R. Jack Fishman Library: Guide to Appalachian Information: Libraries

University Repositories

A repository is place where specific type of information is housed, usually by an institution. In this case, the information focuses on Appalachia. Online or in-person.

An archive houses primary sources, which are first-hand accounts. Online or in-person.

A digital library contains ONLY resources that have been digitized or made available online.

Digital Library of Appalachia (Appalachia College Association Libraries)
The Digital Library of Appalachia provides online access to archival and historical materials related to the culture of the southern and central Appalachian region. The contents of the DLA are drawn from special collections of Appalachian College Association member libraries.
Archives of Appalachia at ETSU
The Archives of Appalachia is a repository for memories — the written words, images, and sounds that document life in southern Appalachia. We steward nearly two miles of rare manuscripts, 300,000 photographs, 100,000 audio and moving image recordings, and 15,000 books. Digitized and in-person holdings.

Click on DIGITAL COLLECTIONS and then click a specific collection before searching for DIGITAL information.
Appalachian State Digital Collections
Includes Appalachian Press Consortium publications, Appalachian State Memory and Oral History projects, diaries, folksong collections, music recordings, and dozens of photography collections.
Southern Appalachia Digital Collections at Western Carolina University
Over 25,000 digital records including collections on Civil War in Appalachia, Craft Revival, Cherokee Traditions, Oral Histories of Western NC, WWII in Southern Appalachia, and Regional Maps -- just to name a few.
West Virginia On View
Over 54,000 digitized photographs from West Virginia's history.
University of Tennessee Digital Collections
The University of Tennessee Libraries Digital Collections provide access to images, books, artworks, manuscripts, musical scores, videos, and oral histories. Materials come from our Special Collections including manuscripts, University Archives, Modern Political Archives, and the Great Smoky Mountains Regional Project, as well as the DeVine Music Library and the Pendergrass Agricultural and Veterinary Medicine Library. Many Appalachian-based collections available.

Other Libraries (Public, Special)

Kentucky Digital Library
The Kentucky Digital Library is built to enhance scholarship, research and lifelong learning by providing access to shared digital archival collections in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. This collection contains obituaries, digitized college newspapers/yearbooks, oral projects, public library digitized artifacts, and the Kentucky Archival Collections among other documents.
Tennessee Virtual Archive
The Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) is a digital repository of the Tennessee State Library & Archives providing open access to thousands of photographs, documents, maps, postcards, film, audio and other records relating to the history and culture of Tennessee
West Virginia State Library and Archives
The site features primary and secondary source documents, photographs, and databases; lists collections and other materials available in the State Archives; and provides research guides and assistance for genealogists. Not all resources are online and accessible -- but many are!

Appalachian Studies Bibliography

West Virginia Appalachian Bibliography
A bibliography is a list of resources (not full text, or linked). This is a bibliography of published Appalachian information in a given time frame. Focus is on Central Appalachia and West Virginia.