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University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Brazilian Culture: Cultural Heritage Institutions

An introductory guide to library and online resources for Brazilian Culture.

UNESCO World Heritage

Brazil has 18 properties on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

In addition to natural and cultural sites, Brazil has two items on the Intangible Heritage List : the Oral and Graphic Expressions of the Wajapi and The Samba de Roda of the Recôncavo of Bahia

Digital Libraries & Collections

Find Digital Libraries and Full Text

Digitial Library of the National Library of Brazil

Rede da Memória Virtual Brasileira - Online Brazilian cultural heritage collection with items from the archives of national institutions.

Brazilian Government Documents - Executive branch serial documents issued by Brazil’s national government between 1821 and 1993, and by its provincial governments from the earliest available for each province to the end of the first Republic in 1930.

Domínio Público - Digitized items (text, sound recordings, video, images) in the public domain.

Tráfico de Escravos no Brasil - Digitized images and texts related to the slave trade in Brazil.

The Luso-Hispanic New World in Early Prints and Photographs - from the New York Public Library.

Libraries

There are over 5,000 public libraries in Brazil. They belong to the Sistema Nacional de Bibliotecas Públicas, a Sistema Estadual de Bibliotecas Públicas, and/or a Sistema Municipal de Bibliotecas Públicas. Some university, school, and special libraries are also considered public libraries. 

Selected Libraries

LANIC Brazil: Libraries

UNESCO Academic Libraries Directory: Brazil

Bibliotecas Públicas do Brasil: passado, presente, e futuro by Alexsander Borges Ribeiro (PDF)

Museums

There are over 3,000 museums in Brazil. Here are online resources to find one near your destination and to suit your interests:

Guide to Museums in Brazil -- free to download online from the Ministry of Culture and the Brazilian Institute of Museums. Organized by region and with a special section on museums under construction, virtual museums, now-defunct museums, and museum name changes. In Portuguese.