Free Library City Council Briefing

transcript

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

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

More sinking homes?

Electronic Resources

100+ databases at the click of a mouse

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

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

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.

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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Connect with Us Online

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Thank you for joining us!