Resources and Services for Teachers
at the New York State Library

Lesson Plans

The Dutch in Colonial New York: There are two 4th grade curriculum packets using primary documents in social studies teaching, developed by Mary Capobianco and Gale Derosia in association with Nancy McClure Zeller of the New Netherland Project (Albany, N.Y. : New Netherland Publishing, New Netherland Project, New York State Library).

• Daily Life in New Netherland [1995]
• The New World Through Dutch Eyes [1994?].

These curriculum guides have been disseminated to schools and BOCES throughout New York; however, if your school does not have a copy, one can be requested from:

The New Netherland Project
CEC, 8th Floor
Albany, NY 12230

Phone: (518) 474-6067

Labor History: The Great Railroad Strike of 1877: An Instructional Packet for Teachers and Students of Labor History in New York State and the United States of America was produced by The Friends of the New York State Newspaper Project in 2001.

These materials include seven student activities based on 15 newspaper articles from The Albany Argus (1877) and the Buffalo Morning Express (1892). The activities in the packet correlate with the New York State Learning Standards and Performance Indicators for the Intermediate and Commencement Levels. It is aimed at social studies and language arts teachers of grades 7, 8 and 11.

The packet was originally developed as a loose-leaf book but is now available online.

Use our Online Resources

NOVEL Databases: NOVEL enables libraries -- including school libraries -- across New York State to provide online access to the full text of hundreds of journals, newspapers and other references. NOVEL resources include:

• newspaper articles,
• magazine articles, including magazines geared toward children and teens,
• encyclopedias and other reference materials (e.g., Twayne's Author Series)
• health information, and
• some Spanish-language materials (¡Informe! Revistas en Español)

For further information call the NOVEL Help Desk at 877-277-0250.

Digital Collections: In addition to the Regents Exams, many other documents from our collections, particularly publications of NYS agencies and certain historical documents, are also available online in PDF format.

Primary Source Materials:

• Manuscripts and Special Collections
• Historical Documents (Online): Since 1995, the New York State Library has been scanning New York State government publications and making them available online. In 2006, the State Library expanded the types of materials being scanned to include various historical documents. These items, which were scanned from paper copies located in the State Library, are freely available as PDF documents on the State Library's web site.
• Historical Documents Inventory (HDI): Historical societies and other document repositories throughout New York State also have primary source materials. Although these materials are not held at the State Library, there are records (labeled HDI) for them in our catalog. To access any items labeled HDI, contact the institution mentioned in the LOCATION part of the catalog record.

Research Residencies: Grants of $1,000 are available annually for original research in New York State history using the unique collections of the New York State Library. Grants are available to academic and public historians, graduate students, independent researchers and writers and primary and secondary school teachers. Preference will be given to projects that have a high probability of publication or other public dissemination.

Talking Book and Braille Library: Schools or individual children can enroll in the Talking Book and Braille Library and register to borrow books on tape and cassette players, as well as books in braille.

• Services for Schools and Children

Virtual Exhibits: The Virtual Exhibits contain reproductions of the actual items, such as a bronze bust of Washington, the emancipation proclamation, trolley tickets and photographs of trains. The Virtual Exhibits consist of:

• the George Washington Collection,
• Lincoln's Preliminary Emancipation Proclaimation,
• the Firefighter's Collection,
• Fred Abele Transportation History Collection, and
• Bryologia Europaea (Adirondack plants).