A recent Google search of the term “civil war” produced 114,000,000 sites, ranging from well-produced digital projects by university teams, to much more amateur personal websites. The same search on the History Guide/InformationsWeiser Geschichte generated 114 sites, all of which were “scholarly relevant websites in history.” The Network Subject Gateway History, a group of libraries and research institutions, maintains the History Guide and has collected metadata records on more than 5,000 web sites (learn more about the Network in the about section of the site). The site is easy to search, with multiple ways to find specific history websites; users can type a word or two into the Quicksearch box, or use the advanced search page to combine terms, they can browse by region, period, and subject area, or search specific institutions for information. And if users so chose, they can create a username and password and save their searches for future visits. The History Guide also has a new feature, perhaps one especially suited for the blogosphere, that allows users to grab link lists from the guide for use on their own websites (instructions in this pdf), the lists automatically update themselves as the History Guide adds new content. This site can significantly reduce time spent searching on the web; while at the same time improve the quality of the web resources you find.

Thanks to Susan Hamburger and Daniel C. Mack for their presentation from which this source was gleaned.

This post first appeared on AHA Today.