Visiting the Web site of the New York Public Library is like taking a virtual walk back through time.
BY CAROLYN J. SOSNOWSKI, MLIS
New York Public Library
When most of us think of the New York Public Library, we probably paint a mental picture of the building on Fifth Avenue, guarded by the lions Patience and Fortitude, and the extensive network of branches and research collections. But have you taken a recent look at what the library's Web site has to offer? The text and image resources are an amazing portal into the past. There are photos from Ellis Island that date back to the turn of the 20th century, images of book jackets from the 1920s through the 1940s, portrait images from the 16th to 19th centuries, photos of early automobiles, postcards from World War I, Walt Whitman manuscripts, books scanned by Google--and all that's just for starters. You can truly get lost in this site, and it's worth considering when you have some research to do and don't know where to start.
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