Don’t Trust the Crowd

It may be the Cyber Age but parental advice just doesn't change that much - for example, when it comes to accurate information, "don't trust the crowd" still applies. It's so hard to both kids and adults not to trust sources online, but here are some basic tips:

1. Use more than one source
2. Use the CARS Checklist (Credibility, Accuracy, Reasonableness, Support)
3. Decide how you feel about Wikipedia and always monitor what you find there (ie look at more than just Wikipedia)
4. Think about an online subscription to an encyclopedia or other general resource for your family - if you pay for the info it is LIKELY to be more accurate.

National Archives Launches Digital Vaults

Looking for a new place to go online with your kids this summer? Try the National Archives new "Digital Vaults" exhibit. With a database of some 1,200 documents, photographs, drawings, maps, and other materials and a keywording system that visually links records, the Digital Vaults enables visitors to customize their exhibit experience and to create posters, movies, and games that can be shared by e-mail. Each record in Digital Vaults is also linked to the National Archives' Archival Research Catalog (ARC), so visitors who want to know more can take the first steps toward a research journey into the National Archives. Digital Vaults is part of a redesigned National Archives Experience web site that provides the inside story of the award-winning Public Vaults exhibition, the changing exhibitions in the Lawrence F. O'Brien gallery, the educational offerings of the Boeing Learning Center, National Archives public programs, information about the Foundation for the National Archives, and much more. Kids can explore the depth and diversity of the holdings of the National Archives for their own school projects, gear up for National History Day, or even pick up a virtual pen and sign the Declaration of Independence!