Those engaged in teaching and learning about World History have a wide variety of web-based
resources at their service. The difficulty is identifying which of these resources best repays the
effort it takes to search through, validate, select, and utilize the information they offer. The
following resources have been identified as the richest resources to date on the subject of
world history.
These web pages are divided into the following categories:
The Ancient World Web Index to links on the ancient world, with useful subcategories.
Diotima: Materials for the Study of Women This superior site offers bibliographies and links to essays useful for the study of gender in the Ancient World, with a focus on the Mediterranean area.
Gateway to World History Suggests links to sites such as the Archives of World History that seek to offer a "working-class perspective" on world history.
Historical Text Archive This is the new site for the former Mississippi State Historical Archives project offering a searchable database for historical texts and documents. It covers mostly American History, but is still very useful.
Lucidcafe Library Index The Lucidcafe library offers links to inventors, poets, science and technology and a host of other topics useful to world historians.
Research by Subject: World History Offers a searchable database on the following subjects: Aids to Research, Ancient History, African, Asian and Middle Eastern History, Data Sets, Electronic Journals and Databases, European History, 18th Century to the Present, General Sources, Latin American History, Library Catalogs, Medieval and Renaissance History, 14th to 17th Century.
World History Links This site offers a comprehensive guide to world history on the Web. Most teachers and students will find this site an indispensable general resource.
World History Resources Very nice, if brief, list of links to important topics in world history, such as the British Empire, Buddhism, globalism, slavery, Southern Asia, West African kingdoms and Pre-Columbian civilizations.
World History Sources This site offers links to many Internet sites whose focus is world history.
Museum Guide This site offers a virtual guide to all museums in the world, identifying which museums offer virtual exhibits. A brief search is all that is necessary to locate valuable exhibits on topics ranging from Catherine the Great’s Snuff Boxes to the culture of the Tokugawa Shogunate that can be visited via the Internet.
History of the World Provides a simple "on the this day in history" approach organized by continent.
Internet History Sourcebooks Project This is perhaps the finest single resource in this category. It is the best single resource for narratives, analyses, and documents. Its resources are grouped chiefly by region/civilization into convenient "Internet Source Books" that are superb companions to the study of world history.
World History Chronology While this site can function as a chronology of world history, it also offers superior, if often brief, narratives of world history organized by topic.
World Civilizations: an Internet Classroom and Anthology This site offers a self-contained history of the world and an anthology of key texts and other sources. The "chapters" are very brief, but contain excellent analyses of key issues.
Wide Horizon Education Resources Typical commercial site offering lesson plans and activities for instructors. Any Internet search engine easily identifies these sites. They are worth exploring and often offer free syllabi or course exercises to entice teachers to purchase their products.
Center for World History The web page of Northeastern University’s Center for World History, offering information about the Center’s projects, such as the Migration CD project, upcoming conferences and teacher-training workshops.
Journal of World History Site introduces the Journal of World History, the premier journal in the field that publishes articles of great value to the specialist and non-specialist alike.
The World History Association The home page of the World History Association is a gateway to world history that is not to be missed. The site includes a Jumpstart Manual for World History Teachers and other useful teaching materials. However, its most important feature is its one-stop shopping index to the WHA’s various affiliates in North America and elsewhere. Each of these affiliates’ web pages are rich in teaching materials, newsletters that share teaching tips and offer links to other valuable sites. Membership in the WHA includes the Bulletin of World History, which is largely devoted to teaching issues and offers reviews of textbooks and other teaching materials.
