Many archives preserve and make accessible diaries, letters, photographs and other primary source documents. A digital archive is similar in purpose to a physical archive, but the historical documents and objects have been digitized and made available online. Digital archives are usually created with a goal of preserving historical objects and making them broadly available to researchers.
Important to Note: Just because some collections in an archive have been digitized doesn't mean everything has! Pay attention to how things are organized and tagged as your search.
You may want to find resources beyond these suggestions. When searching for archives online, the term "digital archives" is not used 100% of the time. Here are some key terms that indicate a website might provide you with a digital archive:
Other terms, like "online exhibit," are less reliable:
Online exhibits usually do include digitized primary sources, but generally just a few selected pieces, and usually combined with large amounts of secondary-source summary and overview. Exhibits are designed to tell a story to the public, rather than provide unbiased materials for researchers.
These groupings aren't all inclusive. You can also check KFL's Primary Source Databases or the History Research Guide for further recommendations.
If you are struggling to find what you need and these suggestions are missing the mark, reach out to your liaison librarian for assistance.
These are some examples of digital archives that may be related to recent WEST course work that focused on different ethnic communities.