Archives are like museums for written and print material. Archives consist of special collection or collections gather together the records of organizations, and institutions or individuals. Materials can include personal papers of an individual, family or business such as photographs, plans, correspondence, momorabilia, etc.These documents are considered to have continuing value as records of the thoughts, ideas and work of their creator. For instance if a garden designer sketched a plan for a rock garden on a dinner napkin that would be considered evidence of her professional and creative life. Various institutions have digitized their collections and made them available on the internet. Others require onsite visits. Some like the American Memory Project have been listed under images. More are listed below.
Institutional Repositories represent the efforts of an institution, usually an university, to preserve and make its intellectual products available to the public. They are for the most part still in the developmental stage. Two samples are listed below. Usually the material is copyrighted by either the creator or the university. They can be found on the internet by typing the phrase institutional repository and keywords for your subject.
Seed Catalogs from Smithsonian Institution Libraries "The Smithsonian Institution Libraries have a unique trade catalog collection that includes about 10,000 seed and nursery catalogs dating from 1830 to the present."
Centre for Canadian Landscape Architecture Archives The brainchild of landscape architect Walter Kehm and the University of Guelph library. Ultimate goal is to digitize as much of the collection as possible.
Canadian Architecture Collection (CAC) Archives, McGill University Includes the John Bland Collection and images
CCA Canadian Center for Architecutre "The CCA is an international research centre and museum founded on the conviction that architecture is a public concern. Based on its extensive collections, the CCA is a leading voice in advancing knowledge, promoting public understanding, and widening thought and debate on the art of architecture, its history, theory, practice, and role in society today."
Urbanism "A site dedicated to Canadian Architecture, Modernism, Landscape, History, Industrial History, Industrial Design, Engineering, Restoration and Preserving building across Canada."
American Garden Museum "The American Garden Museum is a working archive that celebrates American gardens and their gardeners".
The Chicago Atheneum - Museum of Architecture and Design "Founded in 1988, the Museum is dedicated to the Art of Design in all areas of the discipline: architecture, industrial, and product design, graphics, and urban planning"
Netherlands Architecture Institute"The Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) is more than a museum of architecture. It is a above all a cultural institute which is open to the public and which uses a variety of methods for communicating about the shaping of human space."
Bauhaus-archive Museum für Gestaltung"The Bauhaus Archive / Museum of Design in Berlin is concerned with the research and presentation of the history and impact of the Bauhaus (1919-1933), the most important school of architecture, design, and art of the 20th century. It is the most complete existing collection focused on the history of the school and all aspects of its work and is accessible to all."
Arkitekturmuseet (Sweden)"Arkitekturmuseet is a national authority which shall illustrate architecture, urban planning and urban settlement research." Has a searchable image bank
University of Delaware Library Institutional RepositoryCenter for Historic Architecture and Design
Georgia Tech's Institutional Repository College of Architecture