FROM PAST TO FUTURE AND BACK AGAIN --PhillyHistory.org Brought 140 Years Of Historic Photos Into The Present With Online Access - Now, PhillyHistory Mobile Crosses Digital Divide, Using New GIS Technology To Access Photos and Take A Virtual Tour Into Philadelphia's Past!

PHILADELPHIA, PA – It's back to the future times two – the Wireless Version. In a landmark project that clearly illustrates the power of technology, PhillyHistory.org made history by giving us history when it debuted last year, making thousands of images dating back to the mid-19th century from the Philadelphia City Archives accessible to the worldwide public for the first time online. Users were suddenly able to search photos online – many never seen before by the public -- by street, address, keyword; bookmark them; share their favorite ones; and see their searches in GoogleMaps and GoogleEarth. Now, the collaborative effort between the City of Philadelphia Department of Records and Avencia Incorporated -- the Philadelphia-based geographic analysis and software firm that developed the system -- takes a giant leap forward with the launch of PhillyHistory Mobile, a new service that provides instant access to a geographically-based image database directly from a cell phone or other handheld device.

So what does PhillyHistory Mobile do? It gives residents, tourists and visitors the ability to access more than 47,000 (as of today) historic and cultural photos – part of the inventory of the estimated 2 million held by the Department of Records' City Archives, one of the largest municipal archives in the U.S, that are being scanned into the PhillyHistory.org database at a rate of 2,000 per month – at any time from anywhere, with simply a cell phone or wireless Internet-equipped device.  From pedestrians curious to see what their surroundings used to look like, to tourism agencies eager to organize historic tours, to teachers who are interested in making their history lessons come to life, PhillyHistory Mobile provides an easy-to-use search screen where users can enter an address, intersection, keyword, or year, and the resulting display returns a map of the area showing locations of historic and cultural assets as well as photos of those assets.

PhillyHistory Mobile is made possible by Sajara, a web-based geographic information system (GIS) application and digital asset management software created by Avencia, that enables the staff of the City Archives to manage, update, record metadata and assign map coordinates to each image in the archive, giving users the ability to view photos of their geographic location dating back, in some instances, almost 150 years.

A key motivation for Joan Decker, Commissioner of the Department of Records, when she contracted Avencia in 2005 was to find a way to preserve the city's deteriorating and aging photographic history.  "The database that we had for indexing photos was old and outdated,” explains Decker. "It was a rarely updated desktop database that only included a tiny fraction of the collection and there were no actual photographs attached to the index. It was strictly internal, and I wanted to make sure that whatever the solution, it would provide more information and greater access to the public.”

Ongoing funding for the project is supported through the Sajara software's e-commerce module, generating revenue through the sale of prints and digital photos.  All proceeds from PhillyHistory.org are re-invested in the project to purchase more equipment and resources to scan more photos and help to preserve the collection. PhillyHistory Mobile takes that usage further, becoming a valuable tool to support the city's tourism industry and increase traffic to the website's growing e-commerce store. 

"Avencia had really wonderful ideas for building an easy-to-manage system and for making it widely available to the public with different interactive features,”said Decker regarding the decision to contract with Avencia on the project. "They have a very strong track record here at the City and we really liked their ideas about a blog and a featured photo of the week. PhillyHistory.org has really exceeded our expectations in every aspect.”  

"The PhillyHistory project has been a truly groundbreaking effort to create a whole new way of accessing historic material," stated Robert Cheetham, president and CEO of Avencia. "And now, PhillyHistory Mobile represents a convergence of technologies and opportunities, bringing together Avencia's software, the Philly Wi-Fi initiative, and the increasing number of Internet-enabled phones and handheld computers to provide additional texture and depth to our experience of the city.”

Imagine, standing at 13th and Locust Streets, and doing a search for 1300 Locust on the PhillyHistory Mobile website. Up pops a map of the area showing, among 10 historic and cultural assets in close proximity, a photograph of the New Century Guild historic marker and a photograph of the oldest and largest organizations created to advance the interests of women in the labor force. Originally located on Girard St., the Guild moved to Arch St. in 1893 and to 1307 Locust in 1906. Ordinarily, it would take hours of searching through a library database, or even days, prior to PhillyHistory.org, for the City Archives staffers to search for and find those images. Now, you can actually take a mobile tour of Philadelphia's past, right from your own cell phone, by accessing mobile.phillyhistory.org!

"In truth,” continues Cheetham, "the potential for this sort of platform goes far beyond the historic photos and maps in the PhillyHistory project. It can be easily applied to cultural resources, visitor tours and even real estate and environmental information, and will be an invaluable asset to libraries, museums, universities and more.”

The City of Philadelphia has been recognized for its innovative use of geographic databases and the Mayor's Office of Information Services even received a Special Achievement in GIS award from ESRI, the world leader in GIS technology for DecisionMaps, a web-based mapping, siting and economic development tool. PhillyHistory.org won Philadelphia Magazine's Best of Philly 2007 for Best Local Website as well as an Exemplary Systems in Government Distinguished System award from URISA. In addition to PhillyHistory.org and PhillyHistory Mobile, the City continues to work on further developments of GIS technology through projects such as ParcelExplorer, which enables searches of real estate records, and the Crime Spike Detector, an application that analyzes crime trends and changes, among many others.

For more information on PhillyHistory Mobile, visit www.mobile.phillyhistory.org. For press information or to arrange an interview with Avencia or the City Department of Records, please contact Nina Zucker Associates at 610.667.0706 or , or Avencia at 215-925-2600 or on the web at www.avencia.com

About the City of Philadelphia Department of Records
The Home Rule Charter of 1951 established the Department of Records to ensure that Philadelphia's municipal records were appropriately controlled and managed. The Department sets records management standards and procedures for all City departments, boards, commissions, and agencies, and manages key records operations and services such as the City Archives, the Records Storage Center, the Recorder of Deeds, and central reprographic services.  The Department also manages public access to municipal records and establishes and collects fees to cover the cost of providing copies of records. As an agent for the Commonwealth and the City Revenue Department, the Records Department also collects realty transfer taxes and document recording fees and, as the official City tax registry, maintains the city's real property database and tax maps.

About Avencia, Incorporated
Avencia is an award-winning geographic analysis and software development firm specializing in the creation of web-based tools and products that use mapping and GIS technologies to enhance decision-making in governments, businesses, and non-profits. With offices in Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington State, the company has years of experience working with small and large municipalities across the country, as well as  non-profit organizations, foundations, and corporations, and has developed various flexible solutions that help  clients answer complex community-based questions while improving their business processes, creating web-based and analytical solutions that can easily and seamlessly be integrated with clients' applications.