In the news this week, the ArchivesNext blog is looking for nominations for their “Best Archives on the Web” awards.  We also feature two posts this week on online historical resources: new lesson plans on EDSITEment and a roundup of digital archives.  Keep reading for links to articles on the academic job market (and a football player who almost got his PhD in history), how to read history books, a book review from Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, and using historical maps in one’s research. Finally, taking a trip this summer? Perhaps you want to stay in a hotel that owns a historic site.

News

• Call for nominations for Best Archives on the Web awards–new categories this year
  The ArchivesNext blog is calling for nominations for its annual Best Archives on the Web competition. Check out last year’s winners and send your nominations to nominations@archivesnext.com

Online Resources

• May Features at EDSITEment
  Check out EDSITEment this month to learn why Asian Pacific Heritage Month occurs in May, how suburbia was built in postwar America, and where George Washington fits into Jewish American Heritage Month.
• Digital Archives: Update
  Karen Tani rounds up online historical resources she’s found particularly helpful. She includes: oral histories on the Social Security web site, Supreme Court oral argument recordings at Oyez.org, and NARA, to name a few.

Viewpoints

• Using the NFL Analogy to Explain the Academic Job Market
  The Chronicle recently used examples from the NFL to look at the academic job market from a different perspective. One of those examples was of Scott Sicko, a football player who was considering going for a PhD in history but who ultimately decided to make a play for the NFL.
• How to Read a Book in One Hour
  Larry Cebula at Northwest History offers a terrific summary of the proper way to "read" a history book in graduate school.
• Star-Spangled Story
  Past AHA President Laurel Thatcher Ulrich reviews Marla Miller’s book, Betsy Ross and the Making of America, in the New York Times.
• Using Maps in History: An Interview with Dr. Helmut Walser Smith
  Angela Sutton at History Compass Exchanges takes a look at how historical maps can enhance one’s scholarship.

Fun

• Splendid Ruins: Hotels Built on History
  The New York Times takes a look at “hotels that not only offer proximity to old ruins or historical excavations but also own them.”

Contributors: Elisabeth Grant and Robert B. Townsend

This post first appeared on AHA Today.