Library Research Guides: History: Primary Sources: General

Digital Collections

These resources enable large-scale searching of digitized primary source collections encompassing a broad range of topics, locations, and time periods. Use the tabs to the left to access primary sources collections by geographic focus and topic.

A-Z Databases: All History resources
Access more than 700 databases and search tools that have been identified as relevant to History. Browse all resources, use the Type filter to narrow this list, or search for specific locations, eras, events, and themes.

Alexander Street
This database includes a wide variety of collections in many formats, including digitized documents, audio, video, and images. Click on My Collections at the top to browse and search within available collections.
One Mail instructions:
If you chose to register for a personal account using your indiana.edu email address, you will need to update your account to use your iu.edu email address before December 31, 2025. Please use the following instructions to update your account.
1. Log in to your Alexander Street account.
2. View your profile and select edit to update your email address (this is also your username)
3. Save changes to complete the update.
AM Search
Search across all AM (formerly Adam Matthew) digital collections.

One Mail information:
If you created a “My Archive” or “My Account” using your indiana.edu email address, you must create a new account with your iu.edu email address before December 31, 2025. All accounts with indiana.edu email addresses will be deleted in January 2026.

American Historical Review Digital Primary Sources
Digital primary source collections curated and described in issues of American Historical Review from 2016-2021.

Ancestry Library Edition
Popular consumer online genealogy resource that includes birth, death, and marriage records as well as searchable manuscript census records for the U.S. 1790-1930. Similar records are also available for the U.K., Germany, and a few other countries. Only works with the latest versions of Firefox, Chrome, and Safari browsers.
Archives Unbound
Archives Unbound presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents, covering a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages to twentieth-century political history.

Archives Unbound is a suite of collections, each devoted to a particular topic. The collections include primary, unpublished historical documents and draw from institutional and governmental sources (Africa and African America; Source Library: Federal Bureau of Investigation Headquarters Library) and private collections (Women in Cuba; Library: Personal collection Dr. K. Lynn Stoner).
Eight Centuries
Database covering source material dating from 1106 until 1960, aggregating indexes, catalogs, collections, and other finding aids.

Eight Centuries (formerly 19th Century Masterfile) is a database covering source material dating from 1106 until 1960 (varies by source). 8C aggregates indexes, catalogs, collections, and other finding aids, and includes citations to 9,000 periodicals in 30+ languages. 8C provides access to articles, newspapers, books, U.S. patents, government documents, and images. Links to open access and subscription full-text sources are included where available.
Gale Primary Sources
Provides an interactive research environment that allows researchers to cross-search Gale digital archives.
HathiTrust Digital Library
Shared digital library created and designed by partnership of major research libraries.

HathiTrust makes the digitized collections of some of the nation’s great research libraries available for all. HathiTrust was initially conceived as a collaboration of the thirteen universities of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the University of California system, and the University of Virginia to establish a repository for those universities to archive and share their digitized collections. HathiTrust will quickly expand to include additional partners and to provide those partners with an easy means to archive their digital content.
IUCAT
IUCAT, the online catalog for all titles available through IU Libraries, is the best place to start a search for books and ebooks, and also includes government documents, videos, and sound recordings. Start with broad search terms or use Advanced Search to locate specific titles. Watch this brief video tutorial on searching and accessing books and ebooks in IUCAT.

IUCAT, Indiana University's online library catalog, provides comprehensive access to millions of items held by the IU Libraries statewide, including books, recordings, US government publications, periodicals, and other types of material. Users can access IUCAT from any Internet-connected computer or device, whether in the libraries, on campus, or off campus.
ProQuest History Vault
Archival collections documenting topics in eighteenth- through twentieth-century American history. Provides access to digitized letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, diaries, and many more primary source materials taken from the University Publications of America (UPA) Collections.
Wiley Digital Archives
Provides access to historical primary sources, digitized from leading societies, libraries, and archives around the world. Includes access to the archives of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI), the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), Royal Geographical Society, 1478-1953 (RGS) ; The Royal College of Physicians (RCP).

All Archives are cross-searchable, and contain tools for searching, browsing, analyzing and visualizing primary source content.

History

Associate Librarian

Digital Collections

One Mail instructions:

One Mail information:

Featured Databases

IU Libraries

History

Digital Collections

One Mail instructions:

One Mail information:

Social media

Additional resources

Featured Databases

IU Libraries