User:Spirit of Eagle/Useful sources

During my time on Wikipedia, I've stumbled upon a few obscure sources that nonetheless contain valuable information on a wide variety of subjects. I created this list as a personal reference source, but have linked it from my profile in the hopes that it will be of use to others.

General sources

Archive.org

This is the organization that runs the Wayback Machine, which saves deleted webpages. Besides internet stuff, they also contain a ton of digitized books, pictures and other documents. If you create an account, they even give the option of digitally checking out more recent books currently under copyright.

American history

Chronicling America

Run by the library of Congress, this is an archive of American newspapers spanning from the late 1700s all of the way through the 1960s. The database is free, easy to use, easy to search through, and reasonably comprehensive. This database is especially recommended for local and regional history.

Open Education Database: 250+ Killer Digital Libraries and Archives

As the title suggests, the page contains a listing of over 250 publicly accessible databases and archives. Most of the databases are organized at the American state level, although the page also contains some general textbook databases and some listings from the United Kingdom. The coverage of the database is vast, but I've primarily used it for local and regional history.

Specific books

Biography

Des Moines: The Pioneer of Municipal Progress and Reform of the Middle West, Together with the History of Polk County, Iowa, the Largest, Most Populous and Most Prosperous County in the State of Iowa, Volume 2

A 1911 book freely available online that provides the biographies of a large number of citizens of Des Moines, Iowa and Polk County, Iowa during the early 20th century.

Officers of the Army and Navy (regular and volunteer) who served in the Civil War

An 1893 book providing the biographies of a number of Union Officers who served during the American Civil War. The book notes that some of the people included went on to become Senators, Representatives, leaders of the business world, cabinet officers, ect. The book also contains reasonably high-quality photographs of just about everyone included, which are in the public domain since they were all taken before 1923.

Biology

Fishes of West Virginia

An incredibly comprehensive book on the fish found in West Virginia. While the book is new enough to be under copyright, it appears to be present in Google Books in its entirety.