Open Access Resources: Databases and Repositories

Smithsonian Open Access is a database of the Smithsonian Institution’s millions of images that can be downloaded, shared and reused without the need to ask permission. This collection includes images and data from across the Smithsonian’s 19 museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives, and the National Zoo.

DPLA aims to create a centralized discovery experience by making materials from libraries, museums, archives, and other cultural institutions across the US available on one platform.

CLOCKSS is the controlled version of the LOCKSS program. The letters in LOCKSS stand for Lots Of Copies, Keep Stuff Safe. When web content held in the CLOCKSS archive is about to disappear, it is "triggered" to become open access. Includes journal content on a variety of subjects.

Similar to the MAC Library EZ Search bar, OpenDOAR allows the user to search a number of open access repositories at one time, rather than searching them one at a time.

Maintained by the National Conference of State Legislatures, this database brings together web content from the legislatures of the US States and Territories and covers a variety of topics.

EOL is a free, online collaborative encyclopedia intended to document all of the living species known to science.

The Ag Data Commons is an open access repository of agricultural research that has been funded by the USDA.

NACJD provides datasets and reports to support research in the field of criminal justice.

The United States Census Bureau provides data, profiles, and visualization of information about the American people and economy.

Data.gov is the home of the United States open data initiative. This repository provides data about a variety of systems in the U.S. with the goal of supporting research and design.

Digital Library of the Caribbean is a database of resources from and about the Caribbean, formed through a partnership of institutions.

This Initiative provides all users with open access to World Bank data. This tool provides datasets on a variety of topics and from a variety of locations around the globe.

Formerly known as the Social Science Research Network, SSRN is a repository of open access materials primarily in the social sciences and humanities. Other subject areas covered in this database include business, engineering, and health science.

MERLOT is a database of open educational resources (OERs) covering a variety of subject areas. MERLOT provides access to open-access textbooks and articles, as well as online courses, multimedia presentations, and other educational materials. The resources within the database are free, but you must create a MERLOT account in order to access them.

OpenCourseWare is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to publish all of the educational materials from its undergraduate- and graduate-level courses online, freely and openly available to anyone, anywhere.

Originally founded to support education at British Columbia's post-secondary institutions, BCcampus is a repository of open access textbooks.

Open Course Library is a collection of open access, shareable course materials, including syllabi, assignments, and activities.

Open Textbook Library is a database repository of openly licensed textbooks in a variety of disciplines.

Green's Dictionary is a multivolume work that provides the definitions and etymology of English slang from around the Early Modern English period to the present day.

The portal provides information on and about the indigenous peoples of Canada, with secondary focuses on North America and the rest of the world.

Open Folklore aims to support folklore research by preserving and providing access to information about folklore in a number of formats.

The M.O.S.T. initiative was started by the state of Maryland to create an infrastructure for sharing and accessing OER. Resources include open textbooks and ready-to-adopt courses on a variety of subjects.