Social Studies Resources

Jump-start your research with this brief video tutorial!

Jump-start your research with this brief video tutorial!

This remarkable collection includes information about 5,000 years of civilization, from ancient history to the present, and features great reference, primary source, and magazine & journal content, as well as images, video & audio content from the History Channel, NPR, BBC News and more.

This collection includes news, reference, primary source and video content, and statistical information, is updated daily with information from more than 650 full-text newspapers, magazines and journals, and features country topic and issue pages.

Jump-start your research with this brief video tutorial!

This superb resource features a wealth of information about notable individuals from throughout history and all fields of endeavor. Information sources include Gale's vast collection of subject encyclopedias, magazines, journals, primary sources, videos, podcasts and images.

ABC-CLIO databases available at SHS include:

• American Government
• American History
• The American Indian Experience
• World History: the Modern Era

Please stop by the library for the passwords needed to log in to this & other online resources!

from the Stanford University Education Group
This remarkable resource "engages students in historical inquiry. Each lesson revolves around a central historical question and features sets of primary documents designed for groups of students with diverse reading skills and abilities." There are presently 73 lessons in the U.S. curriculum, 37 in the world curriculum and five in the "Introduction to Historical Thinking" unit, designed as stand-alone lessons that can supplement the ongoing classroom work in which teachers and their students are engaged.

Guided by belief in "the transformative power of a great text, and a great question", this fine free resource includes:

• a terrific collection of hundreds of fiction and nonfiction reading passages (http://www.commonlit.org/texts), including news, articles, poems, short stories and historical documents, searchable by Lexile, grade, theme, genre, literary device and common core standard, for students in grades 5 through 12;
• challenging text-dependent questions; and
• performance tracking in important reading and writing skills.

Jump-start your research with this brief video tutorial!

This collection of more than 400 ebooks includes  encyclopedias and other content-specific reference sources, and is particularly strong in the areas of American and world history and culture. See the complete list of history titles here.

Jump-start your research with this brief video tutorial!

This comprehensive collection features information from reference encyclopedias, academic journals, newspapers, magazines and primary source documents, as well as images, and video and audio content about notable individuals, events and topics in American history.

Primary Source Sets from the Digital Public Library
​of America

Each set contains 10-15 primary sources, including letters, posters, oral histories, video clips and more, culled from libraries, archives and museums in the United States, a teaching guide, and links to related sites/resources.

101 Great Sites for
Social Studies Class

At this site, subject experts carefully vet every resource recommended to users, and provide valuable insights and other helpful information to researchers. 

SweetSearch: History,
by findingDulcinea

This search engine for students searches more than 2,000 primary source and other reliable history sites, fully vetted by researchers, educators and librarians. Learn more about SweetSearch here.

BPL eResources:
Access with eCard

Available to any Massachusetts resident, eCards provide users with access to downloadable ebooks and multimedia, magazine and journals from BPL's 140+ databases, and much more.