The New York State Archives was established in 1971 and opened its doors to the public in 1978. It is a program of the State Education Department, with its main facility located in the Cultural Education Center on Madison Avenue in Albany. There it cares for and provides access to more than 200 million documents that tell the story of New York from the seventeenth century to the present.
State Law provides that each county have a court law library with access to the general public. The majority of these libraries have case law, statutes and secondary source materials with regard to New York State law. Several have additional information. Click on the scales of justice for the locations of these libraries.
The State Library at Albany's collection is particularly strong in medicine; social sciences; education; history, particularly American and New York State; certain pure sciences; technology; and Federal, State, and international documents. New York State History is the special focus of much of its manuscript and special collections but many are of a national interest because of the state's role in the history of the nation.
Although, residents of New York State are eligible for a NYS Resident Library Card, all of the electronic resources available to residents are made available on John Jay Library's a to z library database list. However, if you are a faculty member at John Jay, you are a state employee and thereby entitled to a special library card (a P-designation) which enables you to access many databases not otherwise available to you. Apply for a New York State Government Employee's Card and you'll be able to access:
19th Century Masterfile, Abstracts in Social Gerontology, Accessible Archives, African American Experience, African American Newspapers: The 19th Century, America's Historical Newspapers, Anthropology Plus, ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Standards, Big Online America, Biography and Genealogy Master Index, Biological Abstracts, Biological Sciences, BioOne, Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective, Congressional Universe, Engineering Village, Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management, Georef, Godey's Ladys Book, HeritageQuest Online, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) Standards, Index to Early American Periodicals (1700-1935), Index Master, LegalTrac, LoisLaw, Mercent Online, National Climatic Data Center, Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, NTIS-1899+, Sanborn Maps, Scipio: Art and Rare Book Sales Catalog, State Capital Universe, Statistical Universe, Wildlife and Ecology Studies Worldwide.