Friday, May 30, 2008

Tercentenary Edition of the Massachusetts General Laws Digitized

The Tercentenary Edition of the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (published in 1932) has been digitized. The links to the two volumes are below.


Volume 1


Volume 2


This edition of the General Laws is the basis for the subject arrangement found in the official edition of the General Laws of Massachusetts today, and is useful in Legislative History research.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

May is National Preservation Month

Begun in 1971 and formalized into a month-long celebration in 2005, National Preservation Month celebrates America's diverse and irreplaceable heritage. This year's theme, This Place Matters, encourages citizens to visit historic places and buildings in their neighborhoods to learn the history of the spaces and what is being done to preserve these areas. Through the National Trust for Historic Preservation's web site citizens can upload pictures and videos of places that matter to them.


The State Library of Massachusetts is fortunate to reside within an historic place - The Massachusetts State House. Citizens can celebrate National Preservation Month by visiting the historic building, in person or virtually. The State Library holds many resources about the history of the State House building, the most prolific being The State House Historic Structure Report, a three volume set that details the various additions to the current State House, as well as preservation goals for the future. This resource can be viewed in the Special Collections Department of the library, located in room 55 of the State House.


Further Resources:




Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Campaigns, Mayors, and Finances

The 2007 edition of the Office of Campaign & Finance's publication Campaign Finance Activity by Mayoral Candidates is available in the Library's collection. The library has this biannual document dating to 1999.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Massachusetts Receives Poor Grade on Abuse and Neglect of Children

The following report, written by the Children's Advocacy Institute and First Star is available in the State Library State Secrecy and Child Deaths in the U.S. (PDF).

-Pamela Schofield, Reference Librarian

Resource on Subprime Mortgage Servicing

The two-volume Analysis Of Subprime Mortgage Servicing Performance, by the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group, is now available in electronic format from the Attorney General's Office.


If you follow these links to volume one and volume two, you can download the electronic documents in PDF format from our dSpace server.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Coming June 9: North American Wild Flowers Exhibit


The Library's new exhibit, Mary Vaux Walcott's North American Wild Flowers, will run from June 9 through September 30, outside Room 341 of the State House. The State Library has an original printing of Mary Vaux Walcott's North American Wild Flowers, an extraordinary five-volume collection of botanical prints. This exhibit will feature some of the most striking spring and summer blossoms from the collection.
-Katie Chase, Special Collections Librarian