Mission and Background:

SCETI, a fully integrated digital library, was created in 1996 to publish virtual facsimiles of rare books and manuscripts in the Penn Library's collections. Its ongoing mission is to make accessible to the global community of scholars and researchers primary source materials that would otherwise be difficult to access. The site is free and open to all in the interests of knowledge and learning.

Startup costs were met through a generous gift from Library Overseer Lawrence J. Schoenberg. Since 1996, SCETI has received grants from federal and private foundations for specific projects.