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The Free Library at Your Fingertipsor
How to Access Millions of Resources that Can Help You Find Data, Conduct Policy
Research, and Draft Legislation
A Briefing for City Council Legislative StaffSeptember 10, 2012
The Free Library at Your Fingertips
WelcomeDarwin R. Beauvais
Free Library TrusteeShareholder, Zarwin Baum Devito Kaplan Schaer & Toddy, PC
Donna BullockSpecial Assistant to Council President Clarke
Siobhan A. ReardonPresident and Director
Government Publications Department
Sometimes you just need the book
The Free Library at Your Fingertips
Philadelphia CollectionManual of the City Council
1874 - 1983City Code
2nd thru current
Ordinances and City Solicitors opinions
from 1789
Archive-It
Crawls local government and other institutions’ websites, such as:
• Phila.gov• Police Department• PA Courts• Philadelphia Housing
Development Corp.• Office of Emergency
Management• School District• SEPTA
• State.pa.us• Philadelphia Museum
of Art• Franklin Institute• Kimmel Center• Historical Society of PA• Public Citizens for
Children and Youth
State Documents – Historic and Current
Laws of PA
Legislative Journal
Maritime Records – Port of Philadelphia from 1793
U.S. CensusName Census for Philadelphia 1790 -
1930 U.S. Census Data
Congressional Record
• Online: 1994 to the present, including the Daily Record
• At the Free Library: 1789 (the 1st Congress) to present
Continental Congress
Congressional Serial SetReports, documents and journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives
Also available online: 1817-1980
Supreme Court Decisions
February 1790 To Current
Statistical Abstracts
Map Collection
Looking back to move forward
The Free Library at Your Fingertips
1921
1931
1888
1917
2006
More sinking homes?
1910
1894
1889
2005
1950
Electronic Resources
100+ databases at the click of a mouse
The Free Library at Your Fingertips
What if you could…• Create a demographic report of your district
to show age, gender, race, home ownership rate, and economic information?
What if you could…• Create a list of all restaurants in the city or a
specific zip code? All the manufacturers? All the businesses with over 50 employees? All the businesses started in the past 6 months?
What if you could…• Quickly research newspaper and magazine reporting
on recent trends? Find industry and political news, health info and statistics, and information on a range of issues that impact your constituents?
legislation
Historic Images of Philadelphia
A picture is worth 1,000 words
The Free Library at Your Fingertips
Architectural Gems
Gimbel Brothers, 9th and Market St.
Strawbridge & Clothier, 1862
Clean City Campaigns
Keep Philadelphia Clean Campaign
It’s the Law: Don’t Litter Campaign, 1960
Fire Department
Closing the Firehouse, 1952
Detail of Private Fire Department, 1871
Building the Subways and the Railroad
Construction of elevated subway line
1918
Broad Street railroad station meeting 1923
Laying track for the Broad Street railroad station
Pennsylvania Railroad
Baldwin Locomotive, 1870s
Baldwin Locomotive Works
Industry
Clipper Ships along the Delaware 1870s
On the Waterfront
Pennsylvania Railroad grain wharves, Girard Point
Streets
1810-1814 Kater Street, 1950s
9th & Tioga Streets, 1948
Urban Landscape
Construction of TerminalPhiladelphia International Airport , 1952
Refineries on the Schuylkill River
How to Access Library Resources
Our staff is trained to find answers to your questions and needs, whether in person or online.
The Free Library at Your Fingertips
Our Staff
• Parkway Central alone has over 60 professionally trained librarians—all with Masters Degrees in Library Science.
• We have decades of experience delivering reference services.
• We have specialists in subjects from A to Z.
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Trained staff will reply to your email inquiries.
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Librarians across the state, throughout the US and overseas are available to answer questions 24 hours a day.
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Q&A
The Free Library at Your Fingertips