HIS413 - Bloom

An excellent printed bibliographic guide to the research in all areas of Pennsylvania history.

Two environmental studies scholars (professor and doctoral student) have recently produced (2014) this very helpful work, which provides an annotated bibliography of some 150+ secondary materials (journal articles, historical magazines, books, and a few government documents) on PA conservation topics. Sections include: Air Pollution, Carson and Pesticides, Energy, Forestry, General Conservation, Parks and Wilderness, Three Mile Island, Urban Environment, Water and Fisheries, and Wildlife. It concludes with a section on "Core Environmental History Readings".

Digitized items from the State Library's collections including materials by and about Benjamin Franklin, historical reports of Pennsylvania State Agencies, genealogy resources, and historic newspapers.

In 2003 the Penn State University Libraries and its Pennsylvania Statewide Resource Center partners – Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania, The Free Library of Philadelphia, and the Carnegie Public Library of Pittsburgh- launched this collaborative online collection of published books “on or about” Pennsylvania. The Penn State University Libraries contributed 641 titles digitized from its Pennsylvania History on Microfilm collection. The Commonwealth Library’s extensive collection of Civil War Regimental histories was also added and made available for open public access. Other titles found in this online collection are Pennsylvania county histories and travel log books.

PA Digital is the Pennsylvania service hub for the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). They work with libraries, historical societies, museums, and related cultural heritage institutions in the Commonwealth to showcase their historical collections and resources through the DPLA portal.

Historic Pittsburgh comprises primary and secondary sources about the greater Pittsburgh region, including a wide range of publications, maps, manuscripts, visual images, and audio-video materials, that support personal and scholarly research.

The University of Pittsburgh's University Library System has digitized over 115,000 unique objects (resulting in over two million digital pages and images) from several special collecting units, including the Archives & Special Collections and Center for American Music as well as several Pitt Faculty members and regional partner institutions.

Devoted to the history and heritage of Western Pennsylvania, the Senator John Heinz History Center (legal name – the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania) is Pennsylvania’s largest history museum. The Center's family of museums and programs includes the Heinz History Center, Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, Fort Pitt Museum, Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village, Detre Library & Archives, and the new Museum Conservation Center.

The Rivers of Steel Archives have served as a repository for thousands of donated and sourced items that tell the story of the Pittsburgh Industrial District’s domination of the steel industry throughout the better part of the 20th century. These diverse archival collections include thousands of artifacts, documents, photographs, and audiovisual materials that depict southwestern Pennsylvania’s industrial, cultural, and ethnic traditions—telling the stories of the region, its communities of workers, and their families, all of whom made “Big Steel” possible.

The Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) is the principal repository for and steward of the Libraries’ rare books, manuscripts, archives, and University records.

With over 300,000 printed books and codices and over 14,000 linear feet of modern manuscripts, the Kislak Center’s collections span the ancient world to the contemporary era and are global in scope. The collections are interdisciplinary and continue to grow. Collections of digital images from the Kislak Center collections and other Penn Libraries departments can be found on the Digital Penn project pages.

The American Philosophical Society, the oldest learned society in the United States, was founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin for the purpose of “promoting useful knowledge.” APS collecting areas include early American history, ethnography and linguistics, the history of science, and museum artifacts that represent these areas of study.