History Resources

Finding Primary Sources

What is a primary source? 

Primary sources may be letters, manuscripts, newspapers, clothing, pottery, recorded sound or other items that offer original evidence of a civilization, a person, an event or a place.  Since a single primary source reflects one point of view, consulting various sources is necessary in an attempt to understand different perspectives and distinguish between historical fact and fiction.

Using Primary Sources on the Web  -a guide for use and evaluation of sites

Limit a subject or word search with the following words:  
sources, archives, correspondence, diaries, personal narratives, 
interviews, church records and registers, early works to 1800, wills, probate records, sermons

Sample subject headings:  

   United States – Foreign Relations – Germany – Sources
   Witchcraft -- Europe -- History – Sources
   Slavery -- United States -- Personal Narratives
  

Sample Keyword search:
   Napoleon* and revolution and "personal narratives"
   Slavery and South Carolina and 
sources

   Kosovo and interviews

   "race relations" and sermons
   "
american civil liberties union" and archives

    catholic* and england and "church records"

Using an * finds Napoleon or Napoleonic etc.
Using quote marks searches for a phrase

OSU Libraries makes available databases of primary sources.  See the various sections of the this subject guide for selected databases that include documents, newspapers, and other source materials.

Special Collections at OSU Libraries

Special Collections  
Find brief descriptive information on OSU special collections and links to more information.  Link to the specific special collection to find specialists who can assist you with finding primary resources in those collections

 Find manuscript collections using the Discover search - https://library.osu.edu/​   
  -use the default search space; enter keywords; select the Special Collections box.  

 Find books in Special Collections using the OSU Library catalog.
  - go to http://library.ohio-state.edu/ and select the type of search (eg. keyword, subject, author etc.)
  - enter search terms and then click on the box that says "Search Full Catalog" and select Spec Collections & Archives
  - click on the submit button.  All results will be items in Special Collections

Digital Collections  is a searchable database of selected items from three library collections.  The number of images will increase as we add items to the database.  Also use the Discover search - https://library.osu.edu/​  

Special Collections

Rare Books and Manuscripts Contains primary-source materials and related published works from the medieval period to modern literature and the arts.  
    


Byrd Polar Archives - "Historical collections contain papers, records, photographs and other forms of documentation concerning explorers, scientists and other figures and organizations prominent in the advancement of knowledge about polar environments."  Find digital images and documents. Also use the Discover search - https://library.osu.edu/​  

Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum - "world’s largest collection of comic strip tear sheets and clippings…unique, original art and manuscript materials"  Find digital images and documents. Also use the Discover search - https://library.osu.edu/​  

Hilandar Research Library  The Hilandar Research Library houses the largest collection of medieval Slavic Cyrillic manuscripts on microform in the world. The Library is a collaboration between the Ohio State University Libraries and the Resource Center for Medieval Slavic Studies.

Historic Costume & Textiles (College of Education and Human Ecology)  "scholarly and artistic resource of apparel and textile material culture,"  18th century-present

Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute  This collection focuses on the performing arts and includes personal papers; organizational archives; costume, scene, lighting designs, and technical theatre documentation; costumes; models of stage sets and theatres; photographs; posters; artwork; film, videotape and sound recordings; realia; and other types of documentation.  Find digital images and documents. Also use the Discover search - https://library.osu.edu/​  

Medical Heritage Center - rare books, archives and medical artifacts


Ohio Congressional Archives - "collections of private papers and related materials compiled by or pertaining to members of the Ohio delegation to the United States Congress"

University Archives - historical resources produced by departments and people at Ohio State University; includes manuscripts material and roughly 2 million photos and other images

General Finding Aids
            See also country/region sections

Archive Finder (formerly ArchivesUSA) 
Guide to primary source collections from thousands of repositories in the US, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland.  Includes the
 National Union Catalogue of Manuscript Collections (Library of Congress, 1951-1993) Z6620U5N3 in ISD; Also includes the National Inventory of Documentary Sources - United States that provides the text of finding aids to collections.  Use fiche number and find at CD3065N38 in MIC.  Also includes National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United Kingdom and Ireland.  Use the fiche number and find atCD1042 .N37 Microfiche in MIC.

ArchivGrid
"Provides access to detailed archival collection descriptions, making information available about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and other archival materials. It also provides contact information for the institutions where the collections are kept. ArchiveGrid data is primarily focused on archival material descriptions for institutions in the United States. This reflects the contribution patterns for descriptions of materials under archival control in WorldCat, which make up the majority of descriptions in ArchiveGrid."

Archives Portal Europe 
Access to information on archival material from different European countries as well as information on archival institutions throughout the continent

Selected General Document Collections

Center for Research Libraries Digital Collections
CRL provides digitized resources from its collection of documents, newspapers, books, and journals.  Access to CRL resources in all formats is available using the CRL catalog.  Items of interest that you identify can be ordered by finding the resource in the Ohiolink catalog and requesting it as you would any other Ohiolink item.  For large microfilm collections you may find it more convenient to make your request using Interlibrary Loan.

Books, Pamphlets, Manuscripts 1475-21st Century

Archives of Sexuality & Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940
“As part of the Archives of Sexuality & Gender series, this collection enables students, educators, and researchers to thoroughly explore and make new connections in subjects such as LGBTQ history and activism, cultural studies, psychology, sociology, health, political science, policy studies, human rights, gender studies, and more. Selection of materials for this milestone digital collection is guided by an advisory board consisting of leading scholars and librarians in sexuality and gender studies.”

Chatham House Online Archive 
Provides over 90 years of research, expert analysis and commentary on international affairs from a premier policy institute.  Find briefing papers, special reports, pamphlets, conference papers and monographs.  Offers full text access to journals International Affairsand the magazine The World Today.  Also includes thousands of hours of audio recordings of Chatham House lectures and their fully searchable transcripts

Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 [Evans Digital Edition]   Based on Charles Evans' American Bibliography], it includes the full text of books, pamphlets, broadsides etc. published before 1800.   

Early American Imprints, 1801-1819 [Shaw Shoemaker]    Keyword access to the full text and facsimile images of books, pamphlets, broadsides etc. published in American 1801-1819.  

Early English Books Online 1475-1700  
Full text images of selected books from the
 
English Short Title Catalog  (catalog of books published in English & in Brit. possessions, 1475-1700  

Early European Books Printed before 1700
“Early European Books provides scholars with new ways of accessing and exploring the printed record of early modern Europe, drawing together a diverse array of printed sources from the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. Developed and produced in close collaboration with scholars, rare books librarians, bibliographers, and other experts from the library world, this new resource opens the door to some of the world's most significant collections of early printed books.  All works printed in Europe before 1701, regardless of language, fall within the scope of the project, together with all pre-1701 works in European languages printed further afield.

Eighteenth Century Collections Online 1701-1800  Searchable, full text images of books from the 18th century

Human Rights Online
A searchable database of “comparative documentation, analysis, and interpretation of major human rights violations and atrocity crimes worldwide from 1900 to 2010. The collection includes primary and secondary materials across multiple media formats and content types for each selected event, including Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda, Darfur, and more than thirty additional subjects.”

Pamphlets from Harvard College Library
This collection includes pamphlets, "government documents, speeches, extracts from journals, reports, manifestos, and various proceedings [published in the 19th century-mid-20th century]...Areas currently covered in this digital collection include Latin America, World War I, Sociology, the Boer War, and Brittany. As additional pamphlets are cataloged and digitized, they will be added to this online collection."

Crime

Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture, 1790-1920
Contains manuscripts, books, broadsheets, and periodicals. The collection covers Europe, North America, India, and the Antipodes and includes material in English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German. Using this archive, it is possible to trace the influence of a legal judgment or development of a penal methodology through various different jurisdictions. Includes a wealth of English archival crime material, both rural, as with the Althorp papers, and urban, with collections of police correspondence from London and Manchester.

Discovery and Exploration

Age of Exploration
"Featuring rare manuscript and early printed material, highly illustrated maps and documents, diaries and ships' logs from some of the most well-known voyages in history, this collection provides access to key events in the history of European maritime exploration from c.1420-1920."

Expeditions and Discoveries: Sponsored Exploration and Scientific Discover in the Modern Age.  
Digital collections of Harvard University, this resource "delivers maps, photographs, and published materials, as well as field notes, letters, and a unique range of manuscript materials on selected expeditions between 1626 and 1953."

Selected Religion Documents

ATLA Cooperative Digital Resources Initiative 
Phase One of the Initiative includes visual materials - digital images of woodcuts, photographs, slides, papyri, coins, maps, and manuscripts.

British Online Archive - Colonial and Missionary Records
Offers a wide range of items to interest those researching territories colonized by Britain including: America, India, Africa, the West Indies, New Zealand, Australia and Melanesia. Some of the documents were created  made by the East India Company and the missionaries from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. NOTE: When doing a keyword search check the box for “show licensed material only.”  

Chinese Recorder and The Protestant Missionary Community In China/1867-1941
Although it was intended primarily for the missionaries in China, the Chinese Recorder also circulated to mission supporters and theological schools in the home countries. At its height its circulation was only 3,000 copies, but its readership certainly far surpassed that number; it seems likely that one person at each mission station subscribed, but everyone at the station read it. From its earliest issues, it is evident that it had correspondents at all the major mission locations. The history of the publication is unclear, except from the Chinese Recorder itself, since it ceased publication in December 1941 following the entrance of the United States into the Second World War.

Church Missionary Society Periodicals (19th century-21st century)
"This resource encompasses publications from the Church Missionary Society, the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society and the latterly integrated South American Missionary Society. Documenting missionary work from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, the periodicals include news, journals and reports offering a unique perspective on global history and cultural encounters."

Methodist Church Archives: Missionary Activities
This collection comprises materials relating to Methodist Episcopal Missionary activities, particularly in reference to Italy


Wars in the 20th century

French Documents and Manuscripts in Gallica

First World War [database purchased by OSU Libraries]
Searchable database of original documents and publications from the period on the origins of the war through the peacemaking process.  The three available modules are Personal Experiences, Propaganda and Recruitment, and Visual Perspectives and Narratives. Documents include British Confidential Print: First World War: General Correspondence from 1914-1919 (FO 438).

Trench Journals and Unit Magazines of the First World War
“Over 1,500 periodicals written and illustrated by serving members of the armed forces and associated welfare organisations published between 1914 and the end of 1919 are included. Magazines have been scanned cover-to-cover, in full colour or greyscale.”

World War I Posters at the Library of Congress.
The Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division makes available online approximately 1,900 posters created between 1914 and 1920. Most relate directly to the war, but some German posters date from the post-war period and illustrate events such as the rise of Bolshevism and Communism, the 1919 General Assembly election and various plebiscites.

The majority of the posters were printed in the United States. Posters from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Russia are included as well.

 Personal Journals of World War I held by the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library at The Ohio State University.

World War I Document Archive:  Links to sites, documents, images

First World War.com  Documents, diaries and memoirs, biographies, brief articles, graphics, audio

Statistics of the military effort of the British Empire during the Great War,1914-1920

Proquest History Vault 
PHV is provides document collections from US sources on various important topics, including the 
Vietnam War and foreign policy, and World War IIUsing the default search will find words in the full text of documents.   Focus your search with phrases or adding keywords.  Also focus by not searching full text using the Advanced Menu and then change the pull down menu.

World War II Collections in the Rare Books and Manuscripts division of OSU Libraries

Service Newspapers of World War II
"The collection consists of newspapers published during the war years and the immediate aftermath (1939-1948). Titles from all the key theatres are featured, including some non-English material in German, Czech, Hindi, Russian, French, Italian, Afrikaans, Swahili, and other African dialects."  
See the newspaper title list by linking to the database and selecting the link to "Newspapers" under the database title.  You may organize the titles by country.

Cold War International History Project
Documents related to The Korean War, The 1956 Polish and Hungarian Crises, The Soviet Invasion in Afghanistan, The Cuban Missile Crisis, The 1980-81 Polish Crisis, The End of the Cold War
See also Digital Archive-International History Declassified

Korean War  Links to selected documents.

Vietnam War  Links to selected documents.

Virtual Vietnam Archive  Includes thousands of documents at Texas Tech. Univ. 

Nuremberg Trials Project: A Digital Documents Collection    
A searchable database with about "one million pages of documents relating to the trial of military and political leaders of Nazi Germany before the International Military Tribunal (IMT) and to the twelve trials of other accused war criminals before the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals (NMT)."

Canadian Letters and Images Project
Online archive of the Canadian war experience, from any war, as told through the letters and images of Canadians themselves. Letters are searchable, transcribed, and also available as scanned images from the originals.  Newspaper articles, documents, and photographs are included.

Images

NYPL Digital Gallery 
Drawings, illuminated manuscripts, maps, photographs, posters, prints, rare illustrated books from the New York Public Library

ARTstor

A digital library of approximately 700,000 images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences.

Visual Resource Library (OSU Dept. of History of Art) 
Includes digital photographs of historical sites


Digital Library (OSU School of Architecture)
Includes digital photographs of historical sites

British Cartoon Archive
British Cartoon Archive is located in Canterbury at the University of Kent’s Templeman Library. It has a library, archive, and exhibition gallery, and is dedicated to the history of British cartooning over the last two hundred years.

Digital Bodleian
Find medieval documents among a larger collection from Bodleian at Oxford.

Selected Guide to Oral Histories at OSU and the Web

Find Oral Histories or Interviews using OSU Libraries Resources

OSU Libraries Catalog

Find text and video of oral histories by using the advanced menu search
-Change the first pull down menu to subject and use the word interviews
-On another search line include relevant key word
-Restrict to videos by using the Location menu and select Web E-Video

A different search strategy would be to deploy a keyword search to combine a relevant keyword with “oral history”
    “civil rights” and “oral history”  
     Note: May find oral histories and works that used oral history as a resource

         Selected Databases with Video and/or Text Available from OSU Libraries

Ohio State University Archives Oral Histories
“The OSU Oral History Program documents the history of The Ohio State University by interviewing faculty members and administrators, as well as former students.”

United States Senate Historical Office Oral History Collection. JK1161 .U65 MICROFICHE 2nd Floor Thompson Library Microform division.

Black Studies in Video Use Advanced Menu; enter keywords/names; scroll down to Content Type and limit only to interviews

Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 Use the Search tab and limit to interviews or oral history using the Document Type limiter

North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral Histories Find video interviews by selecting the Browse tab and then select Showcase. Scroll down to Ellis Island Oral History Project. Also use the Search tab and select Advanced Search. Limit to oral history using Document Type

The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives 1960–1974 Limit to interviews and oral histories by selecting the Search tab and then limiting the Document Type

Visual History Archive. Los Angles: USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education. Requires free registration. Search cataloguing and indexing data for 54,369 videotaped interviews conducted with survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and genocides in the 20th century - The 1937 Nanjing Massacre; The 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda; The 1915 Armenian Genocide; The Guatemalan Genocide, which occurred during the country’s 36-year Civil War; The 1975 Cambodian Genocide.  For a guide to the collection see http://libguides.usc.edu/vha  NOTE: This resource contains copyrighted material. See the Terms of Use.


Selected Resources with Text and/or Audio and Video Freely Available on the Web

Ellis Island Oral Histories Requires free registration. Includes about 1893 interviews dedicated to preserving the first-hand recollections of immigrants who passed through the Ellis Island immigration station between 1892 and 1954 and the employees who worked there.” NOTE: This resource appears to be searchable only by names of immigrants.

Kent State Shootings: Oral Histories “The Kent State Shootings Oral Histories project collects and provides access to personal accounts of the May 4, 1970, shootings and their aftermath.” There are 123 oral history accounts. On May 4, 1970 13 students were shot by members of the Ohio National Guard at a student demonstration. “The protests at Kent State were part of a widespread spontaneous reaction to the announcement by President Richard M. Nixon of the U.S. incursion into Cambodia [during the Vietnam War,] which had begun only days earlier.”

Columbus Jewish Historical Society Oral Histories Offers transcripts of oral history interviews of persons from the Columbus Jewish community reflecting on their lives and mainly local Jewish events and institutions from the past up to today.

War Stories
"Represents the experiences of West Texas military veterans and their families from World War I to the present.  These are stories of those who served and those who hoped and prayed for their loved ones’ safe return."


Additional Resources for Locating Oral Histories

Columbia Center for Oral History. New York: Columbia University. [CATALOG TO COLLECTION ONLY] Includes “over 10,000 interviews, the CCOH Archives is one of the largest oral history collections in the United States.”

Selected Oral History Projects. UCLA Libraries Links to oral history projects in the United States


Selected General Resources on Conducting Oral Histories
NOTE: OSU Libraries has many books on the subject of oral history. For books that focus on methods of conducting oral histories see Oral history -- Methodology  

Conducting Oral Histories. UCLA Libraries Web site with Information about preparing for and conducting an oral history interview

Catching Stories: A Practical Guide to Oral History. [EBook] Donna DeBlasio, Swallow Press, c2009.

Doing Oral History: A Practical Guide. [Print book] Donald Richie, Oxford University Press, 2003.

 

Archives:

Archives in European Countries

Archives Portal Europe 
Access to information on archival material from different European countries as well as information on archival institutions throughout the continent

The European Library 
"A portal which offers access to the combined resources (books, magazines, journals.... - both digital and non-digital) of the 45 national libraries of Europe."

Historical Research in Europe: A Guide to Archives and Libraries 
Search by keyword

Selected Document Collections:

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe  
See links in left column to find US govt. hearings and reports, CSCE digest, speeches and statements, articles on CSCE since
 

 Electronic Enlightenment  
A “wide-ranging online collection of edited correspondence of the early modern period, linking people across Europe, the Americas and Asia from the early 17th to the mid-19th century.

Eurodocs 
Primary Historical Documents from nations of Europe, including Russia.


Europeana 
Primary source materials on European history and culture.

European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century
Find 4 digital collections: French Colonialism Africa: Algeria To Madagascar/1910-1930; German Colonies League Of Nations Mandates Africa 1910-1929; German Colonies in Asia and the Pacific: From Colonialism to Japanese Mandates, 1910-1929; Political and Economic Consolidation of Portuguese Colonies in Africa, 1910-1929


European History Primary Sources

Index of scholarly websites that offer online access to digitised primary sources on the history of Europe.

European Union Documents 
Keyword search and full text of EU law, treaties, Bulletin, and documents related to the EU parliament and council


Post-war Europe : Refugees, Exile, and Resettlement, 1945-1950
"This online archive delivers essential primary sources for the study and understanding of the challenges facing the European peoples in the aftermath of World War II."

Testaments to the Holocaust 
"The collection offers fully searchable personal accounts of life in Nazi Germany, along with photographs, propaganda materials such as school text books, limited circulation publications and rare serials in a uniquely flexible format, enabling detailed research into the domestic policies of Nazi Germany, Jewish life in Germany from 1933 to after the war, propaganda, life in the concentration camps, in hiding, emigration and refugee life."

Holocaust And Records Of Concentration Camp Trials: Prosecution Of Nazi War Crimes
This collection provides unique documents on the investigation and prosecution of war crimes committed by Nazi concentration camp commandants and camp personnel. Documents include: correspondence; trial records and transcripts; investigatory material, such as interrogation reports and trial exhibits; clemency petitions and reviews; photographs of atrocities; newspaper clippings; and pamphlets. 

Correspondence From German Concentration Camps And Prisons
Collection consists of items originating from prisoners held in German concentration camps, internment and transit camps, Gestapo prisons, and POW camps, during and just prior to World War II. Most of the collection consists of letters written or received by prisoners, but also includes receipts for parcels, money orders and personal effects; paper currency; and
realia, including Star of David badges that Jews were forced to wear

Visual History Archive (testimonies of Holocaust survivors)
Requires free registration.
  Search cataloguing and indexing data of nearly 52,000 videotaped interviews conducted with survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust in 56 countries and 32 languages. Approximately 1,100 English-language testimony videos can be viewed in the VHA Online.

Holocaust Resources: Names and Photos (Yad Vashem)

Holocaust Documents in Eurodocs

Holocaust Encyclopedia (Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC)

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum encyclopedia of camps and ghettos, 1933-1945. Vol. 1. Early camps, youth camps, and concentration camps and subcamps under the SS-Business Administration Main Office (WVHA). Bloomington : Indiana University Press In association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, c2009-
This digital copy of v. 1 of the published printed encyclopedia (now v1-2) includes photographs, maps and article references.

Swiss Posters Collection
"contains a wide variety of posters and small posters created by Swiss or foreign artists. The Swiss Posters Collection (CCSA) is richly illustrated and gives a representative picture of ...[Switzerland]... and even of Europe as a whole."

Canadian Archives

National Archives of Canada
Search the holdings and read abstracts of archival collections


National Archives of Quebec Search the holdings of archival collections

Provincial Archives in Canada

Canadian Parliamentary and Political Documents, Elections, Statistics

Canadian Parliamentary Debates 1901- present
Full text search of the debates in parliament.

Canadian Parliament Website:

  
Bills (House & Senate): 35th Parliament (1994)--present

  Debates (House): 35th Parliament (1994)--present  
   
 Keyword search (2006-present)    (printed debates 1875-present at OSU Library- See library catalog records- House

 
Debates (Senate): 35th Parliament (1994)--present 
  (printed debates 1869-2006 (not all years) at OSU Library- See library catalog records- Senate

  
Research and Commentary

Canadian Parliamentary Publications: A Research Guide  from the University of Toronto Libraries

Canadian Federal Legislation (Contemporary) [from Lexis Nexis Academic]

Combines the Consolidated Statutes of Canada and the Consolidated Regulations of Canada

Canadian Statutes and Regulations (Contemporary) [from Lexis Nexis Academic]
Includes 
Consolidated Statutes of Canada, Alberta Statutes & Regulations, Consolidated Statutes of Alberta, British Columbia Statutes & Regulations, Consolidated Statutes of British Columbia, Ontario Statutes & Regulations, Consolidated Statutes of Ontario.

Elections Canada On-Line 
Access to election statistics and information)

Statistics Canada 
Find a wide variety of statistical data compiled by the government of Canada.

Canadian History

Canadian Confederation 
(documents, images, bibliography)


Canadian Constitutional Documents

Canadian Letters and Images Project
Online archive of the Canadian war experience, from any war, as told through the letters and images of Canadians themselves. Letters are searchable, transcribed, and also available as scanned images from the originals.  Newspaper articles, documents, and photographs are included.

Documents on Canadian External Relations
Digitized documents from volumes 15-25 (1946, 1948-1959).   See also print volumes 1-3,8-22: 
JX1515 .A43 1909 in Library Depository

Early Canadiana Online
Subscription required for many docs.  Books and pamphlets up to late 19thc.


Images Canada
“Access to the thousands of images held on the websites of participating Canadian cultural institutions…Find images of the Canadian events, people, places and things that make up our collective heritage.”

Archives

Archives Nationales de France
-Public national archives 
-Map and links to national and regional archives and finding aids 
-Guides to research sources

Bibliotheque Nationale de France
-Digitized documents - see Gallica below
-Link to the general catalog
-Link to the manuscript catalog 
-Link to additional catalogs

Selected Document Collections

Selected General Diplomatic Document Collections
See the section on France.

French Revolution
Over 300 documents, 200 images, maps, music, timeline, glossary, essays

French Revolution Digital Archive
"A collaboration of the Stanford University Libraries and the Bibliothèque nationale de France"
Including French Revolution Images and the Archives Parlementaires linked below.  Also includes a timeline.

French Revolution Images: Iconography from the collections of the Bibliotheque nationale de France​
"The 5,126 images selected for this digital archive concentrate solely on the period from 1787 through 1799, from the years immediately preceding the outbreak of the Revolution through the emergence of Napoleon. Only visual materials directly tied to the Revolution itself are included."


France in America   
A bilingual digital library …[that] explores the history of the French presence in North America from the first decades of the 16th Century to the end of the 19th Century… [It illustrates] the major role played by France in the exploration and settlement of the continent and its participation in several events which indelibly marked the history of the United States: the Seven Years War, the American Revolution, and the cession of Louisiana. The site will be completed in fall 2006 with a panorama of economic, scientific, literary and artistic exchanges between the two nations in the course of the 19th Century.”

French Political Pamphlets 1547-1626

"The collection of French Political Pamphlets in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections at Brigham Young University features more than 2,100 pamphlets published between 1547 and 1626. Over the next four years, the Library will digitize and make these pamphlets available for online research, with a goal of adding 500 pamphlets each year beginning in 2009."

Gallica  
(Bibliothèque Nationale de France) Offers access to 70,000 digitalized books, 80,000 images, and to several dozens of hours of audio resources.  The site is organized by themes including France in America (see above), Voyage en Afrique, Les Societes Savantes en l’Aquitaine et la Lorraine, and Voyage en France.


Eurodocs:  History of France
Selected documents, antiquity to present

French Legislative and Legal Documents

Le Journal Officiel électronique authentifié.  June 2004-present
Official journal of the French parliamentary assembly, full text and searchable. See also print copy of Journal Officiel de la Republique Francaise J7F2 in Depository (OSU owns 
1877-1882, 1888-1906, 1916-1920, 1968-1970/1971.)

Documents and Information from the French National Assembly

General Assembly 1997-present  
Search for documents, debates, reports and statistics. [See links in left column.]

Senate of France 1978-present
Access to documents and debates from the French Senate. Search and retrieve full text or citations.


Legifrance
Access to contemporary French legal codes and constitution, and also European treaties and jurisprudence and EU Official Journal


Archives
 Parlementaires de 1787 à 1860: recueil complet des débatslégislatifs et politiques des chambres françaises 

"Includes letters, reports, speeches, and other first-hand accounts from a great variety of published and archival sources."
-Online (1787-1794) from French Revolution Digital Archive at Stanford University

-Print publication (reprint)DC141 .A1 in Thompson Library, 4th Fl mezzanine


Le Moniteur Universel.  1789-1868.  (DC141.3 A1 in Rare Depository)  Request at Rare Book Rm. at Library Depository; 292-3859)  "In 1800 the M.U. began to publish officially the Acts du gouvernement... Except for a brief interim when these were printed separately in the Journal Officiel, the Moniteur continued as the official organ until 1868, when it was superseded by the Journal Officiel. 

Archives:

Duetschland.de
Link to libraries and archives

Biography:

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie  
Searchable; full text images from 55 of 56 vols.(for print see  CT1053 .A4 1967  in Depository)
  Includes index to Neue Deutsche Biographie (for print see DD85N4 in Library Depository


Dictionary of German Biography (DGB).  München : K.G. Saur, 2001- 
10 Volume translation of Deutsche biographische Enzyklopädie (DBE)
 CT759 .D481 2001 in Thompson Grand Reading Room

Selected Document Collections:

Selected General Diplomatic Document Collections
See the section on Germany.


Bavarian State Parliament documents
Includes documents cover medieval period - 1946.

Bundesarchiv--Digitized Collections of Historical Pictures and Documents

Digital Collections at the University of Gottingen
Documents covering the humanities, social sciences, autobiography, history of science...

Dokumente zur Deutschlandpolitik. (published by WestGermanBundesministerium fur Gesamtdeutsche Fragen)  
Documents relating to West German politics, mainly since 1945 but some documents, 1939-1945.

OSU Library owns many vols. in various editions, see at library catalog ; Also see table of contents of volumes including special studies.

German Constitutions

German History in Documents and Images (From the German Historical Institute)

Germany Under Reconstruction
"Provides a varied selection of [digitized and searchable] publications in both English and German from the period immediately following World War II. Many are publications of the U.S. occupying forces, including reports and descriptions of efforts to introduce U.S.-style democracy to Germany."

Die Kabinettsprotokolle der Bundesregierung.  (published by the Bundesarchiv) 1949-1980s
Search and read German cabinet minutes and proceedings

Akten der Reichskanzlei. Weimarer Republik
(published by the Bundesarchiv) OSU owns print editions.

Monumenta Germaniae Historica [Guide] 
For text volumes of MGH search OSU Library catalog


Monumenta Germaniae Historica (digital edition )

Grosser Bilderatlas des WeltKrieges.  
Illustrated atlas of the World War I; 3 Vols. 
München: F. Bruckmann(1915-1919).

German Propaganda Archive at Calvin College. Noted for its translations of documents, including speeches, newspaper and periodical articles produced by Nazis and East German Marxists

German Parliamentary Debates/Proceedings

Bundestage dabates and documents.  
2006-present (search page by broad topics)
2006-present (browse recent documents, session texts)
1998-present (search variety of parliamentary documents)
1976-2005    (search page)

Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages. Stenographische Berichte 1949-present  (J351K25 at Thompson Library)  Library does not own years from 1967-1973.  Debates and proceedings in the West German parliament.  See also Appendix for 1949-1953:J351.K25 APPX at Thompson Library

Verhandlungen. Stenographische Berichte
  1868-1933 (J351 .A24 in depository). 
Debates and proceedings in the German parliament
 (Reichstag).
ONLINE full text search or browse by year for 1867-1942 (see links in left column)

Archives 

British Cartoon Archive
British Cartoon Archive is located in Canterbury at the University of Kent’s Templeman Library. It has a library, archive, and exhibition gallery, and is dedicated to the history of British cartooning over the last two hundred years.

National Archive of United Kingdom 
Guide to the archival and manuscript material in the British National Archives (Kew) and other archival and manuscript repositories in Britain.  (See also Archives Hub and AIM25 below.)

British Library Manuscripts Catalog 
Find manuscripts and unpublished documents, personal papers, correspondence and diaries, family and estate papers, India Office records and private papers, India Office prints, drawings and paintings (coming soon), photographs.  
Also see 
British Library Digital Manuscripts catalog

Archives Hub
A ccess to 18,922 descriptions of archives held in more than 90UK universities and colleges

AIM25 - Archives in London and the M25 area
Provides "electronic access to collection level descriptions of the archives of over one hundred higher education institutions, learned societies, cultural organisations and livery companies within the greater London area. This work is in progress - new data is being added regularly."

Archive File (formerly ArchivesUSA)  
Guide to primary source collections from thousands of repositories in the US, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland.  Includes references to finding aids on microfiche from
 National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United Kingdom and Ireland.  Use the NIDS-UK fiche number and find at CD1042 .N37 Microfiche in MIC.
 

Georgian Papers Catalog
Georgian Papers Online is the catalogue of the Georgian Papers Programme, a five-year project to transform access to the extensive collection of Georgian papers held in the Royal Archives and Royal Library at Windsor.

Document Sources:

English Historical Documents Online
Find documents that appeared from 500 C.E. to 1914.  Search full text or browse by subject or period.

British History Sources, 1500-1900
Connected Histories brings together a range of digital resources related to early modern and nineteenth century Britain with a single federated search. NOTE:  If you are off campus and cannot connect to some sources or documents, check for the source title in the library databases list.

British History Online
Documents on parliament, local & London history, administration of govt.

British Online Archive - Colonial and Missionary Records
Offers a wide range of items to interest those researching territories colonized by Britain including: America, India, Africa, the West Indies, New Zealand, Australia and Melanesia. Some of the documents were created  made by the East India Company and the missionaries from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. NOTE: When doing a keyword search check the box for “show licensed material only.”  

British Documents on the End of Empire
Download document volumes on the following: Series A, v. 1. Colonial policy and practice, 1924-1925. -- v. 2. The Labour government and the end of empire, 1945-1951. -- v. 3. The Conservative government and the end of empire, 1951-1957. -- Series B, v. 1. Ghana. -- v. 2. Sri Lanka. -- v. 3. Malaya. -- v. 4. Egypt and the defence of the Middle East. [also at OSU in print] -- v. 5. Sudan. -- Series C, v. 1. Records of the Colonial Office, Dominions Office, Commonwealth Relations Office and Commonwealth Office (in one part, 1995), [also at OSU in print] -- 2. Records of the Cabinet, Foreign Office, Treasury and Other Records (in one part, 1998), [also at OSU in print].

Cabinet Papers, 1916-1986
Search full text and retrieve pdf of documents produced or provided to the British Cabinet.  At this time the documents include "Conclusions" for cabinet discussions and agreed action points; "Memoranda" for policy proposals and positions taken by ministers or government departments; "Notebooks" for transcripts of cabinet discussions revealing a minister's stance before consensus; "Precedent" books for policy on how the Cabinet works.

Documents on British Policy Overseas (20th century)
Primary source documents from Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office, shedding light on diplomatic history throughout the twentieth century. It is based on three distinct print series which form a record of British peacetime diplomacy since the end of the nineteenth century: British Documents on the Origins of the War 1898-1914, Documents on British Foreign Policy 1918-1939 and Documents on British Policy Overseas.

East India Company Records, 1550-1950
Offers India Office Records from the British Library, London containing royal charters, correspondence, trading diaries, minutes of council meetings and reports of expeditions, among other document types, this resource charts the history of British trade and rule in the Indian subcontinent and beyond from 1600 to 1947.

Gale Newsvault
Access to historical archive of mostly 
British newspapers and periodicals published from the 17th century - 20th century.  

Parliamentary Papers (and debates, bills, acts, journals+)
The Parliamentary Papers (Sessional Papers) are primary source reports and documents produced or published by the British House of Commons and House of Lords.  They include documents from the 17th century -21st century.  The documents have analytical and descriptive information on all aspects of British politics, society, economy, health, technology, foreign affairs, and affairs of the British empire. Also find maps, illustrations, tables and other graphic materials. The database also provides full text from Hansard, theOfficial Report of debates in Parliament, from both the House of Commons and House of Lords, from 1803 to 2005; bill and acts(17th century -1834); journals, and proceedings.

UK Treaties Online
Find full text and/or references to treaties since 1835.  Full text is available for treaties published in "Treaty Series" of Command Papers.  For information on finding full text of treaties that do not have pdf links in the database, consult Guide to UK Treaty Series.

British Official Publications online index and abstracts. 1688 -1995
Search and browse for relevant documents over the period 1688 -1995 in a Web-based bibliographic database.  Gives references to print publications, such as the Parliamentary Papers and Cabinet level documents. (Use 
British Parliamentary Documents At Ohio State University Libraries and the OSU Library catalog to find documents.)

Colonial America
Colonial America will make available all 1,450 volumes of the CO 5 (Colonial Office Record Group 5) series from The National Archives, UK, covering the period 1606 to 1822. CO 5 consists of the original correspondence between the British government and the governments of the American colonies, making it a uniquely rich resource for all historians of the period.

Colonial State Papers
“This collection offers insight into the colonial history of North America and the West Indies. It includes the British National Archives collection CO 1—papers from the Colonial Office that were presented to the Privy Council and the Board of Trade during 1574-1757.  More than 7,000 hand-written documents and more than 45,000 bibliographic records from Calendar of State Papers Colonial consists of bibliographic entries along with transcriptions, extracts and abstracts, in fully keyed XML.  The papers offer fascinating insight into British trade, history and overseas expansion between the 16th and 18th centuries.”  Colonial State Papers is only concerned with the American, Canadian, and West Indian colonies.  Papers and calendars on other regions are not included even though they may relate to American affairs.  A search of CSP will produce calendar entries in CO record groups that were not digitized.  

State Papers Online, 1509-18th century
Provides correspondence, reports, memoranda, and parliamentary drafts from ambassadors, civil servants and provincial administrators in the British government. Find documents related to domestics and foreign policy.

Calendar of State Papers
Digital calendars are available in the following sources:  
-
State Papers Online, 1509-18th century 
-Medieval & Early Modern Sources Online (MEMSO) (individual volumes for downloading from MEMSO can also be found in the library catalog.)  Original published calendars in print are in the library collections.  Check the library catalog.  
-Colonial State Papers (mainly CO1)

Foreign & Commonwealth Office 
Selected, official documents since 1997

Hansards Debattes 1803-2005 
Search and read the text of the proceedings of the British House of Commons and House of Lords.

Medieval & Early Modern Sources Online (MEMSO)
Search and read a wide variety of British sources, including the Calendar of State Papers.

Nineteenth Century Collections Online
Documentary collection related to British politics and society; British documents related to western diplomacy and cultural exchange in Asia; British literature; British theater, music and popular culture.

Sources of English Constitutional History: A Selection of Documents from A.D. 600-present (1937) 

Digital Gallery at the National Library of Scotland

London Low Life: street culture, social reform and the Victorian underworld.  [Marlborough]: Archives Direct, Adam Matthew Digital.  Contains colour digital images of rare books, ephemera, maps and other materials relating to 19th and early 20th century London.

Defining Gender
Explores the study and analysis of gender, leisure and consumer culture using original primary source material from British archives.  Offers “ephemera, pamphlets, college records and exam papers, commonplace books, diaries, periodicals, letters, ledgers, account books, educational practice and pedagogy, government papers from the Home Office and Metropolitan police, illustrated writings on anatomy, midwifery, art and fashion, manuscript journals, poetry, novels, ballads, drama, receipt books, literary manuscripts, travel writing, and conduct and advice literature.”

 

Victorian Popular Culture.  Marlborough, Eng.: Adam Matthew Digital, 2008?. 
Consists of four components: Spiritualism, Sensation and Magic; Circuses, Sideshows and Freaks; Music Hall, Theatre and Popular Entertainment; and Moving pictures, optical entertainments & the advent of cinema. Includes full-text, full-color reproductions of books, ephemera, handbills, pamphlets, photos, posters, programs, scripts, and other types of materials. Coverage is most extensive for Great Britain; but there is also a fair range of materials for the U.S.A.

Papers of Joseph Chamberlain
This collection demonstrates the rapid change in politics, particularly the constant change in allegiances between politicians and Chamberlain’s own development as a politician. Newspaper clippings of his early speeches, the only record still existing of them, can also be found in this collection, recording his political career from start to finish.

Papers of Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940) remains the best-known of the Chamberlain family due to his controversial policy of "appeasement" towards Hitler. The Papers of Neville Chamberlain contain political papers documenting his policies as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister, but also highlight his personal correspondence with his family. These provide insight into the intentions behind his policies, his concerns at the development of the Second World War, as well as letters covering his life together with his wife Annie and his sisters, particularly Hilda and Ida. The correspondence of his wife with his biographer and the handling of his estates following his death can be found in this collection as well.

Papers of Sir Austen Chamberlain
The Papers of Sir Austen Chamberlain contains political papers that variously document his policies as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the House of Commons. These provide insight into the intentions behind his policies, the development of foreign affairs for both the First and Second World Wars, and his role in the wartime coalition government. The papers also include personal correspondence with his family, including his sister and wife, and highlight his close friendship with his stepmother, Mary Endicott. 

Women in the National Archives
"A finding aid to women's studies resources in The National Archives [and] original documents on the suffrage question in Britain, the Empire and colonial territories...The original documents cover the campaign for women's suffrage in Britain, 1903-1928 and the granting of women's suffrage in colonial territories, 1930-1962."

Archives:

Archives in Italy
Diplomatic Archives in Italy

Selected Document Collections:

Digital Archives and Collections
Links provided by the Society for Italian Historical Studies 

Eurodocs - Italy

Eurodocs -Italian Renaissance

Selected Digital Collections

           China

 

        New Zealand

Understanding Medieval Primary Sources. by Joel T. Rosenthal (Editor) Routledge, 2014.
"Medieval society created many kinds of records and written material which differ considerably, giving us such sources as last wills, sermons, manorial accounts, or royal biographies...Understanding Medieval Primary Sources is a collection of essays that will introduce students to the key primary sources that are essential to studying medieval Europe" including "wills, letters, royal and secular narratives and sermons. "

Selected Primary Digital Sources

ARTstor 
digital library of approximately 700,000 images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences.  Includes thousands of medieval manuscript and early book images. 

Digital Vatican Library
Offers access to the Vatican Library’s digitized collections of manuscripts and incunabula.

DMMapp (Digitized Medieval Manuscripts)
Links to more than 500 libraries in the world. Each one of these contains medieval manuscripts that can be browsed for free

e-codices:  Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland
Contains manuscripts from 
16 different libraries. The virtual library will be continuously updated and extended.

Enluminures
Images from illuminated manuscripts; descriptive information included
 Selected manuscripts at the British Library

Internet Medieval Sourcebook 
Selected sources for teaching; full text sources; hagiography


Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance
Bibliographic database, Iter Italicum, full text and search of Renaissance Quarterly, and directories to scholars and organizations

Eurodocs
Variety of texts, documents, and images in medieval history


Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies
Guide to web sites

Manuscripts at the British Library

Manuscripts at the Morgan Library & Museum (New York)
Includes many images and catalog descriptions of Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts

Manuscripts at the Walters Art Museum (Baltimore)
Introduction


Medieval and Early Modern Data Bank

From Rutgers University, "its aim is to provide scholars with an expanding library of information in electronic format on the medieval and early modern periods of European history, circa 800-1815 C.E. "

Medieval & Early Modern Sources Online (MEMSO)
Search and read a wide variety of British sources, including the Calendar of State Papers.  View a list of sources in the
databaseathttp://sources.tannerritchie.com/completelist.php . 

Medieval Family Life
Contains "original medieval manuscripts that comprise [specific] family letter collections along with full text searchable transcripts from the printed editions, where they are available. The original images and the transcriptions can be viewed side by side."

Medieval Manuscripts at Oxford University
Over 1100 images of medieval (and a few later) manuscripts are offered for browsing, in date order

Medieval Travel Writing
This new collection from Adam Matthew Digital presents manuscripts of some of the most important works of European travel writing from the later medieval period. The chief focus is on journeys to central Asia and the Far East, including accounts of travel to Mongolia, Persia, India, China and South-East Asia. The collection also includes a number of important accounts of travels to or through the Holy Land although in this it makes no claims to full or even broad coverage: a separate collection, covering crusading and pilgrimage narratives, would be required for that. It features a number of medieval maps such as the famous ‘Beatus’ and ‘Psalter’ maps, individual manuscript illuminations, and some modern translations of key travel texts

Early Manuscripts at Oxford University
Over 80 early manuscripts now in institutions associated with the University of Oxford.

Digital Bodleian
Find medieval documents among a larger collection from Bodleian at Oxford.

Manuscripts at the University of Heidelburg

"The Heidelberg University Library has digitized its collection of 848 Codices Palatini germanici of the former Palatine Library (Bibliotheca Palatina) with a total of approximately 270,000 pages and 7,000 miniatures."

ORB: The Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies 
Links to e-texts, scholarship, and reference information


Patrologia Grecae
Contains more than 160 volumes of Greek material (with Latin translations) relevant to the study of the history of the Christian Church from its beginnings through the Council of Florence in 1439.  This access does not include word searching.


Patrologia Latina
Comprises the works of the Church Fathers from Tertullian in 200 AD to the death of Pope Innoncent III in 1216. The Patrologia Latina Database contains the complete Patrologia Latina, including all prefatory material, original texts, critical apparatus and indexes.


Regesta Imperii 
Full text search and text of documents from Holy Roman Empire dated 751-1519 from 19th century edition. For library holdings of paper editions see OSU Library catalog for Regesta Imperii by title.
 

Regnum Francorum Online
Interactive maps and sources of early medieval Europe 614-840

OSU School of Architecture Digital Library
Images of ancient architectural structures and sites

Visual Resource Library OSU Dept. of the History of Art. 

Perseus Digital Library
 Classical documents supporting the humanities

Loeb Classical Library
LCL "presents a fully searchable virtual library of important Greek and Latin literature. Epic and lyric poetry; tragedy and comedy; history, travel, philosophy, and oratory; the great medical writers and mathematicians. More than 520 volumes of Latin, Greek, and English texts are available in a modern and elegant interface, allowing readers to browse, search, bookmark, annotate, and share content with ease." 

Brill's New Jacoby
BNJ 'is a new edition of the 856 fragmentary historians that comprise F. Jacoby's monumental Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker Parts I-III, but with significant additions. Each author has a Greek text (updated from that of Jacoby where relevant); facing English translation; new, critical commentary (for the first time for authors 608-856, on which Jacoby did not write commentaries); a brief encyclopaedia-style entry about his life, works, importance, etc.; and a select bibliography."

Attalus (Greek and Roman history 322 - 42 B.C.)
"lists of events and sources for the history of the Hellenistic world and the Roman republic. It includes links to online translations of many of the sources, as well as new translations of some works which have not previously been easily available in English.

ARTstor 
digital library of approximately 700,000 images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences.  Includes images of ancient art and architecture.

LacusCurtius: Into the Roman World
Links to classical texts on Roman history and inscriptions; selected reference material (dictionary, atlas, gazetteer) and  selected historical accounts from the 19th-20th centuries.

Roman Provincial Coinage Online
Intended "to produce a standard typology of the provincial coinage of the Roman Empire from its beginning in 44 BC to its end in AD 296/7. The Roman Provincial Coinage Online project is confined to the periods AD 96–192 and 249–254, but other periods will be put online in the future. The database contains information on 23,322 coin types, based on 97,883 specimens (30,289 of which have images)."

Eurodocs
Variety of links related to texts, images, and scanning projects in ancient history

Giza Archives Project 
"Seeks to provide a comprehensive online resource for scholarly research on the Old Kingdom Giza Necropolis (dating from about 2500 BCE).


Online Resources for Egyptology
Provides links to a wide array resources on ancient Egypt.

Orbis: The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World
"
By simulating movement along the principal routes of the Roman road network, the main navigable rivers, and hundreds of sea routes in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and coastal Atlantic, this interactive model reconstructs the duration and financial cost of travel in antiquity."

Thebean Mapping Project
Seeks "to prepare a comprehensive archaeological database of Thebes."

Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire
An ongoing project based on historical GIS, developed at Lunds universitet since 2012, under the Pelagios Commons umbrella. According to the “About DARE” page (viewed 30 September 2016), it “aims at a high level of accuracy and the integration of digital resources such as satellite imagery, national topographic maps, source texts, other source material, and scholarly literature.” The resulting atlas benefits from frequent (at least monthly) updating to incorporate additional data as well as new digital cartographic features. The locations of settlements, roads, structures of other types, bodies of water, and natural land features are mapped, with distinctive designations for partial and reconstructed names, sites known only by their modern names, uncertain locations, and so forth. In addition to Roman place names, Late Iron Age Celtic sites are included."

Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilizations (DARMC)
"DARMC makes freely available on the internet the best available materials for a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) approach to mapping and spatial analysis of the Roman and medieval worlds. DARMC allows innovative spatial and temporal analyses of all aspects of the civilizations of western Eurasia in the first 1500 years of our era, as well as the generation of original maps illustrating differing aspects of ancient and medieval civilization. A work in progress with no claim to definitiveness."

ETANA (Electronic Texts and Ancient Near Eastern Archives) 
Includes digitized "texts selected as valuable for teaching and research relating to ancient Near Eastern studies. We have selected primarily editions that are outside of copyright, or with the permission of copyright holders." 

Ancient Near East and the Ancient Mediterranean World
Materials published between 1850 - 1950, drawn from two of the University of Chicago Library's complimentary collections, the Ancient Near East and Classics Collections

Ancient Greek Music
Contains all published fragments of Ancient Greek music which consist of more than a few scattered notes. All of them are recorded under the use of tunings whose exact ratios have been transmitted to us by ancient theoreticians.

Digital Library, OSU School of Architecture. 
Includes slides of historical sites

Images from the Squeeze Collection at The Ohio State University
Includes a searchable database of scanned images of dated Attic inscriptions from the squeeze collection of the Center for Epigraphical and Paleographical Studies.

Potsherds: Atlas of Roman Pottery
"This is a collection of pages on pottery and ceramics in archaeology, principally of the Roman period (1st cent. BC - 5th cent. AD) in Britain and western Europe."  Information includes maps of locations of discoveries and descriptive information about the pieces such as usage, dating, distribution and scholarly references.

The Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project 
"This site is dedicated to exploring the Forma Urbis Romae, or Severan Marble Plan of Rome. This enormous map, measuring ca. 18.10 x 13 meters (ca. 60 x 43 feet), was carved between 203-211 CE and covered an entire wall inside the Templum Pacis in Rome. It depicted the groundplan of every architectural feature in the ancient city, from large public monuments to small shops, rooms, and even staircases."  Search and view segments of the slab to study the city of Rome.

Polis at Stanford University    
"Allows scholars and students of classical Greek (and to some extent Roman) history to visualize data about Places (especially archaic and classical Greek city-states) and People (from famous enough to be included in a standard Classical dictionary) from two large data-sets, and to generate maps and simple statistical information from them.

Visual Resource Library OSU Dept. of the History of Art. 

OSU School of Architecture Digital Library
Images of ancient architectural structures and sites