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HIST 3310:History of Inequality: Digital Collections and Online Archives

Digital Collections

Digital collections are archival library collections available electronically. Libraries digitize their physical collections and make them available online. These collections can include photographs, manuscripts, maps, books, pamphlets, and audio and visual materials. See below for links to some digital collections.  

You can use a search engine (such as Google) to see if archives exist that have materials on your topic.

  •  Many archives have an online presence. Try searching for your topic (ex. "Abraham Lincoln") + archive
  • To find digital collections online, try searching for your topic + digital collection on a search engine
    • (i.e. Dallas history digital collection OR Dallas history archive). 
      • Once you find a web site, make sure you click on the 'About Us' tab and evaluate the credentials of the institution.
      • look at the domain  (.edu, .goc, etc.)

Once you have found a site (and a collection on that site) , what info on the site (in addition to the digitized item itself) is useful for historical research?

  • Hint: What is the context around the item?
  • This can also be referred to as the metadata (data about the item), it is basically the data/information you need for a citation

 

Example sites