Foreign Languages open Worlds of Knowledge

I have had to write my fair share of history research papers. I love getting my hands on primary sources. Universities and government entities, such as cities, states, counties, etc. have set up archives to save their most important information. As a German major, I really like to get primary sourced documents from Germany when writing history papers. Germans do not only have a rich history, but have made many contributions to science and math that can all be supported with archived documents.

There are miles and miles of shelves in the world with old documents. There are photos, paintings, sketches, letters, bills, church records, diary entry, scientific papers and anything that was thought worth saving. The great news is that a lot of these archives all over the world have begun to be digitalized. These documents are available for anyone that can enter a few key words into a search engine.

I have found original pamphlets that were handed out during the National Socialist movement in Germany and I have found warrants for the return of slaves in South Carolina’s archives. I have seen the personal photos of Rusty Dow, the first woman to have driven the Al-Can highway in the archives located at the University of Alaska, Anchorage archive. Have you heard of ancestry.com? This organization has paid for churches to digitalize their birth, death, and marriage records all over the world.

Each language that you can read or write will open an entire world of knowledge to you. As the world turns digital and more information is scanned in and available for everyone to share, you are only limited by your language abilities.

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