Online Exhibitions

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Exhibition
Cover of The Scientific Shop showing a microscope

Instruments for Science


Scientific trade literature is a unique and uniquely valuable category of historical evidence. But it has not always been so highly regarded. Being commercial documents, catalogs have traditionally had a hard time fitting into library or archive collections. Even the companies that printed these catalogs expected their usefulness to end as soon as the next edition was printed. That's why so many of them were printed on the cheapest paper available. In many ways it's not surprising that so few of them have survived - or that when they have survived, their existence has gone unnoticed.

Screen capture from the old website showing the title Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web

Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web


Explore the rich variety of topics, images, and materials featured in online exhibitions from libraries, archives, historical societies, and museums around the world.  Search for exhibitions by subject, institution, or exhibition name.

Music HerStory

Pamphlets, a schedule, and flyer for the Woodstock Festival in 1963

Igniting Artistic Consciousness


The AA/PG Library received the donation of ephemera for more than 3,000 artists from the Art Students League of New York (ASL) in January 2017. The exhibition will be on view in the AA/PG Library Reading Room from August-December, 2017.

Music HerStory

Rosetta Tharpe sings on stage.

Music HerStory


Women’s leadership in music and social change is central to the American story. Music HerStory explores these contributions through unique collections from the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, the Center for Folklife and Culture Heritage, and more. Through February 20, 2024.

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