Historic NARA documents now online.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and Footnote Inc., a subscription-based Web company, have partnered to post online selected historical records from NARA's vast holdings.

According to a Footnote press release, the non-exclusive agreement, beginning with a sizeable collection of materials currently on microfilm, will enable anyone with an Internet connection to access millions of newly digitized images of the NARA's historic records on a subscription basis. The 4.5 million pages that have been digitized so far are now available at www.footnote.com/nara.

The digitized records are also available at no charge in NARA's Washington, D.C., research rooms and regional facilities across the country. After five years, all images digitized through the agreement will be available free of charge via www.archives.gov.

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"This is an exciting step forward for the National Archives" Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein said in the press release. "It will immediately allow much greater access to approximately 4.5 million pages of important documents that are currently available only in their original format or on microfilm."

Millions of important historical documents now are available as part of the National Archives/Footnote agreement, including: Papers of the Continental Congress (1774-89), with copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution; Mathew B. Brady Collection of Civil War Photographs; Civil War Name Index and pension files; and the FBI's investigative case files, 1908-1922.

Millions of additional documents and images will be posted each month.