Research Guides: Archive Discovery: A How-To Guide: Finding Digital Archives

Tips for Regional Research

If you are researching a certain city, state, or region, look for major digital collections created by that city or state.

Try web searches for a city or state digital library, such as "Illinois digital library" or "Chicago digital library."
Search for the state library and archives commission (for instance, "Texas State Library and Archives") to look for major state-wide digitization initiatives.
Identify major universities in the area (for instance, the University of Houston if you're studying the greater Houston area) and check out those university websites to look for digital collections that might be helpful (tip: start at their library's page and look for phrases like "digital collections"!) .

Common Terminology

When searching for archives online, the term "digital archives" is not used 100% of the time. Here are some key terms that indicate a website might provide you with a digital archive:

digital archive
digital library
digital collection
digital repository
virtual archive
virtual library
virtual collection
online archive
online library
online collection

Other terms, like "online exhibit," are less reliable:

Online exhibits usually do include digitized primary sources, but generally just a few selected pieces, and usually combined with large amounts of secondary-source summary and overview. Exhibits are designed to tell a story to the public, rather than provide unbiased materials for researchers. Learn more about archives versus exhibits and tips for telling the difference.

Terms like those listed above can be paired with keywords describing your topic and used in Google Advanced Search to discover digital archives; it is also very useful to limit your Google Advanced Search to a .edu or .gov domain. Watch the video below for a demonstration!

Episode 3: Finding Primary Source Collections with Google Advanced Search

Subscription Digital Archives Provided by the SHSU Library

These collections require you to login with an SHSU username and password when you are not on campus.

Accessible Archives (All Available Collections) This link opens in a new window Vast array of historical newspapers, magazines, and full-text books, including Frank Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator, African American newspapers, Godey's Lady's Book, women's suffrage and feminist publications, extensive Civil War documents, county histories from across the U.S., and much more.
African American Newspapers 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window Approximately 270 U.S. newspapers, 1827-1998, document African American experiences.
African American Periodicals 1825-1995 This link opens in a new window More than 170 periodicals by and about African Americans, published in 26 states. Includes academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, organizations' bulletins, annual reports, and other genres.
American Periodicals, 1740-1940 This link opens in a new window U.S. periodicals, including special interest, general, children's, women's, literary, and professional. Includes American independence and Civil War articles.
American State Papers 1789-1838 This link opens in a new window U.S. Congressional and Executive documents, 1789-1838. Covers many topics, such as Lewis and Clark expedition and trade with China.
America's Historical Newspapers 1690-1998 This link opens in a new window American and U.S. local newspapers from all 50 states, ranging from 1690 to 1998.
Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection Series I This link opens in a new window U.S. Hispanic history, literature, and culture, all 50 states, circa 1610-2006. Periodical articles, books, pamphlets, broadsides, and more in full text.
Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection Series II: Leaders, Writers, and Thinkers This link opens in a new window Provided by the Department of Foreign Languages. Focuses on the evolution of Hispanic civil rights, religious thought, and the growing presence of women writers from the late 19th and 20th centuries. Contains hundreds of rare books, over 3,000 newspaper issues (including rare anarchist newspapers), and over 250,000 pages of personal and organizational manuscripts. Content is mostly Spanish, some English.
Austin American Statesman Historical, 1871-1980 This link opens in a new window New content is added each year. Consult the resource itself for the most recent content available.
Every issue of the Austin American Statesman / Austin Statesman, 1871-1980.
British Periodicals I & II This link opens in a new window British periodicals, late 17th to early 20th centuries. History of Britain and its colonies, as well as a British view of events in America and the world.
Burney Collection: 17th- & 18th-Century Newspapers & More This link opens in a new window Early English newspapers, pamphlets, and books, 17th and 18th centuries.
Civil War, Parts 1-7 (Accessible Archives) This link opens in a new window Wide variety of rosters, muster lists, newspapers, pamphlets, regimental histories, and memoirs, Union and Confederate. Click "more" for details of content.
- Regimental histories, rosters, and muster lists representing all Union regiments.
- Commanding officer memoirs, strategies and tactics (mostly Union, some Confederate).
- Selected newspaper content from 1850s and 1860s representing Union
Dallas Morning News Historical Archive 1885-1984 This link opens in a new window Documents major events in Texas, the U.S. and the world, 1885-1984. Full papers: articles, photos, graphics, maps, political cartoons, editorials, ads, recipes, etc.
Early American Imprints 1639-1819 (includes Evans and Shaw-Shoemaker) This link opens in a new window Virtually every book, pamphlet and broadside published in America from 1639-1819. Documents almost every aspect of life in colonial America and the early U.S.
Early English Books Online (EEBO) This link opens in a new window Virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and British North America, as well as works in English printed elsewhere, from 1473-1700.
Economist Historical Archive, 1843-2015 This link opens in a new window
New content is added each year. Consult the resource itself for the most recent content available.
Every issue of The Economist from 1843 to 2015, including full-color images, multiple search indexes, and browsing facilities. Timely reporting, concise commentary, and comprehensive analysis of global news, including political, business, scientific, technological, and cultural developments and the connections between them.
Eighteenth (18th) Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window English-language and foreign-language titles printed in the United Kingdom, 1701-1800, and thousands of important works from the Americas. Books, pamphlets, broadsides, and ephemera.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports, 1941-1974 This link opens in a new window This historical archive provides 30 years of U.S. intelligence on international affairs, covering regions around the world from Asia, Africa, and Europe to Latin America, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union. These reports include transcribed and translated radio broadcasts from foreign governments, official news services, and clandestine broadcasts from occupied territories--often these are first-hand reports of events as they occurred.
Hispanic American Newspapers 1808-1980 This link opens in a new window Hundreds of Hispanic American newspapers, including both Spanish-language papers and papers published bilingually in Spanish and English. Largest compilation of Spanish-language newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries.
History Vault: Black Freedom Struggle & NAACP Papers This link opens in a new window Documents diverse topics of the black Civil Rights Movement from the last decade of 19th century through last decade of 20th century. Click "more" for details of content.
Documents diverse topics of the black Civil Rights Movement from the last decade of 19th century through last decade of 20th century. Includes:
- Portions of the official NAACP Papers, including selected branch files by region.
- Federal government agency records.
- Papers from major organizations such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Black Power Movement groups, and many more.
- Papers from major civil rights figures such as Bayard Rustin, Mary McLeod Bethune, and others.
Houston Chronicle Historical and Current, 1901-present This link opens in a new window The Houston Chronicle is the only daily newspaper in the fourth largest city in the United States, and provides local, national and international news, features, sports and opinion for the region.
Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003 This link opens in a new window Complete, full-color run of the worlds most iconic illustrated newspaper. Covers topics such as news, wars, royal events, scientific invention, exploration, fashion, and more.
JSTOR 19th Century British Pamphlets This link opens in a new window Primary source collection of pamphlets (mostly 19th century, but with some extension into the 17th and 18th centuries), primarily produced in Britain, but pertaining to many countries and peoples.
National Geographic Magazine Archive, 1888-1994 This link opens in a new window Every page and every photograph of the official journal of the National Geographic Society, from the first issue to the mid-1990s.
New York Times Historical, 1851 to 3 years ago This link opens in a new window Every page of every issue of the New York Times, from 1851 until approximately 3 years ago.
New York Times (2008-Recent) - ProQuest Digitized Newspapers This link opens in a new window This digital microfilm collection makes it easier to view specific dates, issues, or pages of the New York Times without requiring a trip to the library or a special microform reader. Articles are provided in PDF format for printing or downloading. Full-page, greyscale images are full-text searchable and offer keyword highlighting. Available issues will be approximately 3 months behind the current date, though sometimes further.
Nineteenth (19th) Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window Monographs, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, photographs, statistics, and other documents in both Western and non-Western languages. Primary collection themes are: - Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange - British Politics and Society - British Theatre, Music, and Literature: High and Popular Culture - European Literature 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection
Nineteenth (19th) Century U.S. Newspapers Digital Archive This link opens in a new window 19th-century newspapers from various urban and rural regions throughout the U.S. Strong in topics such as Civil War, African-American history, Western migration, etc.
Papers of Thomas Jefferson This link opens in a new window Search & view 37 volumes of Jefferson's papers, 1743 to his death in 1826. Includes all illustrations and bibliographical content of print edition, plus linked cross-references and indexes.
Periodicals Archive Online This link opens in a new window Journal articles, 1802-2000, international and in many subject areas. Journals in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and other Western languages.
Presidential Recordings Digital Edition: The Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon White House Tapes This link opens in a new window Hundreds of hours of presidential audio recordings (and full text transcripts) from the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations. Covers many major issues, from the Kennedy Assassination and the Civil Rights Movement to the Vietnam War, the War on Poverty, and much more. Also includes photo and video galleries and a linked timeline.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window Simultaneously search the Library's subscriptions to the historical archives of the Austin-American Statesman, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.
The Times Digital Archive, 1785 to 2014 This link opens in a new window "World's newspaper of record." Covers all major international historical events. Every page of every issue, from 1785 to 2014.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 This link opens in a new window Reports, documents, journals of U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 1817-1994. Every publication, over 415,000 documents, from 15th - 103rd Congresses.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set Maps This link opens in a new window Over 65,000 maps, 1872-1979, 42nd Congress 3rd session - 96th Congress 1st session. Diverse topics such as diseases, railroads, migrations, explorations, international events.
Vogue Archive (1892-present) This link opens in a new window Entire run of Vogue magazine from 1892-present, including text, images, captions, advertisements, covers, and fold-outs. Useful for researching fashion design and marketing, popular culture, photography and visual arts, gender, social history, designing period costumes, and more.
Wall Street Journal Historical, 1889-2002 This link opens in a new window New content is added each year. Consult the resource itself for the most recent content available.
Every page of every issue of the Wall Street Journal, 1889-2002.
Washington Post Historical, 1877-2003 This link opens in a new window New content is added each year. Consult the resource itself for the most recent content available.
Every page of every issue of the Washington Post, 1877-2003.
Women's Wear Daily Archive, 1910 to 1 year ago This link opens in a new window Entire run of Womens Wear Daily (also known as WWD), widely considered the Wall St Journal of the fashion industry. Traces day-to-day news, opinion, and socio-economic trends; a unique record of the twentieth century U.S. and international fashion and beauty business.

A Few Major (General) Digital Archives in U.S. History

Find LOTS more in the SHSU Library's Guide to "U.S. History Primary Source Collections Online." Note: that guide may also contain some online exhibits, so be sure to distinguish those from the archives.

Library of Congress Digital Collections American history, 1400-present, documented by the Library of Congress. Millions of items: written & spoken words, audio, video, images, maps, sheet music, etc.
National Archives Research Catalog (National Archives and Records Administration)
Documenting the American South
(Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
National Park Service Digital Library
The National Park Service Digital Library documents not only the national parks, but also the many historic sites under the NPS's jurisdiction.
Digital Libraries and Archives Listing
This site lists over 200 digital libraries and archives and sorts them by state!

A Few Major (General) Digital Archives in World History

Find LOTS more in the SHSU Library's Guide to "World History Primary Source Collections Online." Note: that guide may also contain some online exhibits, so be sure to distinguish those from the archives.

The National Archives (UK)
Tip: Focus on the "Online Records" button on this page to find digitized collections. Especially strong in census, military, immigration, and similar records. (The National Archives)
Europeana
Digital library containing 4 million items, including images, texts, audio and video, from European museums, galleries, libraries, archives and audio-visual collections. (European Commission & Oxford Univ.)
Archives Portal Europe
Search hundreds of thousands of archive descriptions and digital objects from 92 institutions across Europe. TIP: You may want to use the checkbox provided beneath the search box to view "Only material with digital objects."
EuroDocs
Collection of websites containing transcriptions, facsimiles and translations of various primary sources on topics throughout European history. These documents range in time period from ancient to modern, and are also organized geographically by country. (Brigham Young Univ.)