Have you explored the Life Magazine photo archive available at Google Images? There’s a wealth of historical information there for your students to plumb.  Not to mention that it’s a nice way to remind your students that even though you might have one or two rules they don’t like, your library probably looks a bit more welcoming than this one does! And, as Pam pointed out, at least in your library, you don’t let kids do science experiments next to other kids’ bare arms.  Source: Photo of Richmond Maury School by Nina Leen, June 6, 1950; Life Magazine

Wired is reporting that free Google’s nifty photo-editing software, Picasa, is now being released for Mac.  Though Picasa and Mac’s native iPhoto are similar, Wired outlines some differences (speed, face recognition, Flickr vs. Picasa hosting, etc.).

I’m a sucker for vintage postcards and the nostalgic idylls they conjure up.  Here is a treature trove of vintage penny postcards, organized by state, then by county.  

A vintage visual image — sometimes featuring amateur anglers posed “casually” with their big catch, other times with impressive architecture or natural wonders — can be a great way to jumpstart student thinking about a past era or cultural movement.  (Images from the Library of Congress’ American Memory project are also superb for this.)

Images can awaken student curiosity and motivate them to move past the image and into research.  Images can also awaken questions about race, class, and status or spark discussions about reality versus “posed reality.” 

FYI - the postcard above, of the University of Michigan’s “New Engineering Building” (known during my student time there as “West Engineering Hall” and now as simply “West Hall”) is the home of the UM School of Information.

Image: http://www.usgwarchives.org/mi/washtenaw/postcards/engbld.jpg