Libraries

Global

Digital Library Access

Some websites and/or apps make possible to retrieve digital materials more easily from libraries the user already can access.

Freegal Music

"Offering over 18 million songs belonging to 200+ genres— including Sony Music’s catalog of legendary artists— Freegal Music+ is one of the most popular library services in the world, and with 200,000 songs added monthly, there’s always something new for listeners to discover. So what are you waiting for? All you need is your library card (and pin number) to join our 2.5 million+ users in browsing through our vast collection of today’s top hits, yesterday’s favorites, and curated playlists made just for you. (Access to Freegal is limited to patrons of subscribing libraries.)"

Libby

"The library reading app... Borrow ebooks, audiobooks, magazines and more from your local library for free! Libby is the newer library reading app by OverDrive, loved by millions of readers worldwide."

Hoopla

Provides five free digital media borrows per month after the user logs in with a library for which they already have access (generally through a library card).

Example

Open Access

Some museums and similar institutions have "open access" policies, where they make available digital versions of works in their collections which are in the public domain.

The Internet Classics Archive

"Select from a list of 441 works of classical literature by 59 different authors, including user-driven commentary and 'reader's choice' Web sites. Mainly Greco-Roman works (some Chinese and Persian), all in English translation."

National Gallery of Art Open Access Images

"The National Gallery of Art has an open access policy for images of works of art in our permanent collection which the Gallery believes to be in the public domain. Images of these works are available for download free of charge for any use, whether commercial or non-commercial."

"Free open access image downloads are now available directly from the object pages located on this website. Over 50,000 images are available for download, and we will continue to add more images for free access as more works are photographed and as works of art enter the public domain."

The Museum of Retro Technology

Images and descriptions of a variety of old technology.

Perseus Digital Library

"The Perseus Digital Library, founded as and still often known as the Perseus Project, is an evolving digital library of resources for the study of the humanities. We are funded to perform research on developing tools to provide users with improved access to various types of materials. Past work has focused on building and linking together collections. Current work considers ways of developing and refining tools for presentation of the materials in the Perseus DL. We are primarily a research project, although we do incorporate services for our audience."

Smithsonian Open Access

"Welcome to Smithsonian Open Access, where you can download, share, and reuse millions of the Smithsonian’s images—right now, without asking. With new platforms and tools, you have easier access to more than 4.9 million 2D and 3D digital items from our collections—with many more to come. This includes images and data from across the Smithsonian’s 21 museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives, and the National Zoo."

Yellowstone Sound Library

"Welcome to the Yellowstone sound library, where you can immerse yourself in the aural landscape of America's first national park. The files available here were recorded in the park and are in the public domain. They may be downloaded and used without limitation; however, please credit the "National Park Service " where appropriate."

Yellowstone Video Library

"Welcome to the Yellowstone video library. The selection files available here were recorded in the park and are in the public domain. They may be downloaded and used without limitation; however, please credit the "National Park Service" where appropriate."

Example

Scholarly Archives

Whether all of these these are technically "libraries" is arguable, but they are generally scholarly archives and/or databases of accessible scholarly publications which provide increased access to their materials for those with other library access. If they are searchable without login, that will be specified in the description.

JSTOR

"Explore the world’s knowledge, cultures, and ideas... Search journals, books, images, and primary sources"
- Searchable without logging in.
- Increased reading limit available for logging in with a free account.
- University login available for those affiliated with an institution of higher learning (college and/or university).

Wiley Online Library

"Accelerating research discovery to shape a better future... Today's research, tomorrow's innovation".
Online Library of scholarly articles, journals, and related materials.

Yokai.com

"This is an illustrated encyclopedia featuring ghosts, monsters, and legendary figures from Japan. All of the entries on this site are based on Japanese sources including books, paintings, scrolls, prints, and oral tradition."

Stock Media

Freely available

FontSpace

"130,000+ Free Fonts... Free downloads of legally licensed fonts that are perfect for your design projects."

FreeSound

"Freesound aims to create a huge collaborative database of audio snippets, samples, recordings, and all sorts of bleeps, ... released under Creative Commons licenses that allow their reuse."

Pixabay

"Over 5.2 million+ high quality stock images, videos and music shared by our talented community."

Unsplash

"The internet’s source for visuals. Powered by creators everywhere."

Region-Locked

Libraries and Archives which are available to specific countries and/or regions.

Canada

Japan Foundation Toronto

"Use your JFT library card to borrow materials from the library and access digital collection... You may apply for a JFT Library card if you are: 14 years of age and over[;] Residing in Canada from the date of application for at least three months."

USA

Japan Foundation Los Angeles

"The Japan Foundation Los Angeles, in partnership with our New York and Toronto offices, now offers public access to our digital library system via Libby."

The Queer Liberation Library

"Queer Liberation Library (QLL) is fighting to build a vibrant, flourishing queer future by connecting LGBTQ+ people with literature, information, and resources that celebrate the unique and empowering diversity of our community... a queer digital library that makes queer literature, information, and resources available to our library members across the United States... A queer library is a special library that focuses on supporting and representing the LGBTQ2IA+ community. This means our holdings, resources, and programming will be titles written for, created by, and/or of interest to people in the LGBTQ2IA+ community.