成立於 1952 年的上海圖書館是中國江浙一帶收藏歷史文獻最集中、 最豐富的文 獻收藏機構。上海圖書館館藏歷史文獻約為 310 萬冊（件），其中古籍文獻約為 170 萬冊 （件），近代文獻約為 140 萬冊（件）。 這些歷史文獻按照其內容類型大致可分為十一大 類，即古籍善本、碑帖拓片、名人墨跡手札、地方志、家譜、朱卷、專人檔案、近現代報刊 、舊外文圖書、特種資料等。上海圖書館自成立之日起便開展了對歷史文獻的整理研究，為 保存、整理、研究、開發館藏歷史文獻做了大量工作。這些整理研究工作大致可以分為五個 方面，即編製書目、裝幀修復、縮微影印、製作光盤、開闢專室。

　　　　　Shang-Hai Library, established in 1952, has the most cnetralized and abundant archival collection among the libraries and other institutes with the responsiblities of collecting and preserving archieves, in the regions of Chiang-Su and Che-Chiang. This collection includes approximately 3,100,000 volumes (items), about 1,700,000 volumes (items) of them are archives and qantiquities, about 1,400,000 volumes (items) are modern archives and documents. These publication can be roughly classified by contents into 11 categories: rarebooks and antiquities, ancient writings on silk and rubbing, manuscripts of celebrities, local chronicle, genealogy, red print, personal files, modern serials publications, old foreign language books, special materials, etc. Since its opening day, Shang-Hai Library has started the reorganization and researchb of historical archives and done a great deal of work in preserving, reorganizing, reserving, and developing the collected archives. The task can be observed from five broad categories, namely, compiling bibliographies, repairing and rebinding, producing and reproducing microforms, producing CD-ROMs, and getting enough rooms for the exclusive use of these specific materials.