Contact: Contact: Jeffrey Lofton (202) 707-6432; Jason Steinhauer (202) 707-0213

June 30, 2011

Veterans History Project Stories Highlighted on iTunes U

Apple’s iTunes U now features the Library of Congress Veterans History Project (VHP), part of the Library’s ongoing commitment to make VHP collections and array of instructional materials and primary-source materials freely accessible in digital format. Selected VHP stories, VHP information and guidelines are available for download at no cost at itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/veterans-history-project/id438186138 (external link).

"Classrooms nationwide use VHP’s impactful materials to enhance student understanding of American history and engage with VHP through experiential learning, as well as performing a service to veterans and their communities," said Veterans History Project Director Bob Patrick.

The iTunes content is part of a proliferation of VHP online resources – including primary source sets available at www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets – and more than 10,000 digitized collections online at www.loc.gov/vets/.

Individual iTunes U channels also feature free VHP stories. More than 30 VHP interviews recorded at Grand Valley State University are presented on its iTunes U channel page, itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/veterans-history-project/id386256544 (external link). Think TV’s "World War II: Exploring Your Local History" also provided VHP interviews to the Ohio iTunes U channel, itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/wwii-exploring-local-history/id386816339 (external link). "World War II: Exploring Your Local History" is a high-school curriculum designed to engage students in learning about World War II and help students learn about the impact of the war in their own communities.

The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world, holds nearly 147 million items in various languages, disciplines and formats. The Library serves the U.S. Congress and the nation both on-site in its reading rooms on Capitol Hill and through its award-winning website at www.loc.gov.

Congress created the Veterans History Project in 2000 as a national documentation program of the American Folklife Center (www.loc.gov/folklife/) to collect, preserve and make accessible the first-hand remembrances of American wartime veterans from World War I through the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. The project relies on volunteers to record veterans’ remembrances using guidelines accessible at www.loc.gov/vets/. Volunteers may request more information at vohp@loc.gov or the toll-free message line at (888) 371-5848. Subscribe to VHP’s RSS feed on the VHP home page.

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PR 11-113
06/30/11
ISSN 0731-3527

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