Virtual Libraries
This compendium of virtual, Internet libraries is organized first by general interest libraries, then university-based libraries, government libraries, libraries by subject, and, finally, literature libraries. These libraries provide free information to the public, especially useful to the student compiling research for a paper or for anyone who wishes to expand his or her own knowledge base for fun!
General Virtual Libraries
California Digital Library
The California Digital Library provides a single point of
access for digital collections produced or managed by the
University of California. This site offers a broad range
of scholarly and popular content; the digital collections
reflect the diverse interests and scholarship of the
University of California. This website is a first step
toward bringing together publicly accessible digital
collections that are created and managed by the
University of California.
Internet Public Library
The Internet Public Library (IPL), is a public service organization and learning/teaching environment at the University of Michigan School of Information. IPL seeks to challenge and redefine the roles and significance of libraries in an increasingly distributed and digital world .
WWW Virtual Library
Unlike commercial catalogs, the WWW Virtual Library is
run by a loose confederation of volunteers, who compile
pages of key links for particular areas in which they are
expert; even though it isn't the biggest index of the Web,
the VL pages are widely recognized as being amongst the
highest-quality guides to particular sections of the Web.
University Virtual Libraries
Alexandria Digitial Library Project, University of California at Santa Barbara
The goal of the Alexandria Digital Library Project (ADL) is to develop a globally distributed georeferenced digital library.
Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE, University of California at Berkeley
The Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE builds digital
collections and services while providing information and
support to digital library developers worldwide. SunSITE
is sponsored by the U.C. Berkeley Library and Sun
Microsystems, Inc.
California Digital Library, University of California
Harnessing technology and innovation, and leveraging the intellectual and cultural resources of the University of California, the California Digital Library (CDL) supports the assembly and creative use of the world's scholarship and knowledge for the UC libraries and the communities they serve. Established in 1997 as a UC library, the CDL has become one of the largest digital libraries in the world.
Cornell University Library Digital Collections, Cornell University
Cornell Library Digital Collections are open to the general public, in accordance with the terms set forth in the Guidelines for Using Text and Images from Cornell Library Digital Collections.
DSpace, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
DSpace is a groundbreaking digital library system to
capture, store, index, preserve, and redistribute the
intellectual output of a university’s research faculty
in digital formats. Developed jointly by MIT Libraries and
Hewlett-Packard (HP), DSpace is now freely available to
research institutions world-wide as an open source system
that can be customized and extended.
Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia
The Electronic Text Center's holdings include approximately 70,000 on- and off-line humanities texts in thirteen languages, with more than 350,000 related images (book illustrations, covers, manuscripts, newspaper pages, page images of Special Collections books, museum objects, etc.)
Digital Library Production Service, University of Michigan
The Digital Library Production Service (DLPS) was formed
in 1996 to provide infrastructure for campus digital
library collections, including both access systems and
digitization services. DLPS is a unit of the University
Library, and is part of its Library Information Technology
Division. DLPS is also responsible for the Digital Library
eXtension Service (DLXS) and host services for other
academic institutions and non-profit organizations.
Digital Library Research Projects at Grainger Engineering Library Information Center,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
A list of the digital library research projects and pertinent resources and links from the Grainger Engineering Library Information Center at the University of Illinois.
Digital Research Library, University of Pittsburgh
The Digital Research Library (DRL) of the University of
Pittsburgh's University Library System (ULS) supports the
teaching and research mission of the university and serves
users through the creation and maintenance of
Web-accessible digital research collections. The DRL also
serves as a knowledge resource within the ULS for digital
library issues and developments.
Informedia-II Digital Video Library, Carnegie Mellon University
The overarching goal of the
Informedia initiatives is to achieve machine understanding
of video and film media, including all aspects of search,
retrieval, visualization and summarization in both
contemporaneous and archival content collections.
Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University
Perseus is an evolving digital library, engineering interactions through time, space, and language. Their primary goal is to bring a wide range of source materials to as large an audience as possible.
Government Virtual Libraries
United States Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the
nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as
the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest
library in the world, with nearly 128 million items on
approximately 530 miles of bookshelves. The collections
include more than 29 million books and other printed
materials, 2.7 million recordings, 12 million photographs,
4.8 million maps, and 57 million manuscripts.
National Archives & Records Administration
NARA, an independent Federal
agency, is America's national recordkeeper. NARA's mission
is to ensure ready access to the essential evidence that
documents the rights of American citizens, the actions of
Federal officials, and the national experience. Among the
treasures available online are the cornerstone documents
of our Government - the Declaration of Independence, the
Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights,
as well as many current and past exhibits.
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian is committed to enlarging our shared
understanding of the mosaic that is our national identity
by providing authoritative experiences that connect us to
our history and our heritage as Americans and to promoting
innovation, research and discovery in science. These
commitments have been central to the Smithsonian since its
founding more than 155 years ago.
Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada is an innovative knowledge
institution that combines the collections, services and
staff expertise of the former National Library of Canada
and National Archives of Canada. The objective is to
provide all Canadians with easy, one-stop access to the
texts, photographs and other documents that reflect their
cultural, social and political development. Working
closely with other archives and libraries, they will
continue to acquire and preserve Canada's documentary
heritage in all its forms.
Virtual Libraries By Subject
Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library
This Web site is a global collaborative project which
provides access in bibliographic and in hypertext terms to
networked scholarly documents, resources and information
systems concerned with or relevant to Asian Studies.
Links for Chemists
Links for Chemists is an index of chemistry resources on
the web. This site is the copyright of The University of
Liverpool, Department of Chemistry.
WWW Virtual Library: Electrical and Electronics Engineering
The Electrical and Electronics Engineering Virtual Library is hosted at Monterrey Tech, State of Mexico Campus, Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department.
Contents include: Academic and Research Institutions,
Information Resources, Journals and Magazines, Products
and Services, and Standards.
WWW Virtual Law Library
You can search, browse by topical listing (Administrative Law,
Business and Commercial, Law Civil and Appellate
Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and
Evidence, Environmental Law, Family Law, Foreign and
International Law, Intellectual Property Law, Labor and
Employment Law, Property Law, Taxation, and Torts), or
browse by information source (Law Schools/Libraries, Law
Firms, Law Journals, U.S. Government, State Government,
Organizations, Foundations, Non-Profit Vendors, and
Publishers.)
Mathematics WWW Virtual Library
This collection of mathematics-related resources is
maintained by the Florida State University Department of
Mathematics as a free service to the online community.
Information is categorized by subject: Addresses and
Societies, Bibliographies, Department, Education,
Electronic Journals, General Resources, Gophers, High
School Servers, Newsgroups, Online Books, Preprints,
Science and Math, Software, Specialized Fields, and TeX
Archives.
WWW Virtual Library: Microbiology & Virology
This section of the Virtual Library is devoted to the
science, practice, and application of microbiology and
virology. Subjects covered include culture collections,
databases, educational sites, journals, government and
regulatory sites, images, medical microbiology, university
departments, virology, protista, and references to
newsgroups, e-mail lists, and other resources for the
microbiologist.
The World Wide Web Virtual Library: Pharmacy
This Web site includes pharmacy related resource available on the Internet, including: Associations, Community Pharmacy Pages, Conferences, Databases on the WWW, Government WWW Sites, Hospital Pages, Jobs and Pharmacy, Journals and Books, Miscellaneous Pharmacy Pages, Pharmaceutical Companies, Pharmacy Listservs, and Pharmacy Schools on the WWW.
WWW Virtual Library: Philosophy
The WWW Philosophy Virtual Library is located at the
University of Bristol, hosted jointly by the Department of
Philosophy and the Institute for Learning and Research
Technology. This Virtual Library section is now provided
in collaboration with SOSIG, the Social Science
Information Gateway.
Psychology WWW Virtual Library
The Psychology Virtual Library keeps track of online information as part of the
WWW Virtual Library. Sites are inspected and evaluated for their adequacy as information sources before they are linked to.
World Wide Web Virtual Library: Statistics
Sections include: Data Sources; Job Announcements; Departments,
Divisions, and Schools of Statistics; On-Line Educational
Resources; Government Statistical Institutes; Statistical
Research Groups, Institutes, and Associations; Services;
Archives and Resources; Software Vendors and Software FAQs;
Journals; Mailing Lists and Archives; and related News
Groups.
World Wide Web Virtual Library: Veterinary Medicine
The WWW Virtual Library Veterinary Medicine is a selected collection of veterinary medical Internet resources, operating since 1994.
Women's Studies Section
WSSLINKS was developed and is maintained by the Women's Studies Section of the Association of College & Research Libraries. The purpose of WSSLINKS is to provide access to a wide range of resources in support of Women's Studies.
Literature Virtual Libraries
The Online Books Page, University of Pennsylvania
The Online Books Page is a website hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Library, that facilitates access to books that are freely readable over the Internet. It also aims to encourage the development of such online books, for the benefit and edification of all.
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is the Internet's oldest producer of free electronic books (eBooks or etexts). Their present collection of more than 10,000 eBooks was produced by hundreds of volunteers. Most of the Project Gutenberg eBooks are older literary works that are in the public domain in the United States. All may be freely downloaded and read, and redistributed for non-commercial use.
Psychology WWW Virtual Library
The Psychology Virtual Library keeps track of online information as part of the
WWW Virtual Library. Sites are inspected and evaluated for their adequacy as information sources before they are linked to.
Digital Book Index
Digital Book Index provides links to more than 88,000 title records from more than 1800 commercial and non-commercial publishers, universities, and various private sites. About 49,900 of these books, texts, and documents are available free, while many others are available at very modest cost.
Humanities Text Initiative (HTI) American Verse Project
The American Verse Project is a collaborative project between the University of Michigan Humanities Text Initiative (HTI) and the University of Michigan Press. The project is assembling an electronic archive of volumes of American poetry prior to 1920. The full text of each volume of poetry is being converted into digital form and coded in Standard Generalized Mark-up Language (SGML) using the TEI Guidelines, with various forms of access provided through the WWW.