We begin this week with the question “How would you organize a high school U.S. history survey course?” This was asked by the NHC and NHEC at a recent panel discussion. Then, segue into a panel discussion of piracy at the recent annual meeting of the Association of American University Presses , check out what’s new online from the National Library of Medicine and EDSITEment, and learn about recently acquired Constitutional Convention documents. Finally, go behind-the-scenes to see a few of the 2.5 million historic artifacts housed at the National Park Service’s Museum Resource Center.

Insights

• Teaching a High School U.S. History Survey Course
  At a recent roundtable discussion organized by the National History Center and National History Education Clearinghouse, six panelists were asked: “How would you organize a high school U.S. history survey course?” Read their responses online.
• The Pros and Cons of Piracy
  Scholars and university presses are certainly right to worry about the effects of piracy on the fruits of their intellectual labors.  A panel at the annual meeting of the Association of American University Presses asked the question "Is Piracy Good for Sales?" The answers were mixed.

News

• National Library of Medicine News
  The National Library of Medicine, the world’s largest medical library, recently announced a number of new projects: a collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History on Civil War nurses, a new Civil War traveling exhibit (“Life and Limb: The Toll of the Civil War”), and the release of digitized medical books from the Americas.
• New at EDSITEment
  At EDSITEment this month check out 13 online state encyclopedias, a recommended reading list for college-bound students, and an online resource for teaching about the Middle East.
• Constitutional Convention Documents
  New-York Historical Society’s Chairman Roger Hertog recently bought documents from the Constitutional Convention at a Sotheby’s auction. The Society plans to digitize these documents and make them available to scholars.

More

• National Park Service Artifacts
  Explore the National Park Service Museum Resource Center, which holds 2.5 million historic artifacts, in this video from C-SPAN’s American History TV.

Contributors: Miriam Hauss Cunningham, Elisabeth Grant, Vernon Horn, Jim Grossman, and Matthew Keough

This post first appeared on AHA Today.