Johnson Papers CD selected as "Notable Document"
Portrait of Johnson, from volume 1 of the Sir William Johnson Papers
An entry from the New York State Library has been identified by the American Library Association as a "Notable Government Document" for 2007. The document honored is a CD that contains the digital edition of the Sir William Johnson Papers. Johnson's papers and correspondence were originally made available in print, in 14 volumes published between 1921 and 1965.
Johnson, who served from 1755 to 1774 as the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs in New York, is best remembered for his diplomatic achievements among the various Native American tribes and as a military leader during the French and Indian War. This set of primary documents from the colonial era provides a fascinating glimpse into the pre-Revolutionary interactions among the British, French, and Iroquois empires.
The Sir William Johnson Papers can also be found online, as part of the New York State Library's digital collections, at http://purl.org/net/nysl/nysdocs/423659. Please note, however, that the CD includes some additional material, as well as a search engine, that are not part of the online collection.
A revised edition of the Sir William Johnson Papers CD, released December 2008, is available for purchase.
About the "Notable Documents"
Each year, the Government Documents Round Table, a committee within the American Library Association composed of librarians who work with government publications, designates exemplary state and local, federal and international documents as "notable." The Johnson papers CD was one of only 13 documents selected for this honor in the state and local category. For information about all of the items selected as "Notable Documents," see the article in the May 15 issue of Library Journal, at http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6556172.html.