The Internet Modern History Sourcebook (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ mod/modsbook.html) is an online document reader designed for teachers of courses corresponding to traditional western civilization or world history. Compiled by Paul Halsall, a professor of Byzantine and medieval history at the University of North Florida, the site brings together an extensive collection of primary source documents and multimedia files useful for illustrating key concepts in (primarily European) history. The aim of the site is to provide easy access to primary source documents for use in a classroom setting, and it is more of a curricular tool than a standard reference source.
The site is arranged chronologically with a complete list of over 50 category links appearing as a side navigation bar. Beginning with the Reformation, the categories move forward in time through the scientific revolution, to the rise of nationalism and liberalism in the nineteenth century, through the First World War, Second World War and post‐war periods of the twentieth century, and then conclude with a section on popular culture. Also included are topics related to the USA (e.g. colonial period, Civil War, immigration, etc.), Latin America (both colonial and modern), post‐war Asia, and post‐war Africa. Within each sub‐topic, the pages are arranged thematically, with links to both specialized meta‐sites at other institutions and pertinent documents housed on the IMHS server at Fordham and at servers at other universities and libraries. For example, the Industrial Revolution is outlined to begin with the actual processes of industrialization (e.g. agricultural revolution, textiles manufacture, railroads), followed by a section on the social and political effects of industrialization (working‐class life, social reformism), and concludes with literary responses to industrialization. Corresponding documents include Accounts of the Potato Revolution ‐ 1695‐1845, Leeds Woollen Workers’ Petition, 1786, a link to the Steam Engine Library (full image digitized books at the University of Rochester), Charles Dickens’ Hard Times (at Mt Holyoke College), and Andrew Carnegie’s The Gospel of Wealth.
Of particular interest is the Studying History link. Here users will find information on using primary sources and the nature of historiography, not to mention a thorough directory to the most exhaustive online document collections. This is a wonderful resource for locating specialized historical documents. Links include such gems as the Electronic Text Library of the University of Virginia, AmDocs at the University of Kansas, and the Perry Castaneda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas. The Making of America (University of Michigan) and Project Avalon (Yale) links are included from subject‐specific pages.
One potential criticism of the Internet Modern History Sourcebook is its extremely traditional examination of modern history, the focus of which appears to follow the history of European ideas from Calvinism to Liberalism to Communism to postmodernism. However, this complaint may be more semantic than substantive. The Internet Modern History Sourcebook is but one part of the larger Internet History Sourcebook Project (IHSP). Other major sourcebooks include the Ancient History Sourcebook and the Medieval Sourcebook. Halsall also has developed a parallel series with a more global perspective including sourcebooks on the history of Africa, East Asia, India, Islam, Judaism, Lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgendered people, women, global perspectives, and science. Links to each of these sourcebooks appear at the top of every sub‐topical page. Latin America, however, does seem to deserve more attention. While it is included within the Internet Modern History Sourcebook, the quantity of materials is slight. Hopefully, this topic will be expanded in the future and may even develop into a separate sourcebook.
IMHS is fully searchable, using either a HotBot link restricted to the IHSP sites or the Fordham WAIS system. Boolean operators will work with either tool; however, the HotBot method of searching is preferable to the WAIS search. Although the second option does cluster the Halsall links together, it is much slower and returns many unrelated Fordham links. Almost every link returned from the HotBot search was pertinent. Using a search for “marx,” HotBot produced 46 hits. Several links were to documents written by Marx, and others were to the Marxist interpretation of history. The WAIS search produced more hits, but the results were from all campus servers including the College of Business Administration. The HotBot option to search multiple history e‐text servers does not appear to be fully functional. A similar search for “marx” resulted in zero hits. This would be an extremely useful tool if properly done.
The site is very teacher‐friendly. Halsall specifically permits the following uses of these materials:
pointing students to the site by Web links;
downloading documents for distribution as handouts or in course packs; and
“creating local copies of selections of documents at class Web sites for time limited periods (one year).”
This generous license greatly expands the usefulness of the IMHS.
The Internet History Sourcebook Project is a collection of sites that all teachers of history will want to know about. The Modern History Sourcebook will be particularly useful for students and teachers of traditional western civilization, modern European, or US surveys. Although specialists are certain to find gaps in the links and documents included, it is important to remember that any document reader is, by nature, selective. The links included here are certainly representative of an extremely broad period of history. Additionally, the links to other more specialized projects make the site an extremely useful directory of primary source material. The Internet Modern History Sourcebook is not a research tool. However, it does provide an excellent starting place for students or teachers searching for documents for classroom use. I recommend it.
