The North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources announced today that 24,000 articles from William S. Powell’s Dictionary of North Carolina Biography and Encyclopedia of North Carolina will be added to NCPedia, the free, online encyclopedia of North Carolina history, biography, and culture maintained by the State Library of North Carolina.
This is big news for anyone interested in the history and culture of our state. Powell’s trilogy of reference books — the aforementioned encyclopedia and biographical dictionary, together with the North Carolina Gazetteer — are unparalleled sources of education and enlightenment for students, librarians, and curious readers of all ages. I don’t think that any state has a comparable collection of major reference books of this caliber. Adding these new sources to NCPedia will only increase their usefulness and reach.
This is great news! I hope they can run the pieces in full. Many were cut back because of printing costs. And think of all the photos that can now be added! And citations can be linked, especially to finding aids for personal papers.