Through collaboration of Indiana University Libraries, the IU Center for Rural Engagement, and public libraries across the Uplands region of Indiana, this resource hub contains all open and publicly accessible resources on a variety of topics. These topics have been identified through conversations with library directors, as well as public survey input.
Each page includes three sections:
1. In Indiana - State and local resources
2. National Treasures - Information and tools provided by the federal government or which encompass a national reach
3. From IU, For You! - Indiana University resources which have been made open and accessible to the general public. No affiliation necessary.
To request additional resources or topics, or to schedule a consultation please use the "For further information" link below. As a Federal Depository Library institution, Indiana University provides collections, services and specialized assistance with open government information, publications as well as data to the public, free of charge.
Discovery Café is an Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement initiative created in partnership with public libraries across the southwest central Indiana Uplands region and beyond. The Center for Rural Engagement facilitates access to Indiana University’s faculty, students, and staff to explore diverse topics and interests in collaboration with local librarians. Through this initiative, librarians help communities discover topics of interest and promote learning for all ages!
Public libraries create a comfortable setting, including a virtual option, for communities exploring areas of interest with community and university experts. This partnership between the Center for Rural Engagement's Discovery Café and public libraries will give communities the opportunity to directly access the knowledge that Indiana University has to offer.
Whether your community has an interest in beekeeping, creating a healthy lifestyle, water conservation, brewing their own beer, finding their inner poet, or learning more about substance use disorder, Discovery Café can facilitate collaborative discussions across a range of curiosities.
If you are affiliated with a rural public library and would like to connect with experts across the Indiana University Bloomington campus, please complete a request form by clicking below.
Hoosiers and the American Story
Designed for middle and high school learners, the adventures in Hoosiers and the American Story by James H. Madison and Lee Ann Sandweiss are written to stimulate dialogue. Each chapter begins with an overview highlighting main themes in American history and connects to the Indiana stories that follow. The four case studies in each chapter about individuals who have shaped our state in interesting ways and everyday people and their experiences.
The Emil A. Blackmore Museum's Virtual Exhibits
The delegates at the American Legion’s first convention empowered the National Executive Committee “to make suitable provision for the collection of war photographs, equipment and such other paraphernalia of war as would preserve our knowledge of the Great War for all time.” Today, the Emil A. Blackmore Museum honors this tradition by collecting and exhibiting artifacts associated with the history of The American Legion and the wars its members have fought.
Freeman Army Airfield Museum Gallery Tours
Preserves, protects and displays artifacts from the WWII era, covering the time period 1942 through 1946. Freeman Army Airfield performed two distinct functions during those years; training bomber pilots for the US Army Air Corps in 1943 and 1944, and acting as the Foreign Aircraft Evaluation Center in 1945 and 1946.
Provides access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages, and is produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). NDNP, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress (LC), is a long-term effort to develop an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with descriptive information and select digitization of historic pages.
Digital Public Library of America
Millions of materials from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions across the country available to all in a one-stop discovery experience.
Digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. The collection currently contains approximately 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints.
Full text of documents important to American history, sponsored by National History Day, The National Archives and Records Administration, and USA Freedom Corps.
Published continuously since 1905, the Indiana Magazine of History is one of the nation's oldest historical journals. Since 1913, the IMH has been edited and published quarterly at Indiana University, Bloomington. Today, the IMH features peer-reviewed historical articles, research notes, annotated primary documents, reviews, and critical essays that contribute to public understanding of Midwestern and Indiana history.
The Women's Suffrage Movement in Indiana and Across America
Found throughout this online exhibit are photographs, documents and other records and resources on the suffrage movement. Content is focused on the suffrage movement across the country as a whole, along with pieces of both Indiana and even Indiana University-specific history. Brought to you by Indiana University Libraries.
Archives of African American Music and Culture Digital Collections
The Archives of African American Music and Culture (AAAMC) is a repository for materials covering a wide range of African American musical idioms and cultural expressions from the post-World War II era. Highlights include interviews, researcher documentation, and publicity materials featuring Black performers, artists, radio personalities, and music industry executives.
The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction Digital Collections
Established in 1947, The Kinsey Institute works towards advancing sexual health and knowledge worldwide. The archival collections include the papers of Dr. Alfred Kinsey, the Institute research data and codebooks, media response to The Kinsey Report, and materials of other research scholars and institutes.
Modern Political Papers Collection
The Political Papers collections consist of papers created by the offices of members representing Indiana in the U.S. Congress from World War II to the present. Collections document the development of legislation, building relationships with constituents, and the conduct of campaigns in local and national contexts, with a focus on insights into the functioning of Congress.
Webinars and training
Creative resources for your art, business, wallet and life!
Curated using a variety of criteria, including medium, period, and theme
Resources and instructions from the Library of Congress
Tips and resources from the U.S. Small Business Administration on turning your hobby into a business
The Sage Historic Costume Collection
In The Sage Collection at Indiana University—which includes clothing, accessories, and related items from the past as well as the present—our social history comes to life. Overseen by the School of Art, Architecture + Design, the collection serves as a resource for students, professionals, and the public.
The Mini Makerspace is a creative space for experimenting, tinkering, playing, and inventing. Stay tuned for upcoming online meetups.
Bee Corp is a company that was started by former Indiana University students.Through the company they have created an app called Verifi, which purpose is to maintain a connection between growers and beekeepers that uses image analysis to measure colony strength. Essentially, the app is measuring pollination strength and value, which gives more time for the growers and beekeepers to prepare their crops and beehives.
Indiana Apiary News and Information
Regulations, applications and labeling information
The History of Honey Bee Culture
Bees and beekeeping have been subjects of vital importance in the world's agricultural literature for centuries. USDA, NAL Special Collections holds many resources that trace the history of beekeeping from the earliest published works on honeybee husbandry. This exhibit showcases selected rare books, illustrated works, nursery seed catalogs, and more.
Describes the Farm Service Agency's Conservation Reserve Program. Links to research, conservation programs, pollinator information and Web sites, training, and the Bee Informed Partnership.
This online source is focused on informing visitors about beekeeping at Indiana University and what is happening to the bees currently. What is beneficial to the beginner beekeeper is the ability to learn about the status of bees, as they are a crucial element to this work. This source will also point beginners to different sources at IU, the research that is happening to study bees, and others in the community who have been beekeepers for a long time.
This program was developed to provide safety precautions to Indiana University related beekeeping activities, programs and research. It was mainly created for IU students, faculty, and staff who were beekeeping in campus areas, but the guidelines that they provide for safety are an excellent resource for future beekeepers.
The Indiana State Data Center makes the Census as well as other federal and state statistics on such topics as demographics and economics available through a statewide network of affiliates located in state agencies, universities, libraries, local planning agencies, small business development centers, and non-profit organizations.
Management and leadership for the Indiana State Data Center Program is provided by one Lead Agency, the State Data Center at the Indiana State Library, and three Coordinating Agencies: the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business (Indianapolis and Bloomington), the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (IDWD), and the Indiana Geographic Information Council (IGIC).
Best practices, standards and resources
From Indiana Cybersecurity, resources to assess your current understanding of cybersecurity through short online quizzes in which you get immediate feedback so you can better understand cybersecurity
Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction
The Digital Literacy portal is an initiative of the Obama Administration to serve as a valuable resource to practitioners who are delivering digital literacy training and services in their communities. As more and more jobs and educational offerings are available online, the ability to navigate the Internet is critical to participate more fully in the economy. Jumpstarted by a federal interagency working group dedicated to spurring the advancement of digital literacy across all age groups and stages of learning, the Digital Literacy portal organizes content conveniently, enables valuable discussion and collaboration among users and elevates best practices to improve the quality of digital literacy offerings.
Learn about federal cybersecurity measures, digital strategy and mobile government.
Federal Depository Library Program
The mission of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) is to provide free, ready, and permanent public access to Federal Government information, now and for future generations.
This mission is achieved through:
Indiana University's portal to technology education
IU Expand is a portal for online non-credit and continuing education coursework offered to the IU community as well as the general public. Based on Instructure's Canvas Catalog platform, IU Expand allows you to browse the catalog to find and enroll in non-credit, continuing education credit, and certificate-based courses. Many courses are free, but some have fees payable upon enrollment. Many offerings are self-paced, self-study courses, while others involve online or in-person sessions.
Spreadsheets/workbook
Simple website creation
Films and Videos in the Library of Congress
Available for streaming
Repository of digitized video content for the digital video, multimedia retrieval, digital library, and other research communities
Periodicals ranging from the scholarly to the popular. More than 2,000 subject headings provide detailed analysis of the articles. The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded Indiana University a grant in 2002 to convert the print version of the Film Literature Index to electronic form. The FLI Online contains approximately 700,000 citations to articles, film reviews and book reviews published between 1976-2001.
IU Libraries Moving Image Archive
One of the world's largest film and video collections spanning nearly 80 years of production
IU Cinema Virtual Screening Room
Presenting a mix of programs including new releases, conversations with filmmaker friends, curated student film programs, and much more
Public television and video provided by Indiana University
Here you'll find more than 95,000 digital images that are available for research, with more added every week. The Preservation Imaging Lab scans materials covering a variety of subjects and formats.
Photographs, military records and other digital resources made available to the public by the Indiana Archives and Records Administration
INSPIRE is Indiana's Virtual Online Library. INSPIRE is a collection of online academic databases and other information resources that can be accessed by Indiana residents. INSPIRE began in January 1998 as a project of the Indiana State Library, funded by a one-time development grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc. Since that time, INSPIRE has been supported by the Indiana General Assembly through Build Indiana Funds and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), and through a partnership with the Academic Libraries of Indiana (ALI).
INSPIRE includes full-text magazine and journal articles, websites, pamphlets, images, almanacs, full-text historic newspapers, multimedia, library catalogs and much more. In most cases, INSPIRE provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts of all articles that appear in every periodical with the exception of some newspapers. Only letters to the editor, advertisements, and some images are excluded for copyright reasons.
INSPIRE is a free resource available to all Indiana residents who have Internet access. Other states may offer similar services to their own residents.
Indiana Memory is a collaborative effort to provide access to the wealth of primary sources in Indiana libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions. It is a gateway to Indiana's history and culture found in digitized books, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, maps, and other media. As a portal to the collections, Indiana Memory assists individuals to locate materials relevant to their interests and to better appreciate the connections between those materials.
Hoosier State Chronicles is operated by the Indiana State Library and funded by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act. This database seeks to provide free, online access to high quality digital images of Indiana's historic newspapers by digitizing the collection and consistently assisting other organizations in making their collections digitally available.
Stories from around the state available to you from the comfort of your home!
Indiana's folk culture is well represented in the collections of the American Folklife Center, facilitated by the Library of Congress. Among the Center's recordings are fiddle tunes and other folk music; oral histories and storytelling about life in Indiana at the turn of the century; the Indiana field recordings and notes by well-known folklore collector Alan Lomax; Amish and French songs; and blues music from Indianapolis.
The largest and most comprehensive source of information on the history and culture of Indiana University
Collaborative showcase for various image collections curated by the libraries, departments, and cultural institutions of Indiana University
Indiana Department of Natural Resources
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Museum at home
U.S. Steel Photograph Collection
Series of more than 2,200 photographs of the Gary Works steel mill and the corporate town of Gary, Indiana held by the Calumet Regional Archives at Indiana University Northwest
American Battle Monuments Commission
Video tours
GSA Historic Building Film Series
Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute
Animal webcams
The National Agricultural Library Digital Collections
Digital collections on USDA topics including animal welfare, plant inventory, historical dietary guidelines, fruit and vegetable market news, and more
One of our nation’s oldest and largest public art collections, consists of works dating from the 1850’s to the present
Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art Collections Online
Online portal that allows individuals from around the world to study objects from the museum's collection and use them for research, teaching, and more
University Archives Online Exhibitions
The largest and most comprehensive source of information on the history and culture of Indiana University
Collaborative showcase for various image collections curated by the libraries, departments, and cultural institutions of Indiana University
Built in 1835 by Andrew Wylie, first president of Indiana University, the Wylie House is now a historic house museum administered by the IU Libraries. Collections include family artifacts, photographs, and archival materials.
Playlists to get your feet tapping, Hoosier-style. Each is a diverse collection of artists, compositions, and recordings from 1920-2020. Artists include The El Dorados, Jimmy Reed, Hoagy Carmichael, The Jackson 5 and many more. No Spotify account required.
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana is a search and discovery system for accessing sheet music from the Indiana University Lilly Library, the Indiana State Library, the Indiana State Museum, and the Indiana Historical Society. Funded through a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), IN Harmony features Indiana-related sheet music - sheet music by Indiana composers, arrangers, lyricists or publishers as well as sheet music about the state.
The Library of Congress presents the National Jukebox, which makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge. The Jukebox includes recordings from the extraordinary collections of the Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center and other contributing libraries and archives. Recordings in the Jukebox were issued on record labels now owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which has granted the Library of Congress a gratis license to stream acoustical recordings.
Vocal Masterclassics is a free resource that enables students, teachers, and lovers of singing to cut through internet clutter by targeting world-class masterclasses that specifically apply to their training needs and desires.
Televised Opera and Musical Comedy Database
Developed in association with the Indiana University Digital Library Program, the Televised Opera and Musical Comedy Database documents more than three-quarters of a century of opera, operetta and musical comedy telecasts produced in the United States. The database traces performance programming from early presentations on experimental TV stations to current live and recorded productions released on broadcast and closed circuit television, cable, home video and webcasts.
Recordings from IU Jacobs School of Music
Recent MP3 Recordings and Videos of music by IU composers in performances by IU students and faculty. The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music.
Audio and video collections including radio series The Afro-American in Indiana, IU NewsNet, the National Survey of Student Engagement webinars and many more.
Live and on-demand streaming including The Seasons, La Traviata, the Philharmonic Orchestra and more!
Indiana Grown helps Indiana farmers and producers have a greater market for their products, supports Indiana processors in their effort to process more Indiana Grown products, and educates consumers on the importance of buying Indiana Grown products. Here you will find healthy recipes, maps, trails, and guides to local farmers markets.
The Healthy Indiana Plan is a health-insurance program for qualified adults. The plan is offered by the State of Indiana. It pays for medical costs for members and could even provide vision and dental coverage. It also rewards members for taking better care of their health. The plan covers Hoosiers ages 19 to 64 who meet specific income levels.
Indiana State Office of Rural Health Programs
The State Offices of Rural Health (SORH) Program is a 3:1 matching grant program that began in 1991 and has accomplished the creation of state offices in all 50 states. Each office's mission is to help their individual rural communities build health care delivery systems. The SORH Program provides an institutional framework that links communities with State and Federal resources to help develop long-term solutions to rural health problems.
Find links to RHC resources, sample templates shared by other RHCs and a link to Indiana RHC Directory. The Indiana Rural Health Association's RHC program provides live and online training opportunities found on the Events webpage. The RHC Coordinator is available to help you find answers to your questions.
Historic Recipes and Foodways of Indiana
Want to learn about food and cooking in the 19th century, and maybe find some recipes you can try yourself? Read for ways to take a little bit of Conner Prairie home to your kitchen.
HealthFinder has resources on a wide range of health topics selected from over 1,600 government and non-profit organizations to bring you reliable health information.
Youth Compendium of Physical Activities
The Youth Compendium of Physical Activities provides a list of 196 common activities in which youth participate and the estimated energy cost associated with each activity. Launched by the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research in collaboration with CDC, NIH, USDA, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
From the American Heart Association. Available in English and Spanish.
From the U.S. Department of Agriculture, recipes, cookbooks, videos and other resources to help Americans access healthy nutrition.
We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children's Activity & Nutrition) is a national movement, from the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, designed to give parents, caregivers, and entire communities a way to help children ages 8 to 13 maintain a healthy weight.
Open fitness videos from the American Association of Retired Persons
Go4Life is an exercise and physical activity campaign, from the National Institute on Aging at NIH, designed to help older adults fit exercise and physical activity into their daily life.
YouTube channel with free yoga, pilates, zumba, cardio hiphop and bootcamp instructional videos.
Main dishes, sides, appetizers, and desserts
Indiana Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics. Partnership of public and private higher education institutions, K-12 schools, businesses, and government, hosted by Purdue University. I-STEM was started in 2006 as a collaboration among 18 institutions of higher education in 10 regions throughout Indiana. I-STEM includes committees comprised of educational content experts and practitioners who come together to design and employ programs to address STEM issues. I-STEM supports K–12 teachers and education leaders working to implement high academic standards towards STEM literacy for all students. It also provides Indiana education leaders with new knowledge about teaching and learning.
I-STEM has many great corporate partners such as Lilly, Biocrossroads, Dow AgroSciences, OrthoWorx, Cook Medical, Cummins, Roche Diagnostics, Crane Naval Surface Weapons Center, and Rolls Royce. I-STEM welcomes partnerships with all the STEM businesses in Indiana.
The Science Education Foundation of Indiana was formed in 1964 with the sole purpose of providing resources and coordination for students from Indiana to attend the National Science Fair.
Facilitated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, this site provides resources for parents, teachers and students, answers to frequently asked questions and the NISTory video series.
From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this platform inspires and engages students to learn about weather, satellite meteorology and Earth science through fun articles, games and videos targeted toward middle- and high-school aged students and their educators.
Image galleries, videos, downloadable materials and more from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The Energy Information Administration's platform for kids, featuring a glossary, energy calculators and lots of games and activities.
At the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, the Center for Conservation works in collaboration with registration, curatorial, and installation professionals to examine, document, analyze, and treat the museum’s collection so that it can be safely and more fully enjoyed. The studio lets you see our conservators in action. Because the walls of this space are made from glass, it is visible from both the outside terrace and the second-floor galleries. As you walk by, you’ll see which artworks are currently undergoing treatment.
Indiana Geological & Water Survey
The IGWS Geology Museum is open during the Geology Building renovation! Select displays are available to tour at its temporary home at 420 N. Walnut Street in Bloomington, Indiana. The museum is open to the public free of charge from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday, with weekend and evening hours available for special events.
When the renovated museum opens in 2021, it will be filled with new exhibits and an interactive learning lab to engage visitors in discovering collections objects and participating in science.
Indiana University has hundreds of galleries and museums where you can see and experience a rich history of art and collectibles. Many of these galleries and museums have even reached critical acclaim, such as the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art. Many of the galleries and museums also serve a variety of missions including research, teaching, public outreach, and historic preservation for the university and the broader community.
Indiana Department of Veteran Affairs
Since its establishment in 1945, the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) has remained focused on aiding and assisting Hoosier veterans and qualified family members or survivors, who are eligible for benefits or advantages provided by Indiana and the U.S. government. Resources include links to the Military Family Relief Fund, Veteran benefits, and the Indiana Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
County Veterans Service Offices
The County Veterans Service Offices are a local point of contact for veterans in their county to assist with all veteran issues. They work closely with The Indiana Department of Veteran Affairs, The United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and various Veteran Service Organizations assisting veterans and their family members with benefits they may be eligible for due to their military service. You can click on the individual counties to get your local CVSOs contact information.
The Department of Veterans Affairs and other government agencies offer a substantial number of programs and services for veterans, their dependents and survivors. Beyond benefits, these programs and services can help you make the most of your post-military life.
U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs
The VA administers the many federal programs available to veterans of the US military. This is the first place to check for Health Care, Disability, Education and Training, Careers and Employment, Pension, Housing Assistance, Burials and Memorials, Life Insurance, Records, Service Member Benefits, Family Member Benefits, and more.
U.S. Department of Defense Office of Small Business Programs
List of organizations, including the Small Business Administration, offering programs and services to veterans interested in starting their own businesses.
Stand Downs are typically one- to three-day events during which VA staff and volunteers provide food, clothing and health screenings to homeless and at-risk Veterans. In addition, Veterans also receive referrals for health care, housing solutions, employment, substance use treatment, mental health counseling and other essential services. This is a calendar of upcoming Stand Down Events.
National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics (VA)
The Veterans Administration develops statistical analyses and reports on a broad range of topics, operates VA’s data and statistics web portal to disseminate Veteran data and statistics, and estimates and projections on Veteran populations.
Demographic, social, and economic data on veterans are collected on several U.S. Census Bureau surveys. These data are used for policy analysis, program planning, and budgeting of veteran programs.
Veterans’ Service Records (NARA)
Request military records and learn about other services for yourself or a family member. You can even find out how to replace a lost military medal or award.
Veterans History Project (American Folklife Center, Library of Congress)
The Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.
Archives Online at Indiana University
This site is a portal for accessing descriptions of Special Collections and Archives - ones chiefly containing materials other than books - from libraries, archives, and other units at Indiana University, Bloomington, and from other institutions around the state of Indiana. Resources include relevant content such as The Veteran, an independent bi-weekly newspaper published by students at Indiana University from Spring 1946 to Fall 1947. This paper focused on providing incoming and current veterans with information that was specific to them, while also addressing current events and functions on campus. Topics included student life in trailer housing, updates on the G.I. Bill regulations, social events, veterans in sports, and educational assistance.
IU Center for Veteran and Military Students
Aims to aid veterans and military-connected students make the transition from the military to IU and provides support and resources during their time on campus.
IU Division of Student Affairs
Learn more about student service organizations which work to improve Hoosier lives through community engagement.
Emily Alford, Head of GIMMS at IU Libraries & IU CRE Faculty Affiliate
Nicholae Cline, Scholarly Services Librarian and Librarian for Media Studies at IU Libraries
Jack Hockemeyer, IU CRE Graduate Research Assistant
Mariah Isbell, Library Assistant for the Scholars' Commons at IU Libraries
Wendy Spacek, Library Assistant for Arts and Humanities at IU Libraries
Brett Hoffman, Library Assistant for Arts and Humanities at IU Libraries