This list may be useful for anyone conducting their own research, but was compiled by those with an African and Carribbean focus. If you have any suggestions of any other resources that could be included, please do tell us via web@horniman.ac.uk. The Horniman is not responsible for any of the content on these sites.
Aluka – This is a collection of digitised photographs, archives and 3D visualisations of heritage sites in/from Africa.
Archive.org – This is one of the largest, open-source, digital libraries in the world. It specialises in providing global access to books (historical and contemporary) but also contains archival colonial documents.
Bristol Museum – Digitised photographs from the British Empire and Commonwealth collection.
British Library Digital Collections – The British Library in London has digitised a series of its collections. Of particular interest might be:
British Library Endangered Archives Programme – This provides free access to digitised archives from across the world, including significant collections from Nigeria, such as colonial-era correspondence and policy documents, Nigerian newspapers, Arabic manuscripts and poetry.
British Newspaper Archive – This is an archive of searchable digitised newspapers, from across the UK, dating back to 1700s. The first three papers are free.
British Online Archives – This is Britain’s largest repository of digitised archives. It includes archives relating to British colonial policy and practice in Africa. Institutional access is free for 30 day trail period.
- Governing British records from African countries under colonial rule
- Nigeria-specific information
- Kenya-specific information
Cambridge University Press – Open access hub.
EThOS – Access to over 500,000 doctoral thesis submitted in the UK.
Imperial War Museums Collections online – The IWM has over 800,000 digitised objects, paper archives, photographs, films and sound recordings relating to warfare, wider military activity and the museum itself.
JSTOR – Digital Library of academic journals, books and primary sources.
The National Archives – The UK’s National Archives. They have digitised approximately 5% of their archives, including some relating to colonial history. They offer a comprehensive research guide for reading colonial documents.
Oxford University Press – Hub of content created during the pandemic.
Project Muse – An online database of peer-reviewed academic journals and electronic books.