We are pleased to announce the online presence of valuable local history information, the Massillon Business and Industry Database. Past and present businesses found in city directories and the library's newspaper clipping file have been gathered onto one Website which can be searched by business name, type of product, date, or by person affiliated with the business. Additional information was gathered from books on Stark County and Massillon history found in the library's collection.

The database was originally created by Massillon Public Library reference staff member, Katherine Artzner, as her final project towards a Masters of Library and Information Sciences degree at Kent State University. Going far beyond the original design project, Katherine spent an enormous amount of volunteer time building the listings in the database. This will be an ongoing project, and library staff will be able to add new listings as they are discovered.

To access the database,visit www.massillonmemory.org, the portal to other online digital content developed by library staff, including scanned images of the Rotch-Wales documents. Click on "Collections" then click "Massillon Business and Industry Database."

For additional information or to make comments and suggestions for improvements, contact Sherie Brown, Head of Reference Services, at 330-832-9831 ext. 307.

###

release date: March 5, 2008