August 2003
Featured Site of the Month:

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) collects, stores and provides access to federal government records so that:

• people can inspect for themselves the record of what government has done;
• officials and agencies can review their actions and citizens can hold them accountable; and
• there is continuing access to essential evidence that documents the rights of American citizens, the actions of federal officials, and the national experience.

In carrying out this mission, NARA has collected a variety of government records that have long been of interest to historians, genealogists, and many other researchers. Through the Access to Archival Databases System, researchers can now use the Internet to search some of these historical records. The files available online cover a wide variety of topics, such as:

• wars, including the Civil War, WWII, Korean War, Vietnamese Conflict and Invasion of Grenada;
• architectural and engineering drawings;
• business information, including business names, government contractors, and labor disputes;
• emigration and immigration, passenger lists;
• historic preservation;
• insider trading in securities; and
• space flight.

Note: The electronic records in the AAD System are highly structured. You will first need to select a series of electronic records, and perhaps a specific data file within a series, before you can enter your search terms (such as personal names, dates, cities, and states).

NARA collects Federal government records, which are usually unpublished materials. Most Federal publications can be located through the New York State Library's Federal Depository Library Program.

At the State level, the counterpart to NARA is the New York State Archives, a program of the New York State Education Department, that "cares for and provides access to more than 130 million documents that tell the story of New York from the seventeenth century to the present."

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