Subject Guides
- Resources by SubjectThe UI Libraries have hundreds of databases. To find more resources relevant to you topic use the Resources by Subject Link.
Selected Digital Collections
- American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series I This link opens in a new windowBased on the American Antiquarian Society's landmark collection, this offers fully searchable facsimile images of approximately 15,000 broadsides printed between 1820 and 1900 and 15,000 pieces of ephemera printed between 1760 and 1900. The subjects of these broadsides range from contemporary accounts of the Civil War, unusual occurrences and natural disasters to official government proclamations, tax bills and town meeting reports. Featuring many rare items, the pieces of ephemera include clipper ship sailing cards, early trade cards, bill heads, theater and music programs, stock certificates, menus and invitations documenting civic, political and private celebrations.
- American History in VideoThe collection allows students and researchers to analyze American historical events, and the presentation of historical events over time, through commercial and governmental newsreels, archival footage, public affairs footage, and important documentaries
- American Periodical Series Online 1740-1940 This link opens in a new windowOver 1,100 periodicals that first began publishing between 1740 and 1900, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines, and many other historically significant periodicals.
- American West This link opens in a new windowOver 300 manuscripts- ranging from the original manuscript journal and papers of James Audubon, and a twelve page letter of General Custer, to the logbook of a cattle trail driver and the Hinman papers describing the overland trail to California and the Gold Rush. A host of extremely rare or unique ephemeral material including advertisements, claim certificates, cheques, photos, wanted notices and news-sheets.
- Archives Unbound This link opens in a new windowArchives Unbound presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents that support the research and study needs of scholars and students at the college and university level. UI collections include: East Germany from Stalinization to the New Economic Policy, 1950-1963; Federal Response to Radicalism in the 1960s; Feminism in Cuba, 1898-1958; Overland Journeys: Travels in the West, 1800-1880; Witchcraft in Europe and America.
- ARTstor This link opens in a new windowSearchable database of digital images and associated catalog data, with new image collections added several times a year. ARTstor covers many time periods and cultures, and documents the fields of architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, design, anthropology, ethnographic and women's studies, as well as many other forms of visual culture. Users can search, view, download and organize images.
To download images users MUST register for a personal account.
MOBILE USERS: For Apple: mobile.artstor.org. For Android: Download app from Google Play. - Black Abolitionist Papers This link opens in a new windowThis collection searches a unique set of primary sources from African Americans actively involved in the movement to end slavery in the United States between 1830 and 1865.
- Black Freedom Struggle (ProQuest History Vault)The first Black Freedom module of the ProQuest History Vault consists of 37 collections from the records of federal government agencies, covering The Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century from the perspective of the men, women, and sometimes even children, who waged one of the most inspiring social movements in American history.
- Black Thought and Culture: African Americans from Colonial Times to the Present This link opens in a new windowBlack Thought and Culture is a single source for the published works of numerous historically important black leaders. Along with well-known works, the collection features approx. 5,000 pages of unique, fugitive, and never-before-published materials. When complete, Black Thought and Culture will provide approximately 100,000 pages of monographs, essays, articles, speeches, and interviews written by leaders within the black community from the earliest times to 1975. Black teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, war veterans, entertainers, and other leaders form the mainstay of this corpus. The collection is intended for research in black studies, political science, American history, music, literature, and art.
- Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800Online version of the microfiche set Early American Imprints, 1639-1800. Resource for aspects of life in 17th- and 18th-century America, e.g., agriculture, foreign affairs, diplomacy, literature, music, religion, the Revolutionary War, temperance, etc.
- Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive digital edition of The 18th Century microfilm set, which has aimed to include every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom, along with thousands of important works from the Americas, 1701-1800 Consists of over 180,000 titles of books, pamphlets, broadsides, ephemera. Subject categories include history and geography; fine arts and social sciences; medicine, science, and technology; literature and language; religion and philosophy; law; general reference. Also included are significant collections of women writers of the eighteenth century, collections on the French Revolution, and numerous eighteenth-century editions of the works of Shakespeare. Where they add scholarly value or contain important differences, multiple editions of each individual work are offered.
- Federal Response to Radicalism in the 1960sOrganized alphabetically by organization, this collection covers a wide range of viewpoints on political, social, cultural, and economic issues. It sheds light on internal organization, personnel, and activities of some of the most prominent American radical groups and their movements to change American government and society.
- Gerritsen Collection: Women's History Online, 1543-1945The Gerritsen Collection was begun by Aletta Jacobs Gerritsen in the late 1800s. The online resource delivers two million page images exactly as they appeared in the original printed works. Includes monographs, periodicals and pamphlets in 15 languages.
- In the First Person: Index to Letters, Diaries, Oral Histories, and Other Personal NarrativesSearch within scholarly materials that are freely available on the Web and Alexander Street databases. Returns citation information and links to full text, audio, and video whenever available.
- Making of AmericaUniversity of Michigan. A digital library of primary sources in American social history primarily from the antebellum period through reconstruction. This site provides access to 9,500 books and over 100,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints.
- Making of America, Cornell UniversityA digital library of primary sources in American social history, this site provides access to 267 monograph volumes and over 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints.
- North American Indian Thought and Culture This link opens in a new windowPresents the life stories of American Indians and Canadian First Peoples in their own words and through the words of others. Coverage: 1677 to present. When complete, the database will include 100,000 pages of content, including biographies, autobiographies, oral histories, reference works, manuscripts, and photographs.
- Overland Journeys: Travels in the West, 1800-1880Western settlers created what we think of as the American West. Explorers came and went, soldiers came and went, miners and others came and went. But the settlers came to stay. For settlers, the ways of reaching a destination in the frontier country were either wretched ordeals or wondrous adventures. Fortunately, many of these men and women recorded daily events and their thoughts with such picturesque zest that some accounts of westward journeys have elements of great literature within them.
- Rock and Roll, Counterculture, Peace and ProtestRock and Roll, Counterculture, Peace and Protest contains materials about popular culture in the U.S. and U.K. from 1950 to 1975. Topics include student protests, civil rights, consumerism, and the Vietnam War.
- Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives, 1960 to 1974 This link opens in a new windowThe Sixties brings the 1960s alive through diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary. With 150,000 pages of material at completion, this searchable collection is the definitive electronic resource for students and scholars researching this important period in American history, culture, and politics. The database currently has over 34,000 pages.
- Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice, 1490-2007This digital collection documents key aspects of the history of slavery worldwide over six centuries. Topics covered include the African Coast, the Middle Passage, the varieties of slave experience, religion, revolts, abolition, and legislation.
- Witchcraft in Europe and AmericaThe earliest texts in this comprehensive collection on witchcraft date from the 15th century and the latest are from the early 20th century. The majority of the material concerns the 16th to 18th centuries, the so-called "classic period." In addition to these classic texts, the collection includes anti-persecution writings, works by penologists, legal and church documents, exposés of persecutions, and philosophical writings and transcripts of trials and exorcisms.
- Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 This link opens in a new windowThe collection currently includes 87 document projects with almost 2700 documents and 150,000 pages of additional full-text documents, and more than 2,060 primary authors. A resource for students and scholars of U.S. history and U.S. women's history. This collection seeks to advance scholarly debates and understanding at the same time that it makes the insights of women's history accessible to teachers and students at universities, colleges, and high schools. It also includes book, film, and website reviews, notes from the archives, and teaching tools.
Digital Full-text Publications
- Godey's Lady's Book This link opens in a new window19th century magazine intended to "entertain and educate" women of America. Early issues include biographical sketches, articles about mineralogy, handcrafts, fashion, dance, equestrienne procedures, health & hygiene, recipes & remedies, and sheet music. Later issues contain book reviews and works by such 19th century authors as Poe, Hawthorne, Longfellow and Stowe. Illustrations.
- HarpWeek: the Civil War Era through the Gilded Age (1857-1912) This link opens in a new windowFull text of the popular 19th century magazine, Harper's Weekly, on literature, history, current events, culture and society. Includes images from Harper's Weekly, with index.
- Vogue Archive This link opens in a new windowThe Vogue Archive provides a searchable database of American Vogue, from the first issue in 1892 to the current month. Preserving the work of the world's greatest fashion designers, stylists and photographers, it is a unique record of American and international fashion, culture and society from the beginning of the modern era to the present day. Every page, advertisement, cover and fold-out is reproduced in color and images can be accessed in a variety of ways including by photographer, garment type or brand name.
American Memory
- American Memory from the Library of CongressPrimary source and archival materials relating to American culture and history. Most of these offerings are from the Library's unparalleled special collections and include photos, movies, sounds, and documents.
World Digital Library
- World Digital LibraryThe World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.
Digital Sanborn Maps
- Digital Sanborn maps 1867-1970Digital Sanborn Maps is a collection of large-scale landbook maps which includes information such as the outline of each building, the size and shape and construction materials, heights, and function of structures, and location of windows and doors.
Civil War Diaries and Letters
- Civil War Diaries and LettersThis digital collection contains diaries and related items of soldiers from Iowa who fought in the American Civil War (1861-1865). The documents offer valuable insight on their day-to-day activities, accounts of battles, and feelings regarding the war and their time as soldiers. Several of the diaries include full or partial transcriptions.