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Guide to free eresources

Access a list of free eresources selected by our experts, including websites, full text databases, abstracting and indexing databases and other reference sources

Collections

Anthropological Index Online 

This database covers over 4000 journals (almost 800 indexed on an ongoing basis) and films which are held at the Royal Anthropological Institute.  

Archive of African Journals 

Full text articles from 14 social science and humanities journals courtesy of the African E-Journals Project. 

Artstore 

Explore Artstor's digital library of images, videos, documents, and audio files. 

BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine) 

BASE provides more than 340 million documents from more than 11,000 content providers. Access the full texts of about 60% of the indexed documents for free (Open Access). BASE is operated by Bielefeld University Library. 

BC Open Collection 

Provision of openly licensed textbooks and other OER materials with a broad discipline focus including; business, education, science and mathematics. 

British Library Theatrical Playbills 

Gives access to 80,000 theatre posters. It includes high resolution images with searchable text of English, Scottish, and Irish playbills made between 1600 and 1902 (mostly 19th century). 

Concert Programmes 

Database of collections of concert programmes held in European libraries, archives and museums. Some British Library programme collections are fully-indexed here. 

Deutsche digitale Bibliothek 

 

A comprehensive database of digitised material from over 4,000 German libraries, archives and museums in Germany. Books, newspapers manuscripts, artworks, photographs, sound recordings and films are all covered. 

Digi20 

 

Over 5,000 digitised academic books published in Germany (mostly in German, some in other languages) in the second half of the 20th century. 

Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) 

Provides Open Access to over 88,000 academic peer-reviewed books. 

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) 

A unique and extensive index of diverse Open Access journals from around the world, driven by a growing community, committed to ensuring quality content is freely available online for everyone. 

e-rara 

 

Digitised printed works from the 15th to 20th centuries from Swiss libraries. Works covered range from books and maps to illustrated materials. 

Flickr 

Access 1 million images of items from our collection on Flickr. 

Google Books 

Use this filtered search to access over 700,000 digitised books from our collection on Google Books. 

Hathi Trust  

Provides free access to millions of digitised books and publications. 

Het Geheugen van Nederland 

 

Campaign to promote Dutch cultural heritage, gathered from many heritage collections. 

Images Online 

Find and buy images from our unique collections on our images online site. 

INIS Repository 

The INIS Repository is a bibliographic and full-text database covering nuclear physics and the peaceful uses of nuclear technology, provided by the International Atomic Energy Authority. 

Insitute for Dutch History - Huygens Institute 

 

ING is the renowned research institute for Dutch history and culture. Part of the Royal Acadamy of Sciences (KNAW).  

 

International Dunhuang Project 

Explore manuscripts, paintings, textiles and artefacts from the Eastern Silk Roads, digitised as part of the International Dunhuang Programme. 

Internet Archive - Archive.org 

Provides free access to older and out-of-copyright digitised material. 

JSTOR 

Anyone can sign up for a free Jstor account. Creating an account gives access to 100 free articles per month from their range of journal articles, books, images, and primary sources in 75 disciplines. 

Maritiem Digitaal 

 

Database that brings together catalogues from a great number of maritime museums in the Netherlands, including images.  

 

Medical Heritage Library 

A collaborative digitisation and discovery organisation committed to providing open access resources in the history of healthcare and the health sciences. 

National Digital Library (Russia) - curated collections and artefacts 

Portal and information system that contains curated collections and artefacts. 

National Digital Library (Russia) - periodicals 

Portal and information system that contains information on and collections of digitised serials, periodicals. 

National Digital Library (Russia) - visual materials 

Portal and information system that contains information on and collections of visual materials. 

National Library of Belarus 

A collection of documents from the collections of the National Library of Belarus. Includes monographs, thesis, abstracts, visual materials. Some but not all items are in the public domain.  

National Library of the Republic of Ingushetia 

A selection of contemporary and extremely rare digitised material from the collections of libraries of the Republic of Ingushetia. 

Nineteenth-Century Serials edition (ncse) (UK) 

Six nineteenth-century periodicals and newspapers, including Northern Star (1838-1852) and The Leader (1850-1859). Contains extensive commentary on each title as well as the project's editorial process. 

Open Edition 

Provides Open Access books and journals across a range of disciplines. 

Open University list of free eresources 

Freely available eresources are listed by The Open University. 

Project Gutenberg 

A library of over 60,000 free eBooks (mostly literary works published before 1924). 

Public Books Database 

The Public Books Database provides a useful guide to the hundreds of books which have been made open access by university presses, primarily, although not exclusively, in the US. 

Russia Beyond Russia: The André Savine Digital Library on the Internet Archive 

The André Savine Digital Library on its own platform ceased in late 2023, but digitised material is available via the Internet Archive. 

Russian National Library (St Petersburg) 

A wide range of digitised periodicals, monographs, primary sources, manuscripts, curated collections, thesis, grey literature, early printed books, maps, music scores and other formats. 

Russian State Historical Public Library 

A collection of documents and materials on national and world history. Contains publications on genealogy and heraldry, the history of military affairs, sources on the history, ethnography and geography of Russia.  

S.G.Chavaina National Library of the Mari El Republic  

A collection of digitised resources in the Mari language and on the Republic of Mari El. 

Scientific Library of the National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy 

A collection of digitised materials held in the Scientific Library of the National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. 

The Portal of knowledge 

The portal of knowledge of the Croatian Lexicographic Institute includes Croatian encyclopaedia and biographical lexicon. 

Vilnius University Virtual Library  

Institutional repository of the Vilnius University. Includes publications of Vilnius University scholars, disertations, theses, metadata. 

Welsh Journals Online 

A selection of 19th-, 20th- and 21st-century Welsh and Wales-related journals held at The National Library of Wales and partner institutions. Includes humanities, social sciences, science and technology titles.  

Wilson Center Digital Archive   

Contains once-secret documents from governments all across the globe, uncovering new sources and providing fresh insights into the history of international relations and diplomacy.