HSP is pleased to announce that it has added two new tools for anyone doing research in our library: access to the online resources at Heritage Quest Online and Origins.net.

These two subscription web sites offer a diverse set of genealogical and research materials, including Revolutionary War pension applications, Freedman's Bank depositor records from the late 19th century, hundreds of years of British and Irish genealogical records, and more.

These two sites nicely complement the other online research tools available to HSP visitors, including Ancestry.com Institution Edition, JSTOR, Pennsylvania’s Historical Newspaper Collection, and Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice: 1490-2007.

You can find links to Heritage Quest Online, Origins.net, and other subscription-based and free resources on HSP's public service terminals. If you need help accessing the sites in the library, drop by the Reference Desk and speak to one of our staff.

Here's a preview of what you can find in these two research tools:

Heritage Quest Online

Heritage Quest Online offers several collections that may prove of particular interest to HSP researchers. Please note that the site does not offer a central search system, so researchers will need to search each of the five collections separately to check them all. Collections include:

* Revolutionary War pension and bounty-land warrant applications – These files provide information on more than 80,000 military officers and enlisted men from the Revolutionary War era.

* Freedman’s Bank depositor records – Dating from 1865 to 1874, these records provide insights for genealogists and scholars interested in African American life during and after the Civil War. The records include bank applicants' names, family members, employment information, and much more, and include records for the Philadelphia branch of the bank.

* Genealogy and local history books – Users can search for people, places, or other keywords in this collection of more than 28,000 digitized volumes. A quick search for "Pennsylvania," for instance, turns up approximately 13,000 results.

* Periodical Source Index (PERSI) – This index, published by the Allen County Public Library, catalogs articles from genealogical and historical society newsletters and other local history periodicals. Users can search for people, places, and other keywords, but also might be interested in searching for "how to" articles about genealogy methods in general. Please note that this is only an index; users can request the actual articles through the Heritage Quest web site for an additional charge.

* LexisNexis U.S. Serial Set – This collection includes information about U.S. Congress actions regarding memorials, petitions and private relief actions (like increasing specific peoples’ pensions).

Origins.net

Origins.net focuses on hundreds of years of British and Irish genealogy resources, and offers various resources that are not available online elsewhere. Collections include:

* British genealogy records – This collection includes a wide variety of resources, including London apprenticeships from 1442-1850; marriages from Dorset, Surrey and York; burials for Greater London from 1544-1905; Poor Law records and court records; and much more.

* Irish genealogy records – This collection includes Irish directories from 1844-1900, probate indexes from 1270-1858, and some inscriptions for burial grounds, among other records.