ibiblio celebrates North Carolina in November

On Nov. 21, 1789, North Carolina adopted the U.S. Constitution, becoming the 12th state to enter the federal union. Ibiblio (http://www.ibiblio.org), the public's library and digital archive, reserves the month of November to celebrate its home state, and the extensive resources ibiblio hosts dedicated to North Carolina's people and history.

One of ibiblio's most significant objectives is to support the teaching, research, and public service missions of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. To that end, ibiblio has amassed a substantial collection of resources relating to North Carolina. From the coastal
regions to Black Mountain (http://www.ibiblio.org/bmc), and from the Haw River (http://www.ibiblio.org/hawriver/) to Hayti (http://www.ibiblio.org/hayti/), ibiblio's North Carolina resources are instructional and entertaining, useful for educators, students and anyone curious about the history and people of the Tar Heel State.

The centerpiece of ibiblio's North Carolina resources is the award-winning Documenting the American South (http://docsouth.unc.edu/), a collection of sources on Southern history, literature and culture from the colonial period through the first decades of the 20th century which has become one of the most popular historical sites on the web. Additionally, ibiblio hosts numerous other multimedia exhibits which explore the historical and cultural activities of North Carolina.

ibiblio also celebrates the fun side of North Carolina culture with sites dedicated to the unofficial state food of barbecue (http://www.ibiblio.org/lineback/lex.htm), the Hollerin' contest held each year in Spivey's Corner (http://www.ibiblio.org/hollerin/) and many others.

ibiblio, a collaboration between the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the Center for the Public Domain, has served as a vehicle for knowledge sharing since 1992, first as an original Sun Microsystems SunSITE, then as Metalab, finally resting on the ibiblio name in 2000. ibiblio is a free and vibrant exchange of ideas among a large community of contributors who share their knowledge across disciplines. ibiblio is one of the major distribution hubs for Linux software and has been a significant supporter of Linux development efforts since its inception.

The average municipal public library receives a few hundred visitors a week. ibiblio.org averages five million information requests per day, and the contributor-maintained collections are continually expanding.