Online archives?
Dear community
I have read many books about history, Napoleon, Crusades, Thirty Years’ War,
Discoveries in Antarctica, colonizations, etc.
The authors of these books always rely on sources and do research in archives.
If I want to find out more about certain topics in world history through archives,
How do I get there?
Are there free access to online archives where I could find materials?
Thank you very much for your help.
In fact, more and more libraries provide their stocks digitally and provide them online and free of charge.
Since I myself research historically in religion, I sometimes refer back to the collections of the Vatican Library, which are now also widely published digitally. Here e.g. documents about Dionysius Exiguus:
https://digi.vatlib.it/search?k_f=0&k_v=Exiguus
And here is another access to books and manuscripts of the Vatican Library:
http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/
As has been said, more and more libraries, museums and universities provide material online and free of charge… This is particularly simple for older texts where the copyright has already expired.
Otherwise you can register with jstor, as there is a large database with specialist articles. If you need a lot of material it is paid, but there is such a free registration where you can get a few articles month.
You can also get a user ID for many libraries and then not only access the collections but also access the search functions and the digital offers. Where do you live? Are there a university and/or a state library nearby? – if so, I’d just go there and ask.