Internet Resources

Architecture | General Resources | History and Culture | Illinois History | Labor | Media | Neighborhoods | Politics | Sports | Transportation | Primary Sources

 

Architecture

• AIA Chicago (American Institute of Architects) ~ "The American Institute of Architects Chicago (AIA Chicago) is the largest professional association of licensed architects, architectural interns, and allied professionals in Illinois. It is the second largest AIA chapter in the country."
• Chicago Architecture (YeloDog.com) ~ Architectural photography of the Loop and South Side (including the University of Chicago).
• Chicago Architecture Foundation ~ "The Chicago Architecture Foundation is dedicated to advancing public interest and education in architecture and related design."
• The Chicago Architecture Imagebase: An Era-By-Era Collection of Images ~ Department of Art History, The University of Illinois, Chicago
• Chicago Architects Oral History Project ~ A project from the Art Institute of Chicago intended to "record the life experiences of architects who shaped the physical environment in Chicago and surrounding communities."

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• Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design ~ Images, exhibits, information.
• Chicago Imagebase ~ Historical and current images "aimed at enhancing knowledge about the built environment of the Chicago region."
• Chicago Landmarks ~ Clickable maps, alphabetic listing, online tours, architects section, and architectural style guide; from the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development
• Digital Archive of American Architecture ~ Boston College; color slides copyright Prof. Jeffery Howe
• Lincoln Park Architectural Photographs ~ Search for images by specific architects. From DePaul University.
• Louis Sullivan to SOM: Boston Grads go to Chicago ~ Exhibit "examines the significant contributions Boston architects, particularly those from MIT, made towards affecting change in architectural design and practice in Chicago during the late 19th and early 20th centuries."
• Vanity Building Addresses in Chicago ~ This webpage provides the street addresses of Chicago buildings commonly referred to by name. From the Chicago Public Library.

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General Resources

• City of Chicago’s Home Page  ~ Official site of the City of Chicago
• Chicago’s Facts and Figures ~ Statistics, maps, and tourism information
• Chicago Public Library ~ Information and images from the Chicago Public Library
• Chicago Timeline ~ A timeline from the Chicago Public Library
• Chicago Weather ~ WGN Weather News
• Learn Chicago ~ A comprehensive set of Chicago resources from the Chicago Public Library

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History and Culture

• Chicago Area Archivists ~An organization of archivists that catalog historical archives throughout the city of Chicago and Northwestern Indiana. It allows you to search for collections throughout the area.
• Chicago Daily News ~ The Chicago Daily News photo collection, 1902-1933, completely online.
• Chicago Fire ~ Historical information from the Chicago Historical Society and Northwestern University
• Chicago History Museum ~ A comprehensive resource on the history of Chicago; formerly the Chicago Historical Society.
• Chicago History Museum: Online Projects ~ Various online exhibitions of Chicago history with extensive images and other digitized primary source.
• Chicago Metro History Fair Education Center ~ Information about the Chicago Metro History Fair.
• Chicago Museums ~ A guide to Chicago's museums.
• Chicago Shakespeare Theatre on Navy Pier
• Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• Digital Images from the Chicago Public Library ~ Information and images from the Chicago Public Library

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• Encyclopedia of Chicago ~ Thousands of historical resources-including articles, photos, maps, broadsides and newspapers have been digitized for viewing.
• The History Files from Chicago Historical Society  ~ Information and images from major events such as the Chicago Fire and World’s Columbian Exposition
• Homicide in Chicago 1870-1930 ~ Images and information exhibit from Northwester University School of Law.
• Jazz Age Chicago  ~  Chicago life from 1893 to 1945
• Lyric Opera of Chicago ~ Chicago's world-class opera company, located in the historic Civic Opera House.
• University of Illinois at Chicago Digital Collections ~ Chicago in the year 2000, Images of the Caribbean, and Jane Addams' Hull House
• Urban Experience in Chicago: Hull House and Its Neighborhoods

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Illinois History

• Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library  ~ A division of the Illinois Historic Preservation Society  ~  Click on “Search Library Catalog Online”
• Illinois History Resource Page  ~  An extensive set of links on Chicago and Illinois history. Mark W. Sorensen, Adjunct professor, Milliken University.
• Illinois State Archives  ~  “The official depository for those records of government, both state and local, which have been appraised to have long-term legal, administrative, historical, or other research values.”
• Illinois State Historical Society  ~  Information on Illinois State History

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Labor

• Center for Labor and Community Research ~ A Chicago-based non-profit consulting and research organization providing research and analysis to unions, communities, and local governments.
• Chicago Anarchists on Trial: Evidence from the Haymarket Affair ~ Primary documents, images, and other material from American Memory, the Library of Congress.
• Chronology of Illinois Labor History ~ from the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• The Dramas of Haymarket ~ An online exhibit of the Chicago History Museum.
• Illinois Department of Employment Security ~ The state's agency for providing Illinois labor market information
• Illinois Department of Labor ~ The state's agency enforcing Illinois labor laws.
• Illinois Labor History Society ~ Information and images from the Center for Law and Computers at Chicago-Kent College of Law.
• Illinois Labor Relations Board ~ Administers the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, the primary law governing relations between unions and public employers.
• Labor Beat ~ a Chicago-based producer of videos and publications on labor and social issues
• The Labor Trail ~ The Chicago Center for Working-Class Studies (CCWCS) presents the Interactive Labor Trail. This on-line history resource builds on “The Labor Trail: Chicago's History of Working-Class Life and Struggle,” a map of 140 significant locations in the history of labor, migration, and working-class culture in Chicago and Illinois.

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Media

• ABC7 Chicago
• CBS2 Chicago
• FOX Chicago
• NBC5 Chicago
• WTTW 11 (PBS)
• Chicago Public Radio
• Chicago Reader Online
• Chicago Sun Times
• Chicago Tribune

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Neighborhoods

• Neighborhood Guide ~ from Metromix.com ~  Current events, restaurants, and fun things to do in all of Chicago’s neighborhoods.
• Neighborhood Guide ~ Chicago City & Neighborhood Guide - Maps, boundaries, and general information about many of Chicago’s neighborhoods
• Neighborhood History ~ from the University of Illinois Extension ~ Extensive list of neighborhood history links and other Chicago organizations
• Neighborhoods of Chicago ~ Maps, boundaries, and general information about many of Chicago’s neighborhoods
• Urban Experience in Chicago: Hull House and Its Neighborhoods

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Politics

• Chicago's Mayors ~ Includes a chronology, inaugural addresses, gravesites, and a gallery. From the Chicago Public Library
• Chicago Politics ~ Primary sources, papers, data, and more from the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
• City Clerk of Chicago ~ Find your alderman as well as information about the City Council and muncipal legislation.
• Muncipal Reference Collection: Chicago Public Library ~ "The Municipal Reference Collection is a unique resource that should be the first point of contact for information on Chicago ordinances, statistics, government, budgets and Chicago community areas."
• Parades, Protests, and Politics in Chicago ~ An online exhibit from the Chicago History Museum with primary sources, images, and a bibliography.

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Sports

• Illinois High School Association
• Official Site of the Chicago Bears
• Official Site of the Chicago Blackhawks
• Official Site of the Chicago Bulls
• Official Site of the Chicago Cubs
• Official Site of the Chicago Fire
• Official Site of the Chicago White Sox

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Transportation

• Chicago-L ~ "The internet's largest resource for information on Chicago's rapid transit system."
• The Chicago Area Transportation Study ~ "Since 1955, the Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS) Policy Committee and staff have helped plan, program and implement transportation improvements for the northeastern Illinois planning area."
• Chicago Bike Program ~ Information, maps, and more about biking on Chicago streets.
• Chicago Department Transportation ~ "The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) is responsible for city street, alley and sidewalk reconstruction, bridge maintenance, public way inspections and permits, traffic services, and planter and median maintenance."
• Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) ~ "The CTA operates the nation's second largest public transportation system and covers the City of Chicago and 40 surrounding suburbs."
• Fly Chicago ~ The official city of Chicago website with information on O'Hare International Airport, Midway International Airport, and Chicago-Gary Airport Authority.

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• Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)
• Illinois State Toll Highway Authority
• Metra ~ "The 495-mile Metra system serves 230 stations in the counties of Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, McHenry and Kane."
• Pace Bus ~ "Pace is the premier suburban transit provider, quickly moving people to work and school safely and efficiently. The backbone of Chicago's suburbs, Pace serves 130,000 daily riders with 240 routes, 450 vanpools and many Dial-a-Ride programs. Pace covers 3,500 square miles and is the 14th largest bus service in North America."
• Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) ~ "The RTA is the financial oversight and regional planning body for the three public transit operators in northeastern Illinois:  the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra commuter rail and Pace suburban bus."
• RiverBus Water Taxi ~ Chicago's water transportation system.
• Urban Transportation Center ~ "The Urban Transportation Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago seeks to understand and improve urban transportation through the creation, application and dissemination of transportation knowledge while also making use of the Chicago metropolitan area."

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Primary Sources

"Primary sources are original, uninterpreted information.
Unedited, firsthand access to words, images, or objects created by persons directly involved in an activity or event or speaking directly for a group. This is information before it has been analyzed, interpreted, commented upon, spun, or repackaged."University of Washington Information Literacy Learning 2001-2004.

Depending upon the context, these may include paintings, interviews, works of fiction, research reports, sales receipts, speeches, letters, blogs, books, diaries, editorials, editorial cartoons, emails, essays, government documents, journals, magazine articles, memos, monographs, newspaper articles, pamphlets, web pages/sites.

"Secondary sources interpret, analyze or summarize.
Commentary upon, or analysis of, events, ideas, or primary sources. Because they are often written significantly after events by parties not directly involved but who have special expertise, they may provide historical context or critical perspectives." University of Washington Information Literacy Learning 2001-2004.

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Databases

~ Click Advanced Search > Enter a search term, i.e.: "freedom of speech" and change "in All Text" to "Index Terms" > enter "Editorials" in second search box and change "in all Text" to "in Section" > Click search.

~ News stories of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Included: Chicago Tribune Morgue clippings file (nearly 3 million); major stories covering events and issues clipped and indexed by the Chicago Tribune staff at time of publication. Coverage is from the 1920's through 1984. Front pages (16,614 pages containing over 155,000 articles) - image of entire front page as it appeared when published from the early 1900 through 1984.

~ Click Student Research Center > Click Uncheck All (document types) > Check the Primary Source box > Enter a search term, i.e.: "freedom of speech" > Click Search.

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~ Historical newspapers including The Chicago Daily (Tribune), The Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and The New York Times.

~ Click Advanced Search > Enter a search term, i.e.: "freedom of religion" > Change Document Type to Primary Document > Click search.

~ Click Advanced Search > Enter a search term, i.e.: "freedom of religion" > Change Document Type to Primary Document > Click search.

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~ Option 1: Click on a topic or enter a topic in the search field > Select articles under the Viewpoint tab. Option 2: Click on a topic or enter a topic in the search field > Select the Primary Documents tab.

~ Enter a search term, i.e.: "freedom of religion" > Change Subject to Full-Text > Click on the Primary Documents Tab.

~ Under Special Features: click Historic Documents then Arranged by Year to browse for speeches, letters, etc.; Click Newspaper Editorials for editorials from U.S. newspapers, 1979 to the present.

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Repositories ~ Very large, virtual warehouses of digitized primary sources

Audio

• FindSounds ~ "A free site where you can search the Web for sound effects and musical instrument samples." Many types of files available.
• History and Politics Out Loud (HPOL) ~ "HPOL is a searchable multimedia database documenting and delivering authoritative audio relevant to American history and politics."
• The History Channel ~ Famous speeches and much more.
• StoryCorps ~ "StoryCorps is a national project to instruct and inspire people to record each others' stories in sound... housed at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, which we hope will become nothing less than an oral history of America."
• StoryCorps on National Public Radio (NPR) ~ Listen to StoryCorps recordings as presented on NPR.

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Texts, Images, Audio, Maps, etc.

• AMDOCS: Documents for the Study of American History ~ Maps, journals, letters, speeches, etc. of American History
• American Memory: Library of Congress ~ "American Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. It is a digital record of American history and creativity. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the public as a resource for education and lifelong learning."
• Avalon Project at Yale Law School ~ "The Avalon Project will mount digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government.

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• Chicago Area Archivists ~An organization of archivists that catalog historical archives throughout the city of Chicago and Northwestern Indiana. It allows you to search for collections throughout the area.
• Chicago Architects Oral History Project ~ A project from the Art Institute of Chicago intended to "record the life experiences of architects who shaped the physical environment in Chicago and surrounding communities."
• The Chicago Architecture Imagebase: An Era-By-Era Collection of Images ~ Department of Art History, The University of Illinois, Chicago
• Chicago Daily News ~ The Chicago Daily News photo collection, 1902-1933, completely online.
• Chicago History Museum
• Chicago History Museum: Online Resources ~ Online exhibitions from the Chicago History Museum.
• Chicago Imagebase ~ A "web-based project aimed at enhancing knowledge about the built environment of the Chicago region." From the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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• Chronology of United States Historical Documents ~ From the University of Oklahoma Law School
• De Paul University Digital Collections ~ Chicago architecture and international geographic images. Some images limited to current De Paul students/staff.
• Digital Book Index ~ Digital Book Index provides links to more than 114,000 title records from more than 1800 commercial and non-commercial publishers, universities, and various private sites. About 75,000 of these books, texts, and documents are available free, while many others are available at very modest cost.
• Electronic Literature Directory ~ "The Electronic Literature Directory ...provides an extensive database of listings for electronic works, their authors, and their publishers. The descriptive entries cover poetry, fiction, drama, and nonfiction that make significant use of electronic techniques or enhancements."
• Encyclopedia of Chicago ~ Thousands of historical resources-including articles, photos, maps, broadsides and newspapers have been digitized for viewing.
• Library of Congress Prints & Photographs ~ "The Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) provides access through group or item records to about 65% of the Division's holdings, as well as to some images found in other units of the Library of Congress. Many of the catalog records are accompanied by digital images--about one million digital images in all."
• Making of America (MOA) - Digital Library of Primary Sources ~ "Making of America (MOA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. This site provides access to 267 monograph volumes and over 100,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints." Cornell University

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• The National Archives ~ "The National Archives is the U.S. Government’s collection of documents that records important events in American history. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the Government agency that preserves and maintains these materials and makes them available for research." The archives contain materials such as "firsthand facts, data, and evidence from letters, reports, notes, memos, photographs, and other primary sources."
• The Newberry Library
• The New York Public Library Digital Gallery ~ "The NYPL Digital Gallery provides access to over 415,000 images digitized from primary sources and printed rarities in the collections of The New York Public Library, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints and photographs, illustrated books, printed ephemera, and more."
• Northwestern University Digital Library Collections ~ Digital collections of historical, political, and social significance from Northwestern University. Some collections restricted to NU faculty/students.
• Project Gutenberg ~ 19,000 free books
• Repositories of Primary Sources ~ "A listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources for the research scholar. All links have been tested for correctness and appropriateness."
• University of Chicago Digital Collections ~ Full-text books, images, musical scores, photos, and much more across many subject areas. Searchable.
• University of Illinois at Chicago Digital Collections ~ Chicago in the year 2000, Images of the Caribbean, and Jane Addams' Hull House.

 

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N. Mellendorf, Librarian. Revised: 5/12/08