This innovative web-based geographic information systems (GIS) application enables PhillyHistory.org users to search for historic photographs based on locations and keywords. The Department of Records partnered with Avencia Incorporated, a Philadelphia-based geographic analysis and software firm, to develop a digital asset management system which allows employees of the Department of Records to upload scanned photographs, enter historic information, and assign a geographic location on a map.

In recent years, many archives, libraries and special collections have begun digitizing their contents and making them available to the public on the web, and most of these support search via keyword, topic or date. The software engine running PhillyHistory.org adds a geographic dimension, enabling search by address, intersection, place name and neighborhood. The public can now search for never-before-seen photographs within a certain neighborhood, by address, intersection, historic date, a place name, or other keywords, and find photographs and street maps detailing their exact locations within seconds. The maps can also be panned and zoomed to adjust the geographic area of the search.

Today PhillyHistory.org features over 25,000 extraordinary photographs that open a window to the past with images of ships arriving at dock, industrial development, historic mansions, and horse-drawn carriages on cobble stone streets. Approximately 1,000 more images are added each month.

Additionally, the Philadelphia Historic Street Name Index matches up former street names to their current names, making it easy to find an historic building or an ancestor's former home. With over 40,000 unique visitors to-date, PhillyHistory.org has attracted the attention of historians, geographers, genealogists, researchers and history buffs in Philadelphia and around the world.

"PhillyHistory.org is quite unique when it comes to historic photographs," says Robert Cheetham, President and CEO of Avencia. "Every record in the system is stamped with map coordinates, enabling geographic search and mapping capabilities that we haven't found in other municipal archives"

A new version of Avencia's software, called Sajara, will be available in March. The new software, targeted at museums, libraries and archives, includes improved search capabilities, more photos per screen, support for media other than photographs, and refined search categories. Sajara is built using software from Avencia's business partner, Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), whose ArcGIS Server and ArcIMS products are used for map generation.

"PhillyHistory.org has been a very exciting project for the Department of Records," says Joan Decker, Commissioner of the Records Department. "We are able to combine improved public access to our rich collection of images with an e-commerce system that provides revenue to support the ongoing conservation of our historic material."

The City of Philadelphia has been recognized for its innovative use of geographic databases and received a Special Achievement in GIS award for DecisionMaps, a web-based mapping, business siting, and economic development tool. The City continues to work on the cutting-edge of GIS technology through projects like PhillyHistory.org, ParcelExplorer which enables searches of real estate records, and the Crime Spike Detector, an application that analyzes crime trends and changes.

As Philadelphia expands its pioneering citywide WiFi network, PhillyHistory.org will also be accessible with a cell phone or wireless internet-equipped pocket PC through PocketCulture. Philadelphia visitors can have instant access to the city's history and cultural landmarks by using a simple search screen to find their location.

PhillyHistory.org visitors have found many different uses for the online archive, including student education, use as a reference in building preservation and restoration, research of a family tree, remembering childhood neighborhoods, and finding historic images of a homeowner's house. Site users can also make requests for new images to be scanned and can purchase professional, high quality prints which many have used for home and business décor and as gifts.

PhillyHistory.org also features a blog detailing the history behind many of the images, written by history graduate students who catalog and scan the photographs and research some the city's most fascinating stories, as well as historian guest bloggers. Topics include the building of the Broad Street Subway, the inventor who was responsible for creating one of the first photographs made in America, the development of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the city's grand Wanamaker's Department Store, and the first 'modern' baseball stadium in America which was erected in 1887 at the corner of Broad Street and Lehigh Avenue in North Philadelphia.

To view photographs and read about Philadelphia history, please visit www.PhillyHistory.org.

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Photo Links:
Man with Penn's Statue Head (c. 1894): http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/detail.aspx?ImageId=5048
City Hall Illuminated (1916): http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/detail.aspx?ImageId=8111
Independence Hall-Prior to 1896 Restoration: http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/detail.aspx?ImageId=4784
Philadelphia Trades School (1912): http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/Detail.aspx?ImageId=45538
Fire demonstration Project: Broad Street (1913): http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/Detail.aspx?ImageId=1372
Busy Philadelphia Street (1914): http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/Detail.aspx?ImageId=7355

To request interviews, high-resolution photographs, and more information, please contact:
Megan Wendell, Canary Promotion, office: 215-242-6393, megan@canarypromo.com