Ask Us

Digital Collections

Primary sources and archival materials that are digitized and described online are published in digital collection databases. Archival digital collections contain digital archival objects. These objects include images, audio,  video, and text. The objects can be selected examples or digital representations of the materials in an archival collectionCultural heritage and history organizations, libraries, museums, and even corporations publish collections online.

Digital Collections at CSUDH

CSUDH Archives & Special Collections has a digital collections database of archival materials available in our physical library. See the collections > >

Digital Collections elsewhere (some examples)

Here are some ways to find digital collections outside CSUDH.

• The Internet Archive

  • Digital library of internet sites (The Wayback Machine) and digital collections including books, texts, audio, video, images, and software programs. The Internet Archive is an aggregator of materials and does not have a physical library.

• Digital Public Library of America

  • The DPLA is a digital-library that aggregates metadata (information about an item) and thumbnails for millions of items from libraries, museums, and archives across the United States.

• Calisphere

  • Calisphere provides access to materials at the University of California and other California libraries, archives, and museums. Includes photographs, documents, letters, artwork, diaries, oral histories, films, advertisements, musical recordings and more. 

For more information about archives and primary sources, see the Primary Source Research and Discovery Guide.