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State Library of North Carolina

State Doc Pick of the Week : Great grammar adventure lessons to share

May 17th, 2013
by Kristin (State Documents Clearinghouse).
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Grammar AdventureWe all find ourselves doing it. “No, I ain’t got none of that.” “Hand me them pencils would ya?” We speak and know that that last sentence was probably not structured in the most accurate way possible, or we type out a document and a little green squiggly line appears under one of our sentences. “What’s wrong with that?” we ask ourselves. Grammar is an important part of communication, and learning how to properly structure sentences and use punctuation provides a foundation for successful communication and reduces the likelihood of miscommunication. This document, produced by the Department of Public Instruction, contains mini-lessons for teaching grammar including oral patterning, adjectives and adverbs, stop that run-on, etc.  Many of the strategies presented in this document include active physical participation for students, making the activities fun and providing an outlet for energy.

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

An Early Happy Mother’s Day

May 9th, 2013
by Lisa (Digital Information Management Program).
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Whistler's Mother

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.
You might not be painting your mother’s portrait or interviewing people on family living – but what would you say are the quintessential Mother’s Day customs in America?

Preservation Metadata for Digital Objects, NC Style

Apr 24th, 2013
by Lisa (Digital Information Management Program).
1 comment

PMDO logoIt’s National Preservation Week. On Monday, we announced a redesigned Digital Preservation Education website. Today, we’ve got another announcement specifically for North Carolina libraries, archives, and other institutions with digital files they want to preserve: we’re releasing a revised NC PMDO, or NC Preservation Metadata for Digital Objects.

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.

Preservation Week: Redesigned digitalpreservation.ncdcr.gov launched today!

Apr 22nd, 2013
by Lisa (Digital Information Management Program).
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It’s national Preservation Week! Stay tuned to the blog for posts about all things digital preservation.

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…

Digitalpreservation.ncdcr.gov redesign screenshot

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.

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