Coherent Digital Commons

South Asia Commons

South Asian history, archives, and cultural heritage — including the Iran Society Archive and South Asia Archive.

About this family

What's inside.

South Asian history, archives, and cultural heritage materials — previously undigitised, now searchable and preserved. Includes the Iran Society Archive (open collection).

Databases in this family

License individually, or get the Complete licence.

Why this Commons matters

South Asian heritage, made global and permanent.

A region of immense global significance

South Asia is home to nearly 25% of the world's population — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. India is the world's most populous nation and one of the five largest economies globally.

Closing an underrepresentation gap

Like much of the Global South, South Asian content is underrepresented in libraries worldwide — including invaluable cultural heritage materials at risk of being lost.

Discover, digitize, and preserve

Collaborating with libraries globally, South Asia Commons discovers, digitizes, and preserves crucial regional content — making it accessible to scholars and students worldwide and fostering more inclusive, equitable research opportunities.

Built for libraries

Frictionless rollout. No surprises.

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Authentication

Five frictionless options including IP recognition, Shibboleth, OpenAthens, EZproxy, HAN.

WCAG AA compliant

Full VPAT statement available. Accessibility built-in, not bolted on.

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Discovery services

Indexed in Primo, Summon, EBSCO Discovery Service, WorldCat, and more.

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MARC records

Quarterly updates. Free .MRC downloads from the Customer Portal.

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Usage statistics

Fully COUNTER 5 / SUSHI compliant. Transparent reporting.

See it in action

Want to evaluate it?

  • Free 30-day institutional trial full access for your team
  • Authentication setup included
  • Training session for staff and faculty
  • Flexible licensing tailored to your institution

Ready to put this Commons in your library?

Start a free 30-day institutional trial or request a Complete family licence quote.