“This electronic catalog vastly increases the accessibility of our priceless historical materials to researchers here in Philadelphia and around the world,” said President David Moltke-Hansen.

The OPAC has been in planning and development for four years. It combines records from three pre-existing databases–OCLC (books, pamphlets and serials), RLIN (collection-level manuscript records) and BibBase (graphics)—and one database created by electronically scanning thousands of cards in the Society’s main card catalog and genealogical card catalog and converting information on the images into digital form. The $500,000 project was undertaken with financial support from The Barra Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Library Services and Technology Act through the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Libraries.

Users of the OPAC can search for records in several ways. They can browse for “terms” including titles, authors, and subjects; search for key words, by publication date, or by identification numbers such as International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs). Researchers can also command the OPAC to display the records in various ways, ranging from a traditional card-catalog format to more complex and detailed forms. Orientations to the OPAC are available upon request to the library’s reference staff.

Founded in 1824 in Philadelphia, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is one of the oldest historical societies in the United States and holds historical materials of national importance. It is one of the largest family history libraries in the nation, has excellent printed collections on local and regional history, and offers a manuscript collection renowned for its 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century holdings. These collections are used not only by historians and genealogists, but also by set and costume designers, journalists, script and fiction writers, actors and re-enactors, as well as researchers of historical dance, recipes, music, gardens, and many others.