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A long recommended central purpose of civic education has been preparation of students for responsible democratic life. The authors of this paper contend that teaching students the domain-specific process of historical thinking and the habits of mind that are incorporated into this discipline-specific act will contribute to students' ability to engage in civic life. They maintain that history must be central to civics and government courses, and that civics must be central to history courses. This article addresses the intellectual focus, direction, and content that the discipline of history provides for civic education, with a specific focus on the ways in which history and civics standards in Indiana contribute to this end and provide a model for other states. Appendix A provides Indiana Standards (USH and USG) Pertaining to the Constitutional Period. (Contains 31 endnotes.)

The Indiana State Board of Education has worked hard to create American history standards that reflect Indiana's commitment to US history education. These standards emphasize the important roles of minority groups throughout history, and convey and promote the importance of learning about the ongoing struggle to realize the ideals of the USA as a constitutional republic. While the standards focus on Western civilization as the main source of American ideology, the State of Indiana also expects students to be able to analyze the constantly changing relationships between dominant groups and minority groups both in the past and within the context of contemporary US. In the spirit of the Board of Education standards, special attention is needed to shine a light on the story of racism against Japanese Americans before the internment camp issue during World War II. Students need to develop an understanding of past issues and be able to relate them to their historical and political accounts of the events in order to be able to fully understand the connections between American political policies during World War II, and their effects from the Japanese-American perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author presents his thoughts on U.S. historian Howard Zinn, Zinn's book "A People's History of the United States," and former Indiana governor and Purdue University president Mitch Daniels attempting to ensure that Zinn's book was not utilized by teachers in Indiana public schools during his time as governor. The author discusses how he would have used the controversy in his classroom, the impact Zinn had on his education, and his friendship with Zinn.

The article highlights the Faculty Biography Project at the Phi Alpha Theta, Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. Created and developed by history students, it is mentioned that the project's purposes were to honor the work and preserve the memory of those persons who have dedicated their professional lives to the study and teaching of history at various Indiana State colleges and universities. An assessment of the potential benefits to students, teachers and institutions of the project, accompanied with examples is mentioned.

The article presents a study which examines the opinions of the 366 freshmen from the Valparaiso University in Indiana regarding the importance of Facebook and MySpace in outreaching. It notes the impressions of the students on the existence of social network sites in the libraries. An overview of the concept and advantages of the Facebook and Myspace is also presented. It mentions that the library and librarian profiles on social network sites were gladly accepted by the students. Moreover, it also tells that there are several areas of research related to this study that warrant further exploration.