Research Guides: Caribbean Studies: Primary Sources (Texts, Images, Maps, Data/Statistics)

Primary Sources

Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC)
The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) is a cooperative digital library for resources from and about the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean. dLOC provides access to digitized versions of Caribbean cultural, historical and research materials currently held in archives, libraries, and private collections.
Biblioteca Digital Puertorriqueña [Puerto Rico]
The Puerto Rican Digital Library provides online access to primary source materials including postcards, photographs, newspapers, and caricatures.
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database
Combining data from across the globe, this project is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and is hosted by the Emory University Digital Library Research Initiative. Provides an interactive website and database with access to digitized maps, images, and an African names database.

HathiTrust This link opens in a new window
HathiTrust is a partnership of academic & research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world.
Note, you must use the instructions below to access Hathi Trust:

Go to the HathiTrust homepage.
Click on the yellow 'Log In' button.
Select FSU from the drop-down menu and click 'Continue.'
Enter your FSU ID and password and click 'Continue.'

FSU users have full-text access and downloading capabilities for those items in the public domain, including:

US federal government documents
Works published before 1923
Works still protected by copyright, but made available to HathiTrust with the permission of the copyright holder

See also: Research Guide: HathiTrust Digital Library

Abbreviation: hathi
Vendor: HathiTrust
Coverage: 1564–Current
Subjects: *General / Multi-Subject
Type: E-Book Collections, E-Journal Collections

World Digital LIbrary
A project of the U.S. Library of Congress, carried out with the support of the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO), and in cooperation with libraries, archives, museums, educational institutions, and international organizations from around the world. The WDL makes available online in multilingual format, significant primary materials from all countries and cultures.

The Hispanic world, 1492-1898 : a guide to photoreproduced manuscripts from Spain in the collections of the United States, Guam, and Puerto Rico = El mundo hispánico, 1492-1898 : guía de copias fotográficas de manuscritos españoles existentes en los Estad
Call Number: FSU STROZIER, Documents General Collection Ground Floor -- LC1.6/4: H62/2
Publication Date: 1994
Colonial Latin American manuscripts and transcripts in the Obadiah Rich collection.
Call Number: FSU STROZIER LIBRARY Micromaterials -- Film9174
Microfilm of manuscript copies of Spanish and Portuguese documents related to the discovery and conquest of America and Parts of Asia held at New York Public Library.
STROZIER LIBRARY -- Micromaterials -- Film 9174 - In-Library Use Only
See the Accompanying Guide:
STROZIER LIBRARY -- Micromaterials -- Micr Z 1601.C65 1986

Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Website provides access to database spreadsheets, statistics, and publications mostly related to community and economic development, such as country’s balance of payments and Labor force and to reports on CARICOM meetings and projects.
Latin American Network Information Center (LANIC)
Administered by the University of Texas Austin, provides access to official (government), scholarly, and popular internet portals to information on Latin America for virtually every subject available.
Cuban Theater Digital Archive (University of Miami)
Spearheaded by Dr. Lillian Manzor, the Cuban Theater Digital Archive is a project that brings together information about Cuban and Cuban-American playwrights, directors, actors, and more. It is continuously updated.

Journals of the Assembly of Jamaica (1811-1829)
Call Number: E-Book
volumes 9-12
Journals of the Assembly of Jamaica (1811-1829)
Call Number: FSU STROZIER LIBRARY Micromaterials -- Film 3313
FSU Holdings v.1 (Jan. 20, 1663)-v. 14 (Dec. 22, 1826) - microfilm collection
Papeles procedentes de Cuba : records from the Archivo General de Indias, Seville.
Call Number: STROZIER LIBRARY -- Micromaterials -- Film 2993-In-Library Use Only
This is a microfilm copy of archival documentation on the Spanish Caribbean and North American colonies and on from the mid-seventeenth to late nineteenth centuries, with an emphasis on the years 1760 to 1821.
See also the guide by the same title:
STROZIER LIBRARY -- Micr CD3269.A2.C32
Records of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas ( 1576-1803)
Call Number: FSU STROZIER LIBRARY Micromaterials -- Film 3324
This is a microfilm copy of archival documentation on the Spanish Caribbean and North American colonies and on from the mid-seventeenth to late nineteenth centuries, with an emphasis on the years 1760 to 1821.
See also the guide to part of this collection:
Descriptive catalogue of the Documents relating to the History of the United States in the Papeles procedentes de Cuba...
STROZIER LIBRARY -- Micromaterials -- Film 2993-In-Library Use Only

Artstor (changing to JSTOR) This link opens in a new window
Artstor was a digital library with more than 1.5 million images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences with a set of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes.
Artstor retired on August 1, 2024—all content, resources, and functionality has moved to JSTOR. For more information, see the Artstor migration guide and Artstor on JSTOR videos. Artstor content is available at Artstor on JSTOR.
The ARTstor Digital Library is used by educators, scholars, and students at a variety of institutions including universities, colleges, museums, public libraries, and K-12 schools. The Digital Library serves users both within the arts and in disciplines outside of the arts. This includes historians of art and architecture and others engaged in the visual arts, as well as individuals in fields as diverse as American Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, Classical Studies, Literary Studies, Medieval Studies, Music, Religious Studies, and Renaissance Studies, all of whom find the images in ARTstor to be relevant to their teaching and research.

Tutorials:
Using ARTstor
Training videos on YouTube

Abbreviation: artstor
Vendor: ARTstor
Subjects: Archaeology, Architecture, Art Education, Art History, Art Therapy, Classics, Cultural Heritage, Interior Design, Museum Studies, Studio Art
Type: Images

Images of African-American Slavery and Freedom
An online gallery of images with descriptive information from the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, Library of Congress.
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database
Combining data from across the globe, this project is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and is hosted by the Emory University Digital Library Research Initiative. Provides an interactive website and database with access to digitized maps, images, and an African names database.
The Illustrating Traveler: Adventure and Illustration In North America And The Caribbean, 1760-1895
Illustrated traveler's narratives and original art by travelers from the later 18th to the late 19th century from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.
The British Library's Caribbean Views Online Exhibit
Showcases British Library material relating to the British West Indies. Includes commentary from historian Mike Phillips.
The Luso-Hispanic New World in Early Prints and Photographs, New York Public Library [Caribbean, Central and South America]
"Hundreds of photographs and prints, in albums and rare published volumes, present the territories and countries associated with Portugal and Spain in the New World, from Mexico to Argentina, and parts of the Caribbean."
World Digital Library
A web site featuring unique cultural materials from libraries and archives from around the world that includes manuscripts, maps, rare books, films, sound recordings, and prints and photographs.
The Chairman Smiles: Cuba
Part of a broader exhibit from The International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam, demonstrating posters from Cuba, Russia, and China.
Biblioteca Digital Puertorriqueña [Puerto Rico]
The Puerto Rican Digital Library provides online access to primary source materials including postcards, photographs, newspapers, and caricatures.

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
The PCL Map Collection at UT Austin includes more than 250,000 maps.
World Digital Library
A web site featuring unique cultural materials from libraries and archives from around the world that includes manuscripts, maps, rare books, films, sound recordings, and prints and photographs.
The Luso-Hispanic New World in Early Prints and Photographs, New York Public Library [Caribbean, Central and South America]
"Hundreds of photographs and prints, in albums and rare published volumes, present the territories and countries associated with Portugal and Spain in the New World, from Mexico to Argentina, and parts of the Caribbean."
Biblioteca Digital Puertorriqueña [Puerto Rico]
The Puerto Rican Digital Library provides online access to primary source materials including postcards, photographs, newspapers, and caricatures.
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database
Combining data from across the globe, this project is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and is hosted by the Emory University Digital Library Research Initiative. Provides an interactive website and database with access to digitized maps, images, and an African names database.

Labordoc This link opens in a new window
Labordoc contains references to a wide range of print and electronic publications, including journal articles, from countries around the world, on all aspects of work and sustainable livelihoods, and the work-related aspects of economic and social development and human rights. Labordoc provides an ever-increasing number of links to online publications available on the Internet.
Abbreviation: labordoc
Vendor: International Labour Organization of the UN
Coverage: 1919–Current
Subjects: Economics, Statistics
Type: Datasets / Statistics, Indexes / Catalogs, Open Access

UNdata
Data service created and maintained by the United Nations Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Website provides access to database spreadsheets, statistics, and publications mostly related to community and economic development, such as country’s balance of payments and Labor force and to reports on CARICOM meetings and projects.
Caribbean Epediomology Centre (CAREC)
Affiliated with the Pan American Health Organization, a regional division of the World Health Organization.
1899 Cuban Census [Cuba]
Searchable book made available through the University of South Carolina Libraries.
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database
Combining data from across the globe, this project is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and is hosted by the Emory University Digital Library Research Initiative. Provides an interactive website and database with access to digitized maps, images, and an African names database.