned to its project team, it is briefly reviewed by a second member of the editorial team to make certain that no errors or infelicities have gone unnoticed and that it accords with Chicago Manual and house style. Project leaders should note that the amount of text that goes into one single-spaced printed page requires approximately two hours of editorial time during the primary and secondary review processes together.

(6) Return of document files. When all the documents for a collection have been edited, the editors make a copy of each edited document file and return the files in person to the collection team, often accompanied by a cover memorandum clarifying some of the editorial changes and providing additional comments or suggestions about the documents.

(7) Follow-up. Writers and collection team members are encouraged to contact the editors with any questions or concerns they may have about the edited documents, no matter how seemingly trivial, at any time. In addition, the editor who has worked on a particular collection contacts the project leader a few days after each edited document set has been returned, to see if there are any questions and to schedule a follow-up meeting if desired.

(8) Non-editorial staff review. If someone other than an editor finds an error in a document when it is in the test region or after it has gone online, he or she should email comments or questions to both the relevant project team leader and an NDLP editor, so that appropriate corrections can be made.

(9) Collection updates. The editorial process applies to all framework materials, whether they are part of a collection's initial release or part of an update, and must take place whenever a document is revised. Project teams are requested to identify whatever is new in the collection updates. If revisions are minimal, however, it is sufficient to let the editors know as soon as the revised version is in the test region.

(Top) September 1999

5. Editorial Support

NDLPEDIT Listserv is a private forum where new editorial questions can be raised. The list is open only to NDLP staff. To subscribe send the message subscribe ndlpedit to [email protected]. Send your message in the body of the text, not in the subject line.

Web Resources

Online Reference Sources

Bookbinding/The Conservation of Books -- A Dictionary of
Descriptive Terminology, Matt T. Roberts
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/don/don.html

Britannica Online
http://search.eb.com/

Dictionary of PC Hardware and Data Communications Terms
http://www.oreilly.com/reference/dictionary

Fifty States and Capitals Reference Resource
http://www.50states.com

FOLDOC: Free Online Dictionary of Computing (case sensitive)
http://www.InstantWeb.com/~foldoc/

How Users Read on the Web -- usability study by Jakob Nielsen and John Morkes.
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html

Information Please Dictionary
http://www.infoplease.com/

Internet Public Library Reference Center
http://www.ipl.org/ref/

Library of Congress Country Studies
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html

Library of Congress WWW Style Guide,
http://lcweb.loc.gov/loc/webstyle/.

Libweb -- Library Web Servers of the World
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Libweb/

MDA Glossary -- for business executives by MDA Computing Ltd.,
England
http://www.whatis.com/

Merriam-Webster WWWebster Dictionary
http://www.m-w.com/netdict.htm

Merriam-Webster WWWebster Thesaurus
http://www.m-w.com/thesaurus.htm

Online Dictionaries (multilingual)
http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/rbeard/diction.html

PC Weblopædia -- search engine dedicated to computer technology
http://www.pcwebopaedia.com

Pedro's Dictionaries -- multilingual dictionaries from Iowa State University
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~pedro/dictionaries.html

Statistical Abstract of the United States (1997)
http://www.census.gov/statab/www

Thesaurus of Geographic Names
http://shiva.pub.getty.edu/tgn_browser/

U.S. Gazetteer
http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/gazetteer

World Fact Book (1997) -- C.I.A.; click on "countries" to access
data
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

WordNet -- select "Use WordNet Online" and then "HTML forms
interface"
http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/~wn

WorldWideWeb Acronym and Abbreviation Server
http://www.ucc.ie/acronyms/acro.html

Online Resources Citation Guides

Citing Cyberspace [book online] -- James D. Lester (1997)
Click on the "Online Citation Guides" from the Longman site.
http://longman.awl.com/englishpages

Citing Print and Electronic Research Sources -- Carol Hansen
A few examples are available under "Chicago/Turabian Style."
http://library.weber.edu/libinstruct/citing.htm

Inkspot, the Writer's Resource
http://www.inkspot.com/

John Hewitt's Writers' Resource Center
http://www.azstarnet.com/~poewar/writer/writer.html

Library & Information Science: Citation Guides for Electronic Documents -- IFLANET
http://www.ifla.org/I/training/citation/citing.htm

National Writers Union Online Resources
http://www.nwu.org/links/lnkhome.htm

Writers' Workshop Online Writing Guide, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/

Recommended Books

On classification of terminologies for different fields:

Glazier, Stephen. Word Menu. New York: Random House, 1992.

On editing:

Skillin, Marjorie E., and Robert M. Gay. Words into Type. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice Hall, 1974.

On grammar:

Chalker, Sylvia, and Edmund Weiner. The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.

Dumond, Val. Grammar for Grownups. New York: HarperPerennial, 1993.

Gordon, Karen Elizabeth. The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed. New York: Pantheon Books, 1993.

On usage:

Ebbitt, Wilma R., and David R. Ebbitt. Index to English. 8th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.

Fowler, H.W. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. 2d ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1965.

Garner, Bryan A. A Dictionary of Modern American Usage. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Morris, William, and Mary Morris. Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage. New York: Harper & Row, 1975.

Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. 3rd ed. Needham Heights, Mass.: Allyn and Bacon, 1979.

Timmons, Christine, and Frank Gibney, eds. Britannica Book of English Usage. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday/Britannica Books, 1980.

On substantive writing and editing:

Williams, Joseph M. Style: Towards Clarity and Grace. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.

(Top) June 2000

6. Collection Framework

Project leaders coordinate the selection, creation, and editing of framing materials with subject specialists and the NDLP editorial team. They also coordinate the design and production of the framework Web pages with the Web design team.

All collection framework components should:

• Include the collection title in the heading;
• Use NDLP standard technical terms and acronyms;
• Use hyperlinked subheadings if warranted by the length of the document.

Collection framework components typically include the following:

6.1 About the Collection^*

6.2 Acknowledgments^*

6.3 Building the Digital Collection^*

6.4 Cataloging the Collection

6.5 Copyright and Other Restrictions^*

6.6 Related Resources

6.7 Scope and Content Note^*

6.8 Selected Bibliography

6.9 Special Presentations ^**

6.10 Other Components (including "How to View" ^*)

* This framework element is mandatory.

** This framework element is strongly recommended.

(Top) September 1999

6.1 About the Collection

About the Collection should accomplish the following goals: establish the provenance, historical significance, and importance of the original collection; describe and quantify the content of the online collection; and explain the relationship between the physical and online collections. If necessary, it should include a brief statement on any collection materials that might offend some users. If applicable to the collection, it should also acknowledge support of a donor, explain the selection principles used, and describe future release plans.

Content should include:

• Description of the original collection's origins, date, content, quantities of material, and historical significance;

• Description of the online collection's date range and quantity of items, genre, digital formats available, and geographic areas covered (if applicable);

• Description of the main topic areas in the online collection, with highlighted examples from the online collection materials;

• Explanation of the distinction between the original and the online collection and of criteria for inclusion, where any apply;

• Neutral discussion of any online materials that might offend some users.

• Appears as a heading on the collection home page and may also be linked to from the Scope and Content Note.

• May include information that appears in the Scope and Content Note, but need not repeat the text in its entirety.

• Should always be called About the Collection, or About the Collections (e.g., Built in America).

• May vary in length, depending on the nature of the collection, the complexity of the collection content, or Divisional preference. Longer pieces should be divided into topical subheadings for clarity.

Examples

Models of shorter documents include:

• By Popular Demand: Votes for Women Suffrage Pictures, 1850-1920 (7 paragraphs)

• Baseball Cards, 1887-1914 (6 paragraphs, 2 images, no subheadings);

• Pioneering the Upper Midwest (6 paragraphs);

• Railroad Maps, 1828-1900 (5 paragraphs);

• An American Ballroom Companion (3 paragraphs).

Models of longer documents include:

• An American Time Capsule (23 short paragraphs, 5 subheadings);

• "California as I Saw It" (15 paragraphs, 3 subheadings);

• America from the Great Depression to World War II (13 paragraphs with text insets, 3 subheads, internal links);

• Built in America (10 paragraphs with text insets, 3 subheadings).

(Top) September 1999

6.2 Acknowledgments

Content may include some or all of the following information:

• A general statement or narrative of the course of work;

• Names of library units or other institutions involved (Divisions, departments, teams, contractors, universities, etc.);

• Names of individuals;

• Titles of individuals;

• Role of unit or individual;

• Dates of first and subsequent releases.

As collections are updated, acknowledgements should be revised as necessary.

Organization: Arrange names according to one or more of the following principles:

• Alphabetical order;

• Highlighting special acknowledgments (e.g., donor recognition first, or non-LC contributors first);

• Grouping by institution or unit;

• Chronological order (i.e., in the order of the production process);

• Grouping by primary and secondary project staff.

Examples

Paragraphs

By Popular Demand: "Votes for Women" Suffrage Pictures, 1850-1920

• Single paragraph, organized mostly by process:

  • Describes what each individual did.

  • After names, gives Division or title in parentheses.

Pioneering the Upper Midwest

• Two paragraphs:

  • First paragraph discusses collection development and lists outside contributors.

  • Second paragraph lists LC staff by name only, in alphabetical order.

  • Dateline/signature.

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation

• Multiple, longer paragraphs organized by Division;

• Division name highlighted in each paragraph;

• Role of each person described.

Lists

Taking the Long View

• Prose lists (sentences or short paragraphs -- no headwords);

• Organized mostly by Division;

• Curator and project leader listed first.

The Leonard Bernstein Collection, ca. 1920-1989

• Organized by Division, with Division names as bolded headings;

• Names listed individually, with name, title, and role;

• Strong emphasis on Bernstein estate's contributions.

Hybrid

Built in America

• Combines narrative paragraph with lists;

• Initial paragraph acknowledges general responsibilities by unit;

• Provides a hierarchical list:

  • Organized by unit (unit name as bolded headword);

  • Lists names listed alphabetically without title or role.

(Top) September 1999

6.3 Building the Digital Collection

Building the Digital Collection is intended primarily for Library of Congress staff and national and international digital-library colleagues. It is usually written by the project leader with assistance from the production liaison. In view of the subject matter greater latitude for the use of technical language is permitted in this section than in other framework elements.

Content may:

Describe the digitization process and methodology, including:

• Physical description of original Library materials used for scanning;

• Selection as it relates to technical issues and workflow: for example, why the Copyright Sheet Music Collection was scanned from microfilm although originals exist;

• Preparation and processing of the collection;

• Selection and digitization of access aids including conversion of printed guides, database records, or finding aids;

• Conversion process, including whether materials were converted in-house or by a contractor, onsite or offsite, or with batch or custom processes;

• Post-processing steps required for Web presentation, such as splitting of page images captured from microfilm, cropping to show page edges, segmenting large images, or contrast stretching and noise reduction of images;

• Archiving practices for storing and maintaining digital items, such as retaining original capture files for specific types of materials.

Describe special challenges, including constraints of capture-device technology, the condition of original materials, conservation practices, or changes in method of delivery or presentation of digital files.

Give specifications for digital files, including file format, compression, spatial and tonal resolution for images; sampling rate for audio; frames per second for video; and the average file size for each type of file.

Link to American Memory technical documents that explain processes and guidelines for digitization, including the Requests for Proposals (RFP), How to View page, text conversion, and finding aid Document Type Definitions (DTD).

Examples

"California As I Saw It"
Built in America
Panoramic Maps

(Top) September 1999

6.4 Cataloging the Collection

Content may include:

• A statement about whether access points are based on controlled or uncontrolled vocabulary:

  • If access points are based on controlled vocabulary, cite source(s), for example, Library of Congress Subject Headings ( LCSH), Thesaurus for Graphic Materials (TGM), etc;

  • If access points are based on uncontrolled vocabulary, cite source(s);

• A statement about which field headings from the collection are used in the online records;

• Examples from the collection;

• Descriptions of the source(s) of bibliographic data used as access points.

Organization may include:

• A brief introduction;

• A bibliography of cataloging tools;

• A description of headings (with examples), using any or all from the following list:

  Call Number	Notes
  Collection	Other title
  Control number	Reference
  Creator	Related names
  Date	Repository
  Digital ID (or video frame ID)	Reproduction number
  Formats	Subjects
  Medium	Title

Examples

Prints and Photographs Division (collection with MARC item-level records; includes an introduction and a cataloging tools bibliography):

Architecture and Interior Design for 20th Century America: Photographs by Samuel Gottscho and William Schleisner, 1935-1955

(Top) September 1999

6.5 Copyright and Other Restrictions

September 1999

6.6 Related Resources

A model for the Related Resources document follows.

[Collection Name] : Related Resources

In the Library of Congress || In Other Institutions || Related External Web Sites || Selected Bibliography ||

Use any of the headings above with the subheadings below that are applicable.

If you use In the Library of Congress, applicable subheadings might include:

• In American Memory:
  Lists all related collections in American Memory and relevant Learning Page links (e.g., By Popular Demand: "Votes for Women" Suffrage Pictures, 1850-1920);

• In the ____ Division:
  Describes specific resources from the collection's Division that are not part of American Memory (e.g., the section containing "other first-person accounts, as well as many other resources . . . in Rare Books . . ." in "California as I Saw It"; "Related Manuscript Collections in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division," in Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers);

• Additional Resources in the Library of Congress:
  Describes other non-American Memory resources at the Library held by other Divisions (e.g., "Additional Resources in the Library of Congress" in The Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920; "Whitman Resources of the Library of Congress," in Poet at Work).

If you use In Other Institutions, applicable subheadings might include:

• Major [format] Holdings in Other Institutions:
  E.g., America's First Look into the Camera and Taking the Long View: Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991.

If you use Related External Web Sites, applicable subheadings might include:

• On the World Wide Web beyond the Library of Congress:
  E.g., America's First Look into the Camera; Pioneering the Upper Midwest; Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers. If you use this subheading, please include a note such as the following:

  "NOTE: The Library of Congress does not maintain these Internet sites. Users should direct concerns about these links to their respective site administrators or Web masters."

(Top) September 1999

6.7 Scope and Content Note

The Scope and Content Note is the single most important element of the collection framework. Since it appears on the home page, it is often the only piece of the framework seen by users of American Memory collections and it provides a vital means of attracting users to the collection. It is used verbatim in the American Memory brochure distributed to NDLP guests and visitors and is the framework element most likely to be quoted as part of other descriptions of the collection, such as press releases or Web notices.

Scope and Content briefly describes the collection's content. It is probably best to open with a sentence that highlights the most interesting aspects of the collection, but any of the elements listed below can come first if that is most appropriate for the collection at hand. Further details of the overview presented in the Scope and Content Note can be elaborated in About the Collection.

Content elements (used as appropriate for the collection):

• Types of items available:

  • California Gold specifies "sound recordings, still photographs, drawings, and written documents from a variety of European ethnic and English- and Spanish-speaking communities in Northern California."

  • An American Time Capsule includes "a variety of posters, notices, advertisements, proclamations, leaflets, propaganda, manifestos, and business cards."

• Examples of topics or subjects included in the collection (may be hyperlinked):

  • Baseball Cards states that "The cards show such legendary figures as Ty Cobb stealing third base for Detroit, Tris Speaker batting for Boston, and pitcher Cy Young posing formally in his Cleveland uniform."

• LC Collection of origin.

  • California Gold states that "The WPA California Folk Music Project is a multiformat ethnographic field collection" and lists types of material.

• Quantities of materials included in the online presentation. These will be estimated in various ways depending on the medium. The nature of the digitized materials should determine how digital or Library items are quantified.

• Relevant dates or date range.

  • A Century of Lawmaking gives dates that pertain both to the complete collection and to materials currently online.

• Geographic areas covered (if relevant):

  • An American Time Capsule notes that "This preview of the digitized Printed Ephemera Collection presents fifty items from fourteen American states, the District of Columbia, and London, England."

• Future collection update plans, if any:

  • Built in America explains, "This first release adds digital images to the searchable online catalog records, including images of the pages of written histories for all HAER surveys and about 25% of HABS surveys, 17% of the HAER survey photographs and a small sampling of the HABS and HAER measured drawings. Additional digital images will be added monthly."

• Acknowledgement of donor support according to donor's preference (coordinate with Development Office for the appropriate acknowledgment).

Organization elements:

• Appears below links to search and browse pages;

• Should be one paragraph (200 word maximum) of several sentences.

(Top) September 1999

6.8 Selected Bibliography

Bibliographies are not mandatory for collections, but many team leaders choose to include them as an additional resource. Bibliographies often include related Web site resources, though it should be noted that some collections combine bibliographical entries and Web resources under the heading of Related Resources.

Specific information about form and style in bibliographical entries appears in the style section Notes and Bibliographies.

Content may include the following:

• A list of print resources following Chicago style showing where to learn more about the collection or subjects covered in the collection.

• A list of other resources such as manuscript archives specifically related to the collection or subjects covered in the collection.

• A list of background reference sources used in the preparation of the collection.

• Annotations (e.g., The Northern Great Plains, 1880-1920).

• Library of Congress call numbers (e.g., Jackie Robinson and Other Baseball Highlights).

• ISBN numbers (e.g., Jackie Robinson and Other Baseball Highlights).

• Links to related Web sites outside the Library (e.g., America from the Great Depression to World War II).

• Instructions on how to cite bibliographic sources (e.g., A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation).

• Subdivisions of children's and adults' titles.

• Subdivisions by subject, time period, etc. where appropriate (e.g., American Leaders Speak).

• Links to anchors further down the list for subdivided bibliographies more than one screen page in length (e.g., The George Washington Papers).

(Top) September 1999

6.9 Special Presentations

Content may include any or all of the following:

• Information about the historical context of the collection.

• Interpretation of collection materials.

• General information about the collection tailored for certain audiences (e.g., schoolchildren, specialists, topic enthusiasts).

• Highlights of special treasures or unique features of the collection.

Organization elements:

• Special presentations are announced in bold or larger font below the collection Scope and Content Note.

• There is usually a special-presentation home page with a menu of contents (e.g., Music for the Nation).

• Special presentations are often signed; authors' names appear at the top or bottom of presentation pages or in the Acknowledgments page.

• Longer presentations should be divided into shorter sections with descriptive subheadings.

• Special presentations are usually illustrated and enhanced with links to collection materials.

  • For further help on including images in special presentations, see the style section on Illustrations: Captions and Legends.

  • For further help on including links in special presentations, see linking guidelines.

• Essays:

  • General presentations on the historical and geographical background of the collection (e.g., Pioneering the Upper Midwest).

  • General presentations on the subject of the collection (e.g., An American Ballroom Companion).

  • Biographical essays on subjects represented in collection (e.g., Hispano Music and Culture, Inventing Entertainment).

  • Sketches of people whose work is represented in the collection (e.g., Panoramic Maps).

• Historical Guides:

  • How-to information about the subject of the collection (e.g., "How to Read a Dance Manual," in An American Ballroom Companion).

  • Information highlighting the historical context of some aspect of a collection (e.g., "Does the Camera Ever Lie?" in Selected Civil War Photographs).

• Timelines:

  • Illustrated chronologies with links to collection materials (e.g., The Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920, The George Washington Papers).

  • Combined essays and chronologies (e.g., By Popular Demand: Jackie Robinson).

• Samplers:

  • Documents grouped around certain themes (e.g., African American Perspectives).

  • Photographic portrait samplers (e.g., America from the Great Depression to World War II).

  • Geographic distribution of digitized materials (e.g., Built in America "Image Gallery").

• Adaptations/excerpts from printed matter:

  • Books (e.g., "Cowboy Life in Western Nevada" in Buckaroos in Paradise).

  • Essays (e.g., "Four Illustrated Articles" in The New Deal Stage).

(Top) September 1999

6.10 Other Components

• Caption pages for home page images;

• Documents used by certain Divisions (e.g., the American Folklife Center sometimes prepares a document called "Research Materials" for its collections; see example in Hispano Music and Culture of the Northern R�o Grande);

• Glossaries;

• How to Order Reproductions;

• How to View --This framework element is mandatory.

(Top) September 1999

7. The Learning Page

• Provides basic search help;

• Demonstrates to users the ability of American Memory to present topics in multiple formats for richer, deeper research and understanding;

• Supports the development and expansion of research skills;

• Supports development of visual and information literacy skills;

• Demonstrates the curricular relevance of individual collections;

• Provides suggestions and examples of classroom use of American Memory materials;

• Offers educators opportunities to learn tools and techniques to incorporate American Memory materials into their classrooms.

Content includes:

• Various search guides to the collections;

• Activities developed around American Memory collections to involve and engage users with the materials in a participatory manner;

• Interactivity with American Memory collections;

• Presentations that integrate American Memory materials and encourage exploration of the collections.

For contractors creating content and American Memory Fellows designing lesson plans, the Learning Page has a style guide based on the Chicago Manual of Style, the Library Web Style Guide, and Learning Page-specific requirements.

Organization

The Learning Page has eight sections:

(1) Search Help contains search strategy tips and Pathfinders organized by events, people, places, time, and topics that provide navigational guidance to American Memory collections.

(2) Features are presentations that bring together items from across the collections to highlight specific themes.

(3) Learn More About the Collections! are presentations that explore individual collections in terms of their history and social-studies and language-arts content and provide a centralized location for Library Web resources related to the collection as well as collection-specific technical and search tips.

(4) Activities are problem-solving games that draw upon American Memory materials and focus on the development of visual and information literacy skills.

(5) Educators' Programs are training opportunities for educators to learn about using American Memory materials in their classrooms. These programs include the American Memory Fellows Program, which culminates in the weeklong Educators Institute each summer, as well as online workshops, conferences, and real time workshop opportunities.

(6) Lesson Ideas contain lesson suggestions and plans created by American Memory Fellows and other educators.

(7) Research Tools contains information about citing American Memory electronic resources, copyright and fair use, resources outside American Memory for further research, and technical guidance for students and teachers.

(8) New is a central location where users can learn about additions to the Learning Page.

Coordination with Collection Production

Since the Learning Page provides learning tools and other resources for American Memory collections, Learning Page staff rely upon:

• The American Memory Production Calendar to plan workflow;

• Project leaders to contact Learning Page staff during the early test phase of a collection. Inclusion in this early content review aids Learning Page staff in deciding where and how to integrate the collection, and what technical and search tips might be needed;

• Notification two to three weeks prior to the collection's move to production so that a new Learn More Summary of Resources page can be created in a timely fashion. Other sections of the Learn More follow as time, resources, and scheduling permit;

• The Web design team to create a link from the collection home page to the corresponding Learn More and to create a small version of the collection title for the Learn More.

(Top) September 1999