"Better Living in North Carolina": Challenges of Presenting Agricultural Statistics From The Past

Abstract

The Special Collections Research Center at NCSU Libraries is exploring historical datasets as part of its LSTA-funded digitization project “Better Living in North Carolina: Bringing Technology To The People.” Through the project, thousands of resources from the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service will be digitized. Among these materials are annual statistical reports completed by agricultural extension agents from 1923 to 1967. These reports contain potential legacy datasets from various agricultural fields, from farming soils to home health and nutrition. This poster will present examples, insights on the challenges of extracting data from digitized archival materials, and the value of these resources for today’s researchers. We hope that data researchers across multiple disciplines may find new and unexpected datasets in special collections.