Place Library¶
The Place Library is a collection of ready-made packs of reference places — counties, states, parishes, and similar — that you can import with one click instead of typing them in by hand.
Why?¶
Without the Place Library, the same real-world place risks being spelled differently depending on the day: "Örebro County" one time, "Örebro county" the next. That makes it harder to find and group places correctly. The Place Library gives you a shared, correctly spelled foundation to build on — and once it's imported, typing a place name in a form will suggest the already-imported places automatically, instead of you typing the same place in again every time.
Start by importing location packages
The location library contains a number of location packages that you can import into your app. You choose which ones you want to import. When you add new people, they help you fill in all locations in the same way and it will be easier to search for locations later.
Where do I find it?¶
Administration → Import & Export → Place Library → Open place library
How does the import work?¶
- Click Open place library
- You'll see a list of available packs, with name, description, and place count
- Click Import on the pack you want
- A progress indicator shows how far the import has come, followed by a confirmation once it's done
You can import several packs in a row in the same session — the dialog doesn't close automatically between imports.
Which packs are available?¶
Right now:
- Counties of Sweden — all 21 Swedish counties as ready-made, searchable places, including each county's county seat
- Sweden's historical counties — counties that have been merged, renamed, or dissolved since the 1600s (e.g. Kristianstad County, Malmöhus County, Gothenburg and Bohus County), with their county seats and a description of when each county was active. Useful if your sources — church records, old documents — reference the older county divisions instead of today's 21 counties.
More packs (e.g. parishes for specific regions, or US states) will follow over time. If you have a request for a particular area, get in touch — see Contact.
Requires internet¶
Unlike the rest of PastPaths, the Place Library needs an internet connection — the pack list and pack files are fetched from pastpaths.se each time you import. The rest of the app is unaffected; you can keep working entirely offline whenever you're not importing a new pack.
Can it be undone?¶
Yes. A place library import shows up in the same import history as GEDCOM imports (Administration → Import & Export → Import history), with the source "Place Library". Undo works the same way: places you've since linked to a person or event are never removed automatically — only the ones still unused.
→ More about import/export history and undo
Already used in your own research?¶
If you already have places in your database that exactly match a place in a pack (for example through an earlier GEDCOM import), no duplicate is created — the library recognizes the existing place and reuses it instead.
Where do the imported places show up?¶
Just like any other place, under Places. An imported county shows up directly at the county level in the place hierarchy (not hidden under an "unknown place" group), since the Place Library knows the place is the county, not a place located within it.