10 Great Platforms for Primary Source Documents

July11, 2014
Resources like the Library of Congress have considerable archives and documents available, and many of them have taken their collections online. Use these search tools to get access to these incredible resources.

Library of Congress:


In this incredible library, you’ll get access to searchable source documents, historical photos, and amazing digital collections.

Archives Hub:

Find the best of what Britain has to offer in the Archives Hub. You’ll be able to search archives from almost 200 institutions from England, Scotland, and Wales.

National Archives:

Check out this resource for access to the National Archives. Find online, public access to find historic documents, research, government information, and more in a single search.

arXiv e-Print Archive:


Cornell University’s arXiv.org offers open access to a wealth of e-prints in math, science, and related subjects. Search this resource to find what you need among 756,133 documents and counting.

National Agricultural Library:


A service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, you can find global information for agriculture in the National Agricultural Library.

Smithsonian Institution Research Information System:


Get access to the considerable resources of the Smithsonian Institution through the Research Information System, a great way to search more than 7.4 million records from the Smithsonian’s museums, archives, and libraries.

The British Library Catalogues & Collections:


Explore the British Library catalogues, printed materials, digital collections, and even collection blogs for a wealth of resources.

CIA World Factbook:


As the center of intelligence, the CIA has certainly done its job with The World Factbook, offering information on major reference information around the world. History, people, government, economy, and more are all covered in this online publication.

OpenDOAR:

In the Directory of Open Access Repositories, you can search through freely academic research information with more directly useful resources.

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications:


Search through the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications to find descriptive records for historical and current publications, with direct links where available.

Courtesy of Online Universities