If you say that what we look for is on the internet, you are right, but it is not always easy to find what you are looking for. Some institutions and organizations have created online libraries by digitizing their private archives. Let’s take a closer look at the virtual library sites where you can access many different documents for free and the archives they offer.
There was a time when people would go to the biggest libraries in the city and find what they were looking for, even if it was difficult. Then the internet came out and we started to find everything there. But there was a problem, the library archives were on those dusty shelves and were not available on the Internet. luckily many important institutions and organizations that understand today’s needs they digitized their archives and created virtual libraries accessible to everyone.
When you say virtual library, don’t think of a database where you can access everything. You cannot access everything due to copyrights and similar issues, but online library archives are often found on many different topics that you have not encountered before or could not find. can reveal private documents. Let’s take a closer look at the virtual library sites that you can use for free.
Free virtual library archives:
- TUBITAK Popular Science Journals e-Archive
- National Library Digital Archive
- NASA Photo Archive
- Ankara University Academic Archive System
- Ataturk Library
- A Look at History from the Newspaper
- FilmGrab
- OpenCulture
- Marmara University Digital Catalog
- David Rumsey Map Collection
You can access the digital versions of all TÜBİTAK publications on the TÜBİTAK Popular Science Journals e-Archive website. Seeing current issues, archive by year, subject archive You can search private archives. You can read the full issues of journals such as Bilim ve Teknik, Bilim Çocuk, Meraklı Minik, Bilim Genç, or you can see pinpoint results by doing a topic-specific search on the site. You can access the TÜBİTAK Popular Science Journals e-Archive website via the link here.
Serving under the General Directorate of Libraries and Publications, the National Library has one of the largest document archives in Turkey. Especially many books and magazines that are no longer in print You can find it in the National Library. You can access a certain part of the archive database, if not all, on the institution’s website. Even if there is no digital version, the system will guide you to find the document you are looking for. You can access the National Library Digital Archive website via the link here.
NASA, one of the institutions to which we owe almost everything we know about space, has been photographed until today thanks to the technologies it uses. has the best archive of space photos. You can access all space photographs taken so far on the Images page of NASA’s official website. In addition to the most recently uploaded and the most popular ones, you can search for the images you want by searching through keywords. Moreover, you can download all the images you reach in high quality. You can access the NASA Photo Archive website via the link here.
Ankara University Academic Archive System, which serves under Ankara University, is in the digital archive. More than 80,000 books, journals, articles, primary sources and other archival materials You can view digital versions. You can access bulletins, magazines, newspapers, books, articles, reports, theses and other publications through the open access system using the search bar. You can access the Ankara University Academic Archive System website via the link here.
Operating under the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, the Atatürk Library has one of the largest document archives in the city. A part of this archive is offered to users through the virtual library. By using the search bar of the site, you can find the document associated with the keyword you want. If there is no digital version of the document you are looking for, you will be guided by the system in the most correct way. You can access the Atatürk Library website via the link here.
You can access the old issues of many newspapers on the website, within the scope of the Gazette-to-History Project carried out by Istanbul University. Most of the newspapers processed within the scope of the project, You can’t find it easily anywhere. It consists of old issues of closed newspapers. After clicking on the newspaper that interests you and choosing the issue you want, you can access the high-quality digital version. You can access the Newspaper’s History Overview website via the link here.
Archive for cinephiles: FilmGrab
FilmGrab is perhaps one of the most interesting websites on our list because its archive contains only images. Moreover, all of these images belong to the movies. After opening the site, click on the movie that interests you or that you admire. You will be presented with numerous high-quality screenshots showing the most important scenes of the movie. Especially if you are working on a movie or writing an article, the photos here will be very useful. You can download images individually or as a whole gallery. You can access the FilmGrab website via the link here.
The largest virtual library of the internet world: Open Culture
If you’ve ever done research on virtual libraries and online archives, we’re sure you’ve come across the name Open Culture before. Frankly, we can say that Open Culture is the black box of this world. You can access countless movies, books, articles, photos, audio files or video files, all of which are royalty-free. You can discover new archives through special categories or find what you are looking for pinpointly via the search bar. You can access the Open Culture website via the link here.
You can access some of the hundreds of thousands of documents in the Marmara University Library, which is affiliated with Marmara University, via the Marmara University Digital Catalog. For now approx. 295 thousand books made available to users on the website. The digital archive, where you can access additional documents as well as books, continues to expand day by day. You can access the Marmara University Digital Catalog website via the link here.
If you type a map in any search engine and search, the results you come across will most likely not satisfy you. If you like these works, David Rumsey Map Collection will blow your mind because There are more than 120,000 maps in its digital archive. All of the maps arranged in different categories such as ancient times, mountains, continents, space, earth, data-based, visual, timeline, aerial shots and many more are presented in high quality. You can access the David Rumsey Map Collection website via the link here.
Sahaf second-hand booksellers offering documents that you can’t find by visiting we have listed some of the free virtual library archives. Of course, there are many more online archives. You can share the virtual libraries you want to be on our list in the comments.