Research Guides: Guide to Digital Research in Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books: Databases

The Library subscribes to hundreds of databases. Their content is not public, meaning that it cannot be located through Google searching, but free access is provided via the Library. Many can be accessed from home after logging in with your library card's barcode and PIN.

For an overview of navigating and accessing these databases, see Online Research: Where to Start. For updates on expanded access during the coronavirus closure, see Research at NYPL: Remote Access to Collections and Services.

While the specific database you need will depend on your research topic, here are a few of our most frequently-consulted databases for primary source research:

America's Historical Newspapers
Searchable full-text and page images of newspapers from across the country including early newspapers, 1690-1922, African American Newspapers, 1827-1998; America's Urban Centers Newspaper Collection, 1807-1880; Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection, 1799-1971; Caribbean Newspapers, 1718-1876;and Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980; Early American Newspapers, Series 15, 1822-1879: Immigrant Communities. Access to this resource has been temporarily expanded to NYPL cardholders working from home, courtesy of Readex/Newsbank. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
America's Historical Imprints
Search full-text early American books, pamphlets, broadsides, government documents and rare printed materials. Combined search of American Broadsides and Ephemera (1760-1900) and Early American Imprints (1639-1819), including supplements from the Library Company of Philadelphia and the American Antiquarian Society.
Access to this resource has been temporarily expanded to NYPL cardholders working from home, courtesy of Readex/Newsbank.
**Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
Archives of Sexuality and Gender
Contains 51 digitized archival collections exploring LGBTQ history and culture since 1940. Includes three collections held by NYPL: The Mattachine Society of New York Records, 1951-1976; Gay Activists Alliance, 1970-1983; and ACT UP: The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. Other collections originate from institutions like the Lesbian Herstory Archives and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Historical Society. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
Early English Books Online (EEBO)
Provides full text, digital images of every book printed in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and every book in the English language printed abroad, from 1475 to 1700. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
EEBO contains Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue of printed materials published in the English language from 1475 to 1640, Wing's Short-Title Catalogue of works dating from 1641 to 1700, and Thomason Tracts, a compendium of broadsides on the English Civil War printed between 1640 and 1661. The books in EEBO are presented as scanned images, so all illustrations and maps are included.
Gale Primary Sources: Eighteenth Century Collections Online
Provides full text, digital images of books, pamphlets, broadsides and other materials published in the United Kingdom between 1701-1800. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
ECCO is based on the English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC), a union list of the holdings of the British Library and other institutions worldwide. The database also includes selected foreign-language materials published in the United Kingdom.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Searchable full-text and page images of all ProQuest Historical Newspaper databases, which include titles related to New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., the American Jewish Newspaper Series, and the United Kingdom. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
This database is only accessible at the following NYPL locations: Stephen A. Schwarzman Building; New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; Thomas Yoseloff Business Center; All Branch Libraries
LGBT Life with Full Text
LGBT Life provides complete indexing and abstracting of content related to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender studies in over 230 journals, magazines, and newspapers. LGBT Life also provides full text from a number of important sources including monographs and publications such as The Advocate, New York Blade, and Out. **Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
Ancestry Library Edition
Access billions of names in thousands of genealogical databases including Census and Vital Records, birth, marriage and death notices, the Social Security Death Index, Passenger lists and naturalizations, Military and Holocaust Records, City Directories, New York Emigrant Savings Bank records, and African American and Native American Records. Library version of Ancestry.com.**Patrons should read the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy of this resource before searching.**
This database is only accessible at the following NYPL locations: Stephen A. Schwarzman Building; New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; Thomas Yoseloff Business Center; All Branch Libraries