Skip to Main Content

Researching Magazines at The New York Public Library: By Digital Resource

This guide covers current and historical magazines at the 42nd Street Library, as well as resources for locating and conducting research on magazine titles and their histories.

By Digital Resource

Access the extensive publications available through The New York Public Library's Articles & Databases e-resources page, including magazines accessible online with a Library card or on-site at any NYPL branch.

Find e-Magazines on NYPL Databases

Try out the Online Magazines & Journals tool to find magazines in our databases. This search tool, located on the right side of the Articles and Databases' home page, readers can search for the names of publications available online.

Follow the instructions below to find e-magazines available online:

Step One: Under More Research Tools is the Online Magazines & Journals tool, which locates particular e-publications within the databases by searching by title.

Step Two: You can swiftly search for a specific publication to determine whether it is available for remote access or on-site use at NYPL branches.

If you are accessing from a remote location with your Library Card, select from Home.
If you are at any NYPL branch, select on-site in the Library.

Step Three: Enter the magazine title and choose Journals Only to filter your search results.

Final Step: Choose the link corresponding to the desired date to view the magazine content.

Database Access with NYPL

The databases listed provide access to magazine collections. You'll need a Library card to access them from home.

Please note that some of these databases are only accessible on-site at NYPL branches, meaning they cannot be accessed remotely.

Flipster
Access over 100 popular magazines, including Bon Appetit, Sports Illustrated, Time, and People.
Please Note: In order to access magazines through the Flipster app please follow the steps below:
1. Download the Flipster app onto a device.
2. Go to the NYPL articles & databases page and access Flipster through our website. Or type the following URL in your web browser on your phone or device: https://www.nypl.org/collections/articles-databases/flipster
3. Click on Connect to Database, you will be asked to sign in with your library card and pin number if accessing remotely. Look up the magazine you want, choose "Read this Issue".
4. There is an option in the upper left hand corner (looks like 3 lines), chose open in App.
5. The Flipster app usually opens automatically, but if not just go to the Flipster App and click on "shelf" the magazine should be downloaded and can be read offline.
Cairn.Info
Online collection of French language periodicals and e-books in the social sciences and humanities.
PressReader
Provides access to current newspapers worldwide in full-color, full-page format. Includes over 2,000 U.S. and international titles.
Please Note: In order to access newspapers and magazines through the PressReader app please follow the steps below: 1. Go to the NYPL Articles & Databases page and access PressReader through our website. Visit https://www.nypl.org/collections/articles-databases/pressreader 2. Sign in with your library card credentials. 3. Locate the green button on the bottom of your screen or device and click Open in app. 4. Download the app. 5. To ensure that you have access in the app, please activate HotSpots. To do this, tap on Settings in the menu > HotSpots > Enable HotSpots.

The databases listed provide access to magazine collections. You'll need a Library card to access them from home.

Please note that some of these databases are only accessible on-site at NYPL branches, meaning they cannot be accessed remotely.

Academic Search Premier
A multi-disciplinary database of more than 4,600 magazines and journals, including full text for nearly 3,900 peer-reviewed titles.
African American Historical Serials Collection
This collection documents the history of African American life and religious organizations from materials published between 1829 and 1922.
Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
This database includes full-text business journals and magazines covering all business disciplines, including marketing, management, accounting, banking, finance, and more.
EBSCOHost
Provides access to over 30 databases with citations, abstracts, and selected full-text.
EBSCO Research Databases This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text coverage of periodicals, including newspapers, covering nearly all subjects.
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; Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL)
International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance with Full Text
Contains all of the content available in the International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance and full text for 100 titles.
LGBT Life with Full Text
Provides complete indexing and abstracting of content related to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender studies in over 230 journals, magazines, and newspapers.
MasterFILE Premier
Contains full text for nearly 1,700 periodicals covering general reference, business, health, education, general science, multicultural issues, and much more.
MasterFILE Premier provides full text for over 1,800 general interest, business, consumer health, general science, and multicultural periodicals. In addition, this database offers indexing and abstracts for over 2,500 periodicals.
Middle Search Plus
Provides full-text access to magazines covering general topics for middle and junior high school students.
Middle Search Plus contains full text for more than 150 popular, middle school magazines. In addition to the full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for nearly 200 magazines. All full text articles are assigned a reading level indicator. Full text is also available for thousands of biographies, historical essays and student pamphlets. Additionally, Middle Search Plus contains Essential Documents in American History, and other important information resources such as an Image Collection of 116,000 photos, maps and flags, 96,600 biographies, and 76,000 primary source documents. Full text backfiles date as far back as 1989, while indexing and abstract backfiles go as far back as January of 1984.
Regional Business News This link opens in a new window
This database covers full-text regional business publications from the United States and Canadian provinces.
RIPM: Online Archive of Music Periodicals: 1800-1950
Full-text archive of specialized music journals, daily newspapers, articles in literary periodicals, theatrical journals, and magazines, as well as engravings and lithographs in the illustrated press.
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; Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL)

The databases listed provide access to magazine collections. You'll need a Library card to access them from home.

Please note that some of these databases are only accessible on-site at NYPL branches, meaning they cannot be accessed remotely.

Academic OneFile
This article database includes full-text and abstracts of scholarly, trade, and general-interest periodicals covering topics in current events, general sciences and technology, social sciences, arts, and humanities.
Agriculture Collection
This collection provides a comprehensive view of agriculture and its related fields through journals and magazines -- from practical aspects of farming to cutting-edge scientific research in horticulture.
Archives of Sexuality and Gender
Contains 51 digitized archival collections exploring LGBTQ history and culture since 1940.
Business Collection
Nearly 4,000 leading business, trade, and news publications covering accounting, economics, finance, marketing, management & strategy, and business theory & practice.
PROMT is a magazine and newspaper index for companies and industries focusing on markets and products around the world.
Business Insights: Essentials
Business Insights provides in-depth coverage of businesses, including company profiles, industry profiles, products and brands, financial reports, company rankings, histories, and full-text periodical articles.
Popular Magazines
Includes over 1,000 full-text magazine titles covering general interest, social sciences, health, and more.

The databases listed provide access to magazine collections. You'll need a Library card to access them from home.

Please note that some of these databases are only accessible on-site at NYPL branches, meaning they cannot be accessed remotely.

American Periodicals (1740-1940)
Contains over 1,800 magazines, journals, and newspapers published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines, and many other historically significant titles.
Black Studies Center
This cross-searchable gateway to Black Studies includes scholarly essays, periodical literature, historical newspaper articles, reference books, and more.
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
Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive
Full-text of entertainment industry trade magazines covering film, music, broadcasting, and theater.
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
Ethnic NewsWatch (1959-present)
Collection of ethnic, minority, and native newspapers, magazines, and journals published in America.
Global Newsstream
Over 2,500 news sources, including newspapers, newswires, news journals, television and radio transcripts, blogs, podcasts, and digital-only websites, are available in full-text format.
Latin American Newsstream
Provides full-text information in Spanish and Portuguese from 41 newspapers from 11 Latin American countries.
LGBT Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Offers digital access to the backfiles of many of the most influential, long-running periodicals devoted to LGBT interests.
News, Policy & Politics Magazine Archive (feat. Newsweek) This link opens in a new window
An archival collection comprising the backfiles of major magazines, including the Newsweek archive, spanning areas including current events, international relations, and public policy.
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
Performing Arts Periodicals Database
Covers the subjects of dance, film, television, drama, recorded sound, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, broadcast arts, circus performance, comedy, storytelling, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, and more.
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
Periodicals Archive Online
An interdisciplinary digital archive of hundreds of full-text journals published in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
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
ProQuest Research Library
Provides articles from periodicals covering the arts, business, children, education, health, humanities, law, multicultural studies, sciences, social sciences, and general interest.
ProQuest Research Library contains articles from over 2600 newspapers and periodicals covering the arts, business, humanities, health, social sciences, sciences. Of those journals approximately 1700 are available with the full text and/or image.
U.S. Newsstream
Access to current U.S. news content and archives from the 1980s.
Women's Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Provides digital access to decades of women's-interest magazines in high-resolution color and in full-text from cover to cover. This collection covers magazines from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Dates of coverage:1846-2005. Better Homes & Gardens (1922 to 2005); Chatelaine (1928 to 2005); Good Housekeeping (1885 to 2005); Ladies' Home Journal (1883 to 2005); Parents (1926 to 2005); Redbook (1903 to 2005); Cosmopolitan (1886 to 2005); Essence (1970 to 2005); Seventeen (1944 to 2005); Town and Country (1846 to 2005); Woman's Day (1937 to 2005)

The databases listed provide access to magazine collections. You'll need a Library card to access them from home.

Please note that some of these databases are only accessible on-site at NYPL branches, meaning they cannot be accessed remotely.

African American Periodicals 1825-1995 This link opens in a new window
Searchable full-text and page images of over 170 periodicals, published in 26 states, by and about African Americans.
American Underworld: The Flash Press - Crime, Scandal, and Blackmail Papers of the Nineteenth Century This link opens in a new window
The Flash Press covers the seamier aspects of urban life in the mid-19th century and topics such as prostitution, gambling, urban gangs, illicit sporting activities, and sensational crimes.

Open Access Collections

The following are online magazine collections that are freely available for anyone to use:

Architecture Magazine Library
- This link opens in a new window
The USModernist® Library is the world's largest open digital collection of major US architecture magazines, with over 4.3 million downloadable pages and representing over 21,000 issues.
Blue Mountain Project
- This link opens in a new window
This collection contains fully searchable issues of important periodicals of the European avant-garde.
Digital Transgender Archive
- This link opens in a new window
The Digital Transgender Archive is an online hub for transgender history that includes digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings worldwide, including periodicals and magazines.
Google Books - Magazines
- This link opens in a new window
Accessing Google Books allows you to obtain complete magazine texts, including titles such as Life, which is no longer published. However, the titles are limited.
more...less...
.
Independent Voices
- This link opens in a new window
Independent Voices is a growing digital collection of the magazines, journals, and newspapers of the alternative and small press archives of participating libraries.
Internet Archive: Serials in Microfilm
- This link opens in a new window
The digitized version is from the Serials In Microform collection originally from NA Publishing.
Internet Archive: The Magazine Archive
- This link opens in a new window
The Magazine Rack is a collection of digitized magazines and monthly publications.
magtopia
- This link opens in a new window
A website with free magazines online.
The Modernist Journals Project
- This link opens in a new window
The Modernist Journals Project digitizes English-language literary magazines from the 1890s to the 1920s.
South Asia Open Archives
- This link opens in a new window
The South Asia Open Archives project includes historical and contemporary sources covering the arts, humanities, and social sciences in English and South Asian languages from and about South Asia.

Last Updated: Aug 27, 2024 10:48 AM
URL: https://libguides.nypl.org/nyplmagazines
Print Page

Subjects: General Research Division, Humanities and Social Sciences, Periodicals, Reference