For Immediate Release                                               
Contact: Christine Liggio
(607) 547-1472; email: [log in to unmask]

Research Library’s Online Catalog Now Available on the Web

Cooperstown, N.Y., March 15, 2004— Pathfinder, the online catalog of the Research Library of the New York State Historical Association and The Farmers’ Museum, is now available on the web at: http://www.nysha.org/library/.

Named after the principal character in James Fenimore Cooper’s novel of the same name, Pathfinder will enable scholars, teachers, students, genealogists, and other researchers to access the Library’s catalog via the Internet twenty-four hours a day. Since 1899 the Research Library has developed important collections of primary and secondary source materials in agricultural history, American art and architectural history, genealogy, museum studies, Native American art and culture, and New York State history. The Library's Special Collections Department has a wide variety of materials including rare books, manuscripts, archival collections, maps, broadsides, and ephemera. More information on the library’s collections, online resources, and exhibitions is available on our website. Additional records will be added to Pathfinder over the next couple of years as funding for this project becomes available.

Pathfinder was made possible through generous support from:  The Baird Foundation of Buffalo, New York; The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; The Kline Foundation; The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum; The A. Lindsay and Olive B. O’Connor Foundation and South Central Regional Library Council.

Other contributors include Mr. and Mrs. Richard Couper; Dr. Douglas E. Evelyn; Mrs. G. M. Godley ; Dr. and Mrs. Lewis L. Hamilton; Elizabeth and Sasha Matson, and Rotary Club of Cooperstown.

For more information about this project, please contact the Research Library staff at 607-547-1470 or send email to [log in to unmask].

The New York State Historical Association is a non-profit, private educational institution which was founded in 1899 in Caldwell (Lake George). The Association moved its headquarters to Ticonderoga in 1926 and to Cooperstown in 1938. During the past 100 years, the Association has preserved tens of thousands of documents, works of art, photographs, and artifacts. The Association operates Fenimore Art Museum and a Research Library in Cooperstown and sponsors statewide educational programming. For information, write or call: NYSHA, PO Box 800, Cooperstown, NY, 13326; (607) 547-1400. The website address is www.nysha.org.

###

______________________________________

Melissa McAfee

Research Library Director

New York State Historical Association

The Farmers' Museum

PO Box 800 Lake Road

Cooperstown, NY 13326

607 547 1473 (tel)

607 547 1405 (fax)