As a solo librarian, supporting a population of art students, I find that this site has a lot to offer. As the Help page states, “This electronic archive presents 2,000 images that portray people, events, places, and issues important in the development of the United States. Each entry includes hyperlinks to related entries and a caption explaining the historical significance of the image. In addition, a hyperlinked timeline places the images within a broader context.”
On the main page, users will find a menu of search options, all fully explained in the Help option. Briefly, these include:
• Timeline. Divided into 11 eras, navigable by scrolling from c. 11,000bc to the present or by clicking on a specific era on the navigation bar.
• Eras. Images searched by historical era.
• Topics. Images searched by subject (24 topics, e.g. foreign affairs, sports, women’s studies).
• Occupations. Biographical images searched by profession or activity (23 areas, e.g. athletes, religious leaders, lawyers and judges).
• Image type. Image searched by type (44 types, e.g. brochure, photograph, logo).
The advanced search option allows searching all entries in any combination of the above. A sample search of: “Postwar era (1945‐1969)” (era), “Crime, violence, and corruption” (topic), “Gangsters, spies and criminals” (occupation), and “Photograph” (type) yields two records ‐ “The arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald” and “Hoffa, Jimmy”. Each entry includes a title, date, image credit, caption credit, and a thumbnail (miniaturized version) of the image. Clicking on the thumbnail provides a full‐size version.
Web links leads to a list of history Web sites, compiled by the editors of facts on file, divided into categories such as American history, African‐American history, and women’s history. Each link has a brief description of the Web site.
I am unaware of a similar product on the market. It is easy to navigate and straightforward to use. Copyrighted in 2000, it does not indicate an update frequency. This site is highly recommended for anyone supporting a patron base that requires historical images. For all others, this is a nice‐to‐have, interesting option.
