近代中國海關文獻無論在貿易、內政、產業、交通、醫學、外交乃至於氣候、生態變遷上，皆保留了數量龐大的史料，是研究近代歷史至為重要的資料寶庫。這些海關出版物當年出版時，並非完全對外發行販售，取得不易，多數資料只留藏於出版當地，各藏書地的資料多不齊全，也缺乏大規模整理。
在現存可見的舊海關資料中，海關稅務司魏爾特 (Stanley F. Wright, 1873-1953) 編撰的《中國近代海關歷史文件彙編》第7卷 (Documents Illustrative of the Origin, Development and Activities of the Chinese Customs Service, Volume VII.)，附有《海關出版圖書目錄1940》(List of Chinese Customs Publications, 1940.)，這份文獻保存了相當完整的海關圖書目錄，提供我們勾勒中國海關出版品大致輪廓的依據。
根據1940海關出版目錄，我們將蒐集到的舊海關文獻，規畫成不同主題資料庫。《海關統計資料》是海關出版品中最大宗也最為人熟知的海關貿易統計及報告；《十年報告》是各口岸報告每隔十年的各項資料回顧與統計；《新關題名錄》蒐集海關職員名錄；《醫學報告》是各關口醫官的定期報告；《航路標識》記錄中國沿海及內河的航路標識資料；其他尚未分類的多種海關史料則歸入《其他出版品》。此外，還有兩大特色資料庫：《海關圖表集成》特別蒐集海關出版品中各類地圖及特殊表格；《海關書目》為每本出版品建立個別書籍頁面，提供詳盡的館藏資訊，建議使用者多加利用。
In modern Chinese history, Chinese Maritime Customs Service preserved a lot of historical sources that covered trade, domestic affairs, industries, transportation, medicine, diplomacy, and climate and transformation of ecology. These publications of the Chinese Maritime Customs service were important to researches of modern Chinese history. The publications of Chinese Maritime Customs Service did not open to sell to all publics in the past Chinese society; therefore, peoples could not easily to obtain the hard copies publications of Chinese Maritime Customs Service. Most of the materials were only kept in the place where they were published. The Customs publications lacked completed and a thorough information. These Customs documents also lacked to arrange in large scale.
In current preserved imperial Maritime Customs documents, Stanley F. Wright, 1873-1953, a Commissioner of Imperial Chinese Maritime Custom Service wrote Documents Illustrative of the Origin Development and Activities of the Chinese Customs Service, Volume VII, which include List of Chinese Customs Publications, 1940. The document preserved relatively complete categories of Chinese Maritime Customs publications that provide an evidence for us to delineate a general outline of the Chinese Maritime Customs publications.
According to List of Chinese Customs Publications, 1940, and the collection of Chinese Maritime Customs documents, the MHDB team developed different databases and themes. Returns of Trade and Trade Reports is the largest and well-known Customs statistics and trade reports. Decennial Reports is the reports and reviews of each treaty port in China every ten years. Service List collected Customs staffs, who worked for Chinese Customs Service. Medical Reports are the reports that medical officers routinely reported disease and sanitary situation in Chinese treaty ports. Navigational Aids recorded the navigational and buoys information regarding costal and inner rivers in China. Other publications include various Customs publications that did not put into a specific category as above. In addition, there are two more special databases: Collected Maps and Tables of Chinese Maritime Customs, which include different types of maps and charts in the database, and Chinese Maritime Customs Bibliography, which provide individual pages for Customs publications and detailed information for the location of the publications. We encourage users to use the system for consulting purpose.