Have you ever seen pictures of the old Plattsburgh barracks? Heard about President Coolidge’s time in the North County? Examined a Masonic jug? Now anyone interested in New York State’s history and heritage can easily, and for free, search for items like these and more by visiting NewYorkHeritage.org. The site helps anyone - students, researchers, history buffs -find thousands of documents and other items that tell the stories of the state’s people, places, history and heritage.

"NewYorkHeritage.org offers an easy way to find words, documents and pictures from people who lived through a time period and might have actually witnessed historic events," said John Hammond, executive director, Northern New York Library Network, one of the site’s contributors.

"It’s a great site for anyone who wants a glimpse into our state’s history and heritage that goes beyond textbooks."

Items at NewYorkHeritage.org come from more than 160 collections from libraries, historical societies, museums and archives across the state.

Using NewYorkHeritage.org is easy. For instance, a student looking for information for a term paper, report or special project simply visits the site and uses the "search" function to search on his or her topic in all the collections.

In addition to photos, diaries, newspapers and maps, visitors to NewYorkHeritage.org can find letters, government files, drawings, speeches and much more.

A librarian, archivist or expert on a subject chose the vast majority of items included in the collections, which means those items are authentic and relevant.

Besides students, NewYorkHeritage.org will also be a useful research tool for amateur genealogists who want to find out more about their family’s background; scholarly or investigative researchers looking for evidence for their work; and history buffs who want to add to their knowledge.

About NewYorkHeritage.org

New York Heritage is a collaborative project among New York State’s nine Reference and Research Library Resources Councils (NY3Rs): Capital District Library Council for Reference & Research, Central New York Library Resources Council, Long Island Library Resources Council, METRO-Metropolitan New York Library Council, Northern New York Library Network, Rochester Regional Library Council, South Central Regional Library Council, Southeastern New York Library Resources Council, and Western New York Library Resources Council.

The NY3Rs, funded by New York State, worked with their member institutions (libraries, archives and historical societies) to digitize original research materials and make those materials available for free on the Internet. The councils are continually adding new collections to NewYorkHeritage.org and actively seek collections to expand the site.