Participating libraries hold the following collections on the Americas:

Latin American & Caribbean Studies collection

Described above. Full details are available here.

United States Studies collection

The Collection hosts 46,000+ volumes at Senate House Library. It is one of the largest general collections on the United States in the country and is unique in keeping holdings in most subjects together. It provides interdisciplinary coverage of the history, past and present institutions and culture of the United States. The collection's main strengths lie in history, where the emphasis is on secondary materials, and in literature. However it also has a good coverage of fine art, architecture, economics, film, politics and religion, Native American and African American studies. There are also small sections on the history of science, technology and medicine, law and education. The major part of the collection is available for loan. American music, philosophy and geography (and maps) are also collected but form part of those seperate subject collections in the library. There is also a substantial section of reference material consisting of bibliographies, archival guides, dictionaries, encyclopedias, directories and biographical dictionaries.

A guide to the United States Studies Collection can be accessed here.

Canadian and Caribbean Studies collections

Hosted at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library at Senate House Library, this Collection consists of material relating to history and the broader social sciences, including constitutional, political, demographic, social and economic development. Canadian materials account for approximately 18,000 volumes in the collection, and include strong holdings in official publications. The Institute of Commonwealth Studies is a selective depository library for Canadian government information. There is also strong coverage of Commonwealth Caribbean countries, where holdings include the West India Committee Library and archival collections (9,000 volumes). The Library possesses an exceptional collection on the plantation period as well as later political, social and economic development. The Library also holds material relating to regional bodies Caricom and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.

History of North and South America Collection

Hosted at the Institute of Historical Research Library, holds over 20,000 volumes, predominantly of printed sources, bibliographies and guides to archives, but including some periodicals. The history of all parts of the area is covered from the period of European colonisation to the twentieth century, although the chief strength of the collections lies in the period up to the mid-nineteenth century. The collection of sources for the colonial history of North America is one of the finest in the UK, and the collections covering the US Civil War are also especially noteworthy. The Latin American collection is strongest for the colonial history of New Spain, and the history of independent Mexico is also very well covered. There are also important holdings for modern US diplomatic history. The Institute of Historical Research is located in the North Block of Senate House. For access to the holdings of the new joint ISA/SHL collection the Senate House Libraries online catalogue can be consulted here.

Electronic Resources

Holdings of all these libraries are available to view via the Senate House Libraries catalogue. This is accessible from anywhere with an Internet connection and includes links to electronic resources.

A range of electronic resources useful to Americas researchers is available via Senate House Libraries. Databases include general, multi-disciplinary databases such as JSTOR and also subject specific ones such as HAPI (Hispanic American Periodicals Index), HLAS (Handbook of Latin American Studies) and PRISMA (Publicaciones y Revistas Sociales y Humanísticas) for Latin Americanists, and others, such as, America: History and Life for Americanists. Details, including access information, are available here.

Many electronic journals are available and these can be accessed via the online catalogue. These include specialised news resources for Latin America including Latin American Newsletters.