This publication can be downloaded, printed, saved, and viewed by clicking here.

Hirelings: African American Workers and Free Labor in Early Maryland, by Jennifer Dorsey. The author describes a time when black slavery and black freedom existed side by side on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and retells the history of free Africans and their descendants who,  since the 17th century, made the area home.

Looking South: Race, Gender, and the Transformation of Labor from Reconstruction to Globalization, by Mary Frederickson.  The author takes a comprehensive look at the effects of race, class, and gender, as well as events, movements,  and personalities,  in the development of the low-wage, anti-union, and state supported industries of  the ‘New South’ and  the ‘Global South.’

Library materials will be available for check out at the Government and Heritage Library by North Carolina State Agency employees or may be borrowed through an interlibrary loan request at your local public library. To view other new library acquisitions, click here.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

A few weeks ago I posted a tip of the week about using timelines to help sort out 2 or more individuals who could be the person you are looking for using the example of Rufus Mitchell and Rufus Mitchell, both of Guilford County and born a year or 2 apart. It got me thinking about other uses for timelines. I also realized that some people may be unsure how to create a timeline so I will use some examples of timelines I’ve created for my own research so you can see how I do it and hopefully that will give you some ideas on creating your own.

One of the best uses for timelines in my experience is to sort information you already have about a person to see what information you need to look for. Whenever I receive a request, I create a timeline of information that the patron has given me to determine where to start. Here is an example with John Doe and his wife Jane (fictitious):

John Doe (variations: Dough)
b. ~1806 Lincoln Co., NC
d. unknown
m.  ~1830 Lincoln Co., NC to Jane Doe

Children: James Doe (b. Dec 1839), Janet Doe (b. ~1842)
Parents: unknown
Siblings: Peter Doe (b. ~1803), Joseph (b. ~1800), Mary (b. ~1809)

• 1820 census – he is not listed as a head of a household
• 3 Nov 1826 – John Doe witnessed the deed between John Smith of Guilford County to James Johnson of Lincoln County 100 acres for $50
• 1830 census – he is not listed as a head of a household
• 1 Nov 1830 – marriage to Jane Mitchell in Lincoln County, Peter Doe as bondsman
• 23 Jan 1831 – purchased 60 acres for $10 from Paul Doe in Lincoln County
• 1837 Tax List – Lincoln County, Rutledge’s  Company with 60 acres valued at $50 and 1 taxable
• 1840 Census – head of house of Lincoln County 1 male under 5, 1 male age 30-40 1 female age 5-10, 1 female age 20-30.
• August 1847 – Will filed in Lincoln County for John Doe dated 1 Feb 1847 and proved in August court 1847

From the top portion, we see what we know and what we’re unsure about, but making a time line we can fill in the blanks. For example there is a will that was dated and proved in the same year so now we can fill in the death date as 1847. There is also a purchase of land from an unknown Doe – Paul. Who is this? father, uncle, brother?  Then we see 6 years later in the tax list he has the same amount of land but the value is more. Could that mean the 60 acres he purchased in 1831 was purchased for only $10 because it was more of a gift and really valued for $50? In this scenario I would next look into this Paul and see who he is. Remember this is just an example I created.

Now for a real one:

I created this during my own personal research. This is for a man named Edmund Pettiford who resided as an adult in Guilford County.

Edmund Pettiford (variations: Pettyford, Pittiford, Pettifor)
b. 8 Aug 1791, possibly Wake Co., NC
d. 30 Aug 1889 Grant Co., IN
m. 13 Dec 1816 Chatham Co., NC to Sarah Carter

Children: Willis Henderson (b. ~1820), Richard (b. ~1821), Beverly Daniel (b.~1822), Ransom (b.~1822), John Milton (b.~1824), Benton (b.~1826), Young (b.~1827), Clarinda (b.~1829), Franklin (b.~1830), Elizabeth (b.~1832), Mary Jane (b.~1834), and Sarah (b.~1836)
Parents: unknown
siblings: unknown

• 13 Dec 1816 – married Sarah Carter in Chatham County (Source: Marriage Bond)
• 1820 – I have not found him in the census yet, but believe he was in Wake County and the census does not exist for Wake County that year.
• 1830 – Wake County, NC census Little River Township, pg. 473 line 16
• 1840 – Guilford County, NC census page 229
• 28 Sep 1847 – entry in Guilford County Deed book 30 states that Edmund Pettyfoot [sic] owes Stephen Macy $18.03 for a livestock and crops raised on the plantation of said Macy
• 1850 – Guilford County, NC census, Southern Division with wife Sarah, p. 272a
• 1860 – Grant County, IN census, Liberty township, p. 309

The information above is displayed in a way that it is easy to see at a glance what I have for him and what I need.

Just a note, for the information on Edmund Pettiford, I have been researching the Pettiford line in NC since 2000. The information above for Edmund comes from research right here at the Government & Heritage Library before I ever started working here. Using Ancestry Library Edition and census microfilm, I was able to search the census information. For the marriage bond, the library has a microfiche index of all marriage bonds filed in the State Archives of North Carolina. For the entry in the deed book dated in 1847, I first found mention of that in the book Abstract of Deeds, Guilford County Books 30 and 31 (1845-1850) by Dr. A.B. Pruitt. This book for deed books 30 and 31 is part of a series by the same author that abstracted deeds beginning in 1784 and ending in 1857! Dr. Pruitt has created deed abstracts for other counties as well and other types of abstracts for 96 books in our collection by this author.  Come on over to the Government & Heritage Library to take a look at them!

This publication can be downloaded, printed, saved, and viewed by clicking here.

Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, aka Whistler’s Mother, by James McNeill Whistler (1871)

This Sunday is Mother’s Day in the United States (you’re welcome, to those who had forgotten). I did a little poking around in our digital collections and NCpedia, to find some Mother’s Day tidbits for you.

If you’re interested in reading about particular mothers, NCpedia can help you there. There’s an article about one recognizable mother and native of Wilmington, North Carolina: Whistler’s Mother (pictured at right).  You might also want to read about Mary T. Martin Sloop, who was once named America’s Mother of the Year, or about Nanye’hi and Cherokee matrilineal customs.

Maybe you’re interested in the holiday itself? Mother’s Day was officially recognized by Congress in 1914, after many years of effort to create such a holiday by West Virginian Anna Jarvis and her mother, Ann, as well as earlier efforts by Julia Ward Howe.

North Carolina Education published an article entitled “Mothers’ Day–Its Origin and Celebration” in the same month the holiday was officially recognized (May, 1914, print p. 11). The author of the article describes the spirit behind Mother’s Day. Schools are mentioned as celebrating the day on the Friday before Mother’s Day, using the slogan “In Honor of ‘The Best Mother Who Ever Lived,’ the Mother of Your Heart. ‘”

The author of the article also talks about earlier commemorations of mothers, including a festival in Boston for “mothers who have not had a vacation from the city and who get few opportunities for such enjoyment of city parks.” Over 15,000 mothers were mentioned to attend the Boston festivities, which included storytellers, music, and educational talks. “Democracy was symbolized by the mingling of people of all nationalities and by the mayor dancing with the children of the poor.”

Another publication in our digital collections, Observance of Special Days, from 1959 (print p. 90-91), gives teachers details about major holidays and lists recommended activities. Here are a few examples for Mother’s Day:

• Collect and show pictures of mothers and “good family living” groups.
• Read or tell suitable stories. Then let children discuss and dramatize mother’s place in the home, showing appreciation for her kindnesses.
• Visit a homebound mother and present her with a gift — plant or flowers.
• Interview old people in the community and report to class on the customs of family living in early times.

The Allstons of Chicora Wood: Wealth, Honor and Gentility in the South Carolina Low Country, by William Scarborough. The author chronicles the history of a South Carolina planter family from the opulent antebellum years through the trauma of the Civil War and postwar period. With a focus on the patriarch, Robert R. F. W. Allston, his wife Adele Petigru Allston, and their daughter Elizabeth Allston Pringle Scarborough, the history of this prominent and extraordinarily enterprising  family is presented.

Katharine and R.J. Reynolds: Partners of Fortune in the Making of the New South, by Michele Gillespie. This marital portrait of power couple extraordinaire tobacco empire founder R.J. and Katherine Reynolds presents a business and social history of the modern South in the North Carolina Piedmont. With the backdrop of post-Reconstruction issues- rural poverty, industrial transformation, white working-class inferiority, racism, a one-party political system- the book describes how the New South’s elite developed business structures, social relations and racial hierarchies.

Library materials will be available for check out at the Government and Heritage Library by North Carolina State Agency employees or may be borrowed through an interlibrary loan request at your local public library. To view other new library acquisitions, click here.

Used with permission from Microsoft

It’s no news that the housing market has had some trouble over the years. And it’s definitely no shock that the environment isn’t in the best shape either. Could there be some solution that would  benefit both mother nature and the housing market? Could a move towards energy efficiency make it easier to get a home loan?  This paper examines that very question- whether the energy efficiency of a home is associated with lower mortgage risks. Energy costs are rising because family size is decreasing while homes sizes are increasing, and because of the increase in energy bills, families have less income to meet other needs, such as a mortgage.  To help energy costs decrease, the authors of the paper propose that mortgage pricing or underwriting flexibility should account for energy efficiency. By creating more efficient houses, occupants have more income to put towards housing expenses, lowering default and prepayment risks. The paper describes different financing mechanisms for residential energy efficiency, overviews mortgage risk literature, describes the research design and method used, and discusses the results and derives implications for future research and policy.

This publication can be downloaded, printed, saved, and viewed by clicking here.

Link: http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/ghl/themes/may.html

Check out all Explore NC topics: http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/ghl/themes/index.html

]]> http://statelibrarync.org/news/2013/05/this-month-explore-north-carolina-agriculture/feed/ 0 http://statelibrarync.org/news/2013/05/this-month-explore-north-carolina-agriculture/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GhlBlog/~3/DoZHDodOY8A/ http://statelibrarync.org/news/2013/04/new-additions-carolina-nature/#comments Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:00:22 +0000 Maria (acqserials) http://statelibrarync.org/news/?p=10734 New additions to the collections of the Government and Heritage Library:

Longleaf, Far as the Eye Can See: A New Vision of North America’s Richest Forest, by Bill Finch, Beth Young, Rhett Johnson, & John Hall.  Part natural history, part conservation advocacy, and part cultural exploration, this book highlights the special nature of longleaf forests. The authors explore the interaction of Longleaf pine with other species, the development of longleaf forests prior to human contact, the influence of the longleaf on southern culture, and ongoing efforts to restore these forests. The book blends  compelling narrative with stunning photography describing  North Carolina and southeastern forests.

Touring the Western North Carolina Backroads, 3rd Ed., by Carolyn Sakowski. The 21 tours in this book cover an area as noteworthy for its history as for its natural beauty and feature updated directions, new sites, photographs, and maps. Along with significant places, the travel routes of historic individuals are included.

Library materials will be available for check out at the Government and Heritage Library by North Carolina State Agency employees or may be borrowed through an interlibrary loan request at your local public library. To view other new library acquisitions, click here.

Sometimes when we are researching our ancestors, we find 2 or more individuals who can be the person you are looking for.  An example, this week I’ve been helping a patron search for an ancestor named Rufus Mitchell from Guilford County. The problem is there were 2 Rufus Mitchells during the time frame in question.

A way that really helps me and a tip I heard in a conference once, is to create a chronological timeline of what you know already starting with birth information and ending with death information.

What I do then is make an additional time line for the other individual(s) to compare with what I already know. Doing this I was able to figure out which Rufus was the right one based on information given to me for the 1870-1920 census, but there is still a problem in the 1850-1860 census. I’ve been able to separate them using time lines and it is up to the researcher to do some digging and figure out which Rufus was her ancestor.

This publication can be downloaded, printed, saved, and viewed by clicking here.

Courtesy of flickr user connectologist

It’s National Preservation Week. I posted earlier this week about our redesigned digital preservation website, and about a document geared toward professionals managing digital collections.

But what if you’ve just got family photos taken with your phone, a Facebook account, and some old letters you’ve scanned? What if you don’t do this for a living, but want to do the right thing for your future?

Well, we can help you there, too.

Preservation Week Exhibit from 2012

The advice from the exhibit we had last year is still relevant and hopefully not too overwhelming. Take a look at the .pdfs in this blog post from April 2012.

Library of Congress’ Personal Digital Archiving Site

If you’re ready for step-by-step instructions on scanning, preserving email, and saving your digital videos, the Library of Congress’ Personal Digital Archiving website is the place for you.

“What about Facebook? Twitter? My LIFE’s in there!”

Both Facebook and Twitter let you download your content. While those sites seem like they’ll be around forever, people might have thought that about EveryBlock, Meebo, AOL Hometown, and a host of other sites. So anytime you put unique content into a social network or other online product, investigate ways to back up that data if you want to save it for the future.

Got a more specific question about saving your personal stuff? Add a comment below or contact us at digital.info@ncdcr.gov and we’d be happy to help.

Who needs the NC PMDO?

If you’re creating a digital collection by scanning images or documents, don’t just describe those files and throw them on the internet or a hard drive. Preserve your hard work! To help do that, preservation metadata is a must. The NC PMDO gives you a list of required, recommended, and optional metadata elements to record. If you’re completely new to metadata, try this brief description.

How do I use the NC PMDO?

You can record metadata in a number of ways – maybe just in a spreadsheet or database, maybe in a specialized content management system. We’ve tried to make the schema user friendly, with lots of examples. If you have more questions, just contact us.

How is this edition of the NC PMDO different from the first one?

This latest edition addresses born-digital files as well as scanned images. We also think it’s a little more streamlined – some elements that were more burdensome to record have been removed.

But we used the first edition of the NC PMDO. What do we do now?

Don’t worry. You can keep using the first version – many of the fields map to the elements in the new schema (see Appendix A in the new edition). You’re also welcome to adopt the new schema if you’d like to scale back on the amount of preservation metadata you record.

Special thanks to our NC PMDO draft reviewers at North Carolina State University Libraries and the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center.

Carolina Spring: An Anthology of North Carolina Poets, Shelby Stephenson, Ed. Features the writings of North Carolina poets by region, including Marsha White Warren, Paul Jones, Lou Lipstiz, Stephen Smith, Sam Ragan, David Hopes, Fred Chappell, Betty Adcock, and Michael Chitwood and more.

Conjure Blues, by Jaki Shelton Green. Piedmont Laureate and North Carolina Award for Literature recipient.

In the Palms of Angels, by Terri Kirby Erickson. Winner of the Carteret Writers Award for Poetry and first prize honors from the Writers’ Ink Guild.

Living Above the Frost Line: New and Selected Poems, by Nancy Simpson. Poet and Writer in residence for the John C. Campbell Folk School.

Matching Skin, by Shirley Ammons. John Hope Franklin Grant for Documentary Studies recipient and Ebony Harlem Award recipient.

Poor Mouth Jubilee, by Michael Chitwood. Michael Chitwood’s ‘sublime book about sorrow.’

Library materials will be available for check out at the Government and Heritage Library by North Carolina State Agency employees or may be borrowed through an interlibrary loan request at your local public library. To view other new library acquisitions, click here.

Today we’re starting BIG, as we unveil our redesigned digitalpreservation.ncdcr.gov. Now streamlined and mobile friendly, we hope our popular digital preservation website will continue to be your first stop in learning how you can keep your digital files accessible as long as possible. This site is a joint project of the State Library of North Carolina and the State Archives of North Carolina. Want to know more about it? Keep reading below…

Why do we have this site?

The State Library and State Archives have long been stewards of North Carolina print state government publications and records. Since the first state employee began using a computer, our responsibility has extended to the digital.  We work hard to take care of that content according to industry best practices. Because digital preservation starts when you create a document (before it ever enters the Archives or Library), we also try to educate our customers about those best practices in an approachable way.

To help accomplish this in a cost-effective manner, in 2010 we launched digitalpreservation.ncdcr.gov. Now, it’s updated to make it even more approachable and flexible.

Who’s your audience?

Although we specifically hope state agency employees will find the site useful, it can be a starting point for anyone new to digital preservation.

What will I find there?

Start with the “Create” and “Manage” pages for the most fundamental first steps in managing digital files. Throughout the website, you’ll find hand-picked suggestions for how to learn more about digital preservation – from tutorials, to webinars, to great sources to follow on social media.

If you want to know what kinds of policies may apply to you as a state agency employee or are interested in examples of digital preservation-related policies, check out the aptly named Policies section. Finally, the “Presentations” page shows slide decks from grant-funded* talks we’ve given about digital preservation, digitization, and state government information.

But … huh?

It can be a tricky subject, digital preservation. But we’re here to help! Contact us at digital.info@ncdcr.gov or tweet us @digpres411 and we’re ready to answer your questions.

~

*Creation of this site was supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), as administered by the State Library of North Carolina.

Created by the Governor’s Crime Commission, this document presents statistics and an analysis of gangs in North Carolina. The North Carolina Street Gang Suppression Act defines a street gang as a group of three or more persons, whether formal or informal, that (1) has one of its primary activities the commission of one or more felony offenses, or delinquent acts that would be felonies if committed by an adult, (2) has members who engage in criminal street gang activity, and (3) have a common name, common identifying sign or symbol. A validated gang could be a motorcycle club, street gang, white supremist group, or any number of separatist groups or militias that have been validated as gangs, but according to this study, the higher percentage  of gangs are street gangs. The document provides statistics on gang members in terms of gender, age and race and also provides a map with the distribution of validated gangs among counties.

The statistics were gathered from 230 law enforcement agencies who provide information on gang members operating in 59 counties, including North Carolina’s most populous counties. The document analyses the data and describes the importance of recognizing gang demographics in order to develop meaningful programs for the population.

The data presented in this report is as of March 2012 and offers no comparison to other reports of 10 years, five years or one year ago.

This publication can be downloaded, printed, saved, and viewed by clicking here.

Deep Gap Days: A Crazy Quilt Narrative of My Boyhood in the Blue Ridge Mountains, by John Idol.  Growing up alongside US 421 between 1930 and the early 1950s, the authors shares memories that describe mountain life in the area between Boone  and Deep Gap, North Carolina.

Life at the Edge of the Sea: Essays on North Carolina’s Coast and Coastal Culture,  Candy Beal and Carmine Prioli, eds. This book presents Southern Coastal Heritage Workshop series essays on a variety of North Carolina coastal topics including geology, estuarine dynamics, the Outer Banks brogue,  working waterfronts, boat building, African- American history,  Native American archaeology and the history of the Cape Lookout National Seashore.

Shipwreck Diving North Carolina: Calabash to Southport: Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Holden Beach, Oak Island, & Bald Head Island, by Fred David and Vern Bender. The authors document multiple aspects of shipwreck diving off the North Carolina coast, including: short descriptions final voyages, photographs, GPS coordinates, diving logistics, shipwreck history, YouTube links on shipwrecks and marine life, information on the Cypress Tree Forest on the ocean floor,  and the story of Frying Pan Tower and Frying Pan Lightships.

Library materials will be available for check out at the Government and Heritage Library by North Carolina State Agency employees or may be borrowed through an interlibrary loan request at your local public library. To view other new library acquisitions, click here.

This publication can be downloaded, printed, saved, and viewed by clicking here.

These were taken by staff of the original NC ECHO project, one goal of which was to document and survey these types of institutions to better understand offerings around the state, to help coordinate the care of important sites and artifacts, and to begin to offer training and networking for professionals in charge of those resources. It was a wildly popular project. Training and other collections’ care assistance is continued today through the Connecting to Collections initiative, which also houses the original NC ECHO institutional database.

I had the good fortune of going through these photos, and I’ve assembled two sample sets. One helps you get the flavor of NC ECHO, and the other is what I’ve selfishly called “Curator’s Choice” – photos I found lovely or interesting.

Also, be sure to check out the revitalized NC ECHO web site, which offers access to cultural heritage in a new and virtual way. It “searches across digital collections at a variety of cultural heritage institutions around North Carolina.” You can find historic maps, genealogical material, all manner of photographs, and much more.

The Peninsula Campaign & the Necessity of Emancipation: African Americans & the Fight for Freedom, by Glenn Brasher. The author recounts how the war to save the Union became a struggle for African American freedom and describes how slavery fell apart in the midst of war.  In this particular campaign, African Americans participated in ways critical to the Union offensive thereby influencing Lincoln’s decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Shenandoah Valley 1862: Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign, by Peter Cozzens. From research of both Union and Confederate primary sources, this book offers one of the most comprehensive and balanced studies of the 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign telling the history of Stonewall Jackson’s success in diverting Union resources by defeating much larger enemy forces.

Skirmish at Pearisburg, by George Mclean. Although small by Civil War standards, the skirmish at Pearisburg, Virginia involved one of the most remarkable regiments of the Civil War, one that included two future presidents, and placed the Union within 20 miles of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad.

Library materials will be available for check out at the Government and Heritage Library by North Carolina State Agency employees or may be borrowed through an interlibrary loan request at your local public library. To view other new library acquisitions, click here.

image courtesy of http://www.learnnc.org

In the past I talked about the headright system, also called the landright system, and then I talked about colonial land patents granted by the lords proprietor, which continued through about 1729. I added some more information about the lords proprietor and new information about the British Crown patents for southern North Carolina during the colonial period, and now there is one more type of land patent during the colonial period: those for the Granville District

Margaret M. Hofmann authored a 5 volume series called Granville District of North Carolina, 1748-1763 : Abstracts of Land Grants. The Granville District was a large tract of land created in 1744 and owned by John, Lord Carteret, who became the Earl of Granville. The Granville District ran along the border of Virginia in the North from the Atlantic Coast with a southern border going west at 35 degrees and 34 minutes latitude from the middle of present day Beaufort County through the middle of Swain County. In 1729, the Lords Propieter sold their land to the Crown, all except one. His land was passed down to John, Lord Carteret and he was later made Earl of Granville. The land he owned became the Granville District. A land office did not open however, until 1748 due to negotiations between the Crown and the Earl of Granville. This 5 volume series gives abstracts for land deeds dated between 1749-1763.  Another book by Margeret M. Hofmann continues the Granville District land patents with the book Abstracts of Granville Grantees, Halifax County, North Carolina Public Registry. This book covers Granville Grants from Halifax County during 1749-1763. With the completion of this book, Margeret M. Hofmann abstracted every land patent in colonial North Carolina.

This concludes the colonial land patents.  I will continue in the future talking about land records chronologically through time periods.  Come visit us at the Government & Heritage Library to read these great books I’ve mentioned!

• What you need to do before looking for money
• What kinds of financing exist
• How to obtain a loan
• What any lender/investor wants to see from you
• What those financing terms mean

It is intended to put you in the “driver’s seat” to create a financial plan best suited for your business after you have developed a good business concept. This document includes an “owners manual” that contains a chart where you can note the cost and funding source for everything you need to start your business and also a checklist of information that funders might ask you to provide.

This publication can be downloaded, printed, saved, and viewed by clicking here.

If you are interested in learning about events happening across North Carolina this month in honor of NC Beer Month, visit the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development’s http://www.ncbeermonth.com/.

Curious about the history of beer in North Carolina? Check out these articles in NCpedia:

• Beer, by Bryan LeClaire. 2010. Written for NCpedia.
• Beer and Breweries, by Karl E. Campbell, 2006. Written for UNC Press’s Encyclopedia of North Carolina. Reprinted with permission.

Each month the State Library of North Carolina celebrates a different topic related to North Carolina by highlighting links to online and print resources on one of the “ExploreNC” pages. A complete list is available at http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/ghl/themes/index.html

April 13, 2013 Genealogy Workshop: Researching Your Civil War Ancestors

Don’t forget to join us on April 13, 2013 as staff members from the Government & Heritage Library and the State Archives of North Carolina, will discuss the top ten questions regarding Civil War ancestors asked by  our researchers. We will cover information on  Confederate and Union records, including U.S. Colored Troops.

The workshop will take place in the Auditorium at the State Archives/State Library Building (109 E. Jones Street in downtown Raleigh) from 10-11 a.m.  The Genealogy Research Room of the State Library and the State Archives Search Room are open from 9 a.m. till 2 p.m., so you can come before the presentation and stay after to start your research.

Parking is available in the visitor lot, immediately opposite the building (parking is free on Saturdays), along with the Jones St. employee lot (entrance on Blount St.) and in the employee lot opposite the Executive Mansion.

Please note that the workshop was originally scheduled for April 27th, but was re-scheduled to avoid conflicting with other major events in the downtown area.

For more information or to register please call (919)807-7450 or email slnc.reference@ncdcr.gov.

Fugitive Justice: Runaways, Rescuers, and Slavery on Trial, by Steven Lubert.  The author tells the stories of 3 of the most dramatic fugitive slave trials of the 1850s, revealing the determination of the fugitives, the radical tactics of  rescuers, the brutality of the slave hunters and the tortuous response of the  courts.

Spirits of Just Men: Mountaineers, Liquor Bosses, and Lawmen in the Moonshine Capital of the World, by Charles Thompson. This book tells the story of moonshine in 1930s America, specifically, Franklin County, Virginia, known as the “moonshine capital of the world.”  The author,  a native son of Franklin County Virginia, draws from extensive oral histories and local archival material to demonstrate the pervasiveness of the moonshine economy and its effect on Appalachia. The Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trial of 1935 is described.

Library materials will be available for check out at the Government and Heritage Library by North Carolina State Agency employees or may be borrowed through an interlibrary loan request at your local public library. To view other new library acquisitions, click here.

Click image to see more. Page is from the “Collection of all the public acts of Assembly, of the province of North-Carolina …” (1752).

However, this page, from our copy of the Collection of all the public acts of Assembly, of the province of North-Carolina (1752) brought considerable attention.  We’ve finally identified the animal bounding across the page – it’s a squirrel. We’re not sure what kind (although we’re hopeful that it’s a Gray Squirrel, which happens to be the official state mammal). The size of the prints and the way the hind leg prints are before the front leg prints helped us finally identify it.

We’ve been trying to figure this out for awhile, especially with all of the hype that cats get when they’ve left their paws on manuscripts. Kudos to Carol Sciurus, who finally figured it out.

Click the following links to view, download, print or save the Winter 2013 issue for the Piedmont, Mountain, or Coastal areas.

Here’s a synopsis of the four webinars. If you’re interested, I hope you can make it!

“Preservation Planning and Overview of PREMIS for Beginners”
Speaker = Lisa Gregory, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.
This webinar is designed to help participants begin formulating a digital preservation plan for their digital collections. Even if you already have files accumulating, planning and implementing basic digital preservation strategies doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Topics to be covered include what to consider during planning, first steps for implementation, as well as a basic introduction to PREMIS, the Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata.  The goal will be to help you start thinking about preservation as part of your everyday digital workflow.
DATE:  Tuesday, April 2, 2013  |  11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT
REGISTER:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/784245138

“Forbearing the Digital Dark Age: Capturing Metadata for Digital Objects”
Speaker = Chris Dietrich, National Park Service.
Metadata is the key to both discovery and long-term accessibility of digital content. This webinar will address metadata for digital photos, documents, audio-video, tabular data, and GIS data. Topics include categories of metadata, metadata standards for different asset types, metadata capture strategies, and metadata software tools. Links to additional resources for digital preservationists will also be provided.
DATE:  Tuesday, April 9, 2013  |  11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT
REGISTER:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/545077562

“Management of Incoming Born-Digital Special Collections”
Speaker = Gretchen Gueguen, University of Virginia.
This webinar will cover the basics of getting started with managing born-digital archives. Through basic techniques and practical suggestions, you will learn how to assess your collection, develop a management plan, put basic policies in place, and set up an accessioning workflow. Simple tools to help you do the job will be reviewed along with guides and other resources to help answer your questions.
DATE:  Tuesday, April 16, 2013  |  11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT
REGISTER:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/366765338

“Using FITS to Identify File Formats and Extract Metadata”
Speaker = Andrea Goethals, Harvard University.
After an introduction to file formats and technical metadata, a demo of the File Information Tool Set (FITS) will be given. You will learn what it does, how it differs from other format tools, how to use it, how to customize it and how Harvard is using FITS in different ways. No experience with FITS is necessary but if you would like to try it out in advance you can download it from http://code.google.com/p/fits/
DATE:  Tuesday, April 30, 2013  |  11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT
REGISTER:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/305875426

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