Szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl – Search the Archives

Szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl is an on-line service developed by the NDA which presents scans and descriptions of archive materials collected in the Polish archives. Currently more than 55 million scans of archive materials are available in the service, their number still growing.

Service content

The source of the archive descriptions in the service are the data from the Integrated Archive Information System (ZoSIA). The service also contains data from the Programme for the Registration of Records from Parish and Civil Registration Offices (PRADZIAD), which collects information on genealogical materials kept in the state archives. Scans of archive materials are derived from the collections of the Polish state archives and other cultural institutions. The information of interest may be easily found thanks to the user-friendly search engine offering many useful filters and options.
Copies of archive materials presented in the service may be used in any manner, including downloading, copying and other distributing using any technology unless otherwise stated in the descriptions of the materials or on the digital copies.

Users

The Search the Archives service may be used by genealogists, students, teachers, academics, and any other person interested in using the resources of the Polish archives. The service renders it possible to use archive materials kept in the archives in the various parts of Poland from home. You only need Internet access and a browser to use the service.

History of development

• 2009 premiere of the Search the Archives service. The generally accessible part of ZoSIA was made available at www.szukajwarchiwach.pl. In addition to descriptions of more than 1.2 million archive units, Internet users may browse through more than 70 thousand scans of archive materials from the State Archives in Lublin.
• 2010 the Archives of the Capital City of Warsaw start to make available scans of archive materials at www.szukajwarchiwach.pl, providing access to a total of more than 470 thousand digital copies.
• 2011 new scans are made available at www.szukajwarchiwach.pl. 2 791 115 scans are presented in the service.
• 2013 The number of scans at www.szukajwarchiwach.pl exceeded 7 millions.
• 2014 1.2 million new scans at szukajwarchiwach.pl, November The number of scans exceeded 14 millions.
• 2015 22 April szukajwarchiwach.pl was granted the “IT Wings in Administration” award in the “Tools for communication with citizens” category.
• 2016 July the number of scans exceeded 20 millions.
• 2017 12 January updated service at www.szukajwarchiwach.pl new descriptions and scans. Currently, the system is nearly 23 million scans, and more than 4.3 million descriptions of archival units
• 2017 In July we added over 2,4 million new scans to szukajwarchiwach.pl
• 2017 In November, after another update, the number of scans in service reached 27 087 543
• 2018 In January we added almost 1 million new scans. On Search in Archives you can now find 28 041 354 scans of archive materials
• 2019 we added almost 3,5 million new scans. On Search in Archives you can now find more than 37 mln scans of archive materials
• 2019 June 8 launch of the new version at www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl