Introduction

This site features links to online exhibitions that have been created by libraries, archives, and historical societies, as well as to museum online exhibitions with a significant focus on library and archival materials. The scope is international and multi-lingual.

The online exhibitions included in this guide draw their inspiration and content primarily from library and archival materials, including, for example: printed books, book illustrations, manuscripts, photographs, printed ephemera, posters, archival sound and video recordings, artist's books, and the book arts (engraving, marbling, and bookbinding, etc.). Although many of these online exhibitions were originally created to accompany shows held in the exhibition galleries of their institutions, a growing number exist in digital format only.

The online exhibitions in this guide are keyword-searchable by title, subject, and the name of the sponsoring institution. A list of instructions and tips for searching will be provided.
In order to keep Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web reasonably focused and of manageable size for one person to maintain, its scope has necessarily been limited to a listing of online exhibitions of library and archival materials sponsored by non-commercial institutions. Regretfully, it is not possible to include all manner of library and archival digital projects in this list. Online collections and electronic finding aids have typically been omitted, except for those that include significant exhibition-like elements, such as a selective theme and a contextualized narrative for the featured objects and artifacts. Also omitted are notices publicizing exhibitions that are not themselves online exhibitions, and commercial and personal web sites.

Disclaimer: This list of online exhibitions is provided as a public service of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. The Smithsonian Institution Libraries is responsible only for the content of its own online exhibitions.