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The O’Brien family were Nova Scotia mariners, beginning with Captain John O’Brien (b. 1789) and Mary Margaret Thomas (b. 1791), who had four children: Joseph (1813-1882); William Harrison (b. 1822); John Russell; and Hannah (d. 184-).

William and John sailed with their father before establishing families of their own. William settled in England, marrying a widow with one daughter; they had another daughter together. Poor health forced him to leave the sea and become a shoemaker. John Russell settled in Boston, Massachusetts, where he married Mary Caroline and had five children, two of whom died in infancy.

Joseph O’Brien became a master mariner and married Janet Russell, who was born in 1816 in Wallace, Nova Scotia. Joseph became captain of the Janet, which was lost on Rio de la Plata, Argentina, in January 1868. The insurance payout allowed Joseph to buy 32 shares of a new barque, the Eliza Oulton, built by John Oulton in Pugwash, Nova Scotia. Joseph and Janet had three sons and two daughters: John Russell (b. 1841); Thomas (b. 1845); Alexander (b. 1852); Margaret (b. 1844); and Primrose (b. 1854). All three sons became master mariners before their father Joseph O’Brien died in 1882.

John O’Brien was married in 1868 to Susan Elizabeth Morris, the great-granddaughter of the Honourable Charles Morris of Halifax, first Surveyor General of Nova Scotia. Together they had one child, Elizabeth Olga, who born in 1869 on the Eliza Oulton while in the Russian harbour of Poti on the Black Sea. John O’Brien died of yellow fever six months later on the Island of St. Thomas in the West Indies, and Susan returned home to Wallace, Nova Scotia, to raise Elizabeth with the help of her parents.

Following John’s death, Thomas O’Brien became master of the Eliza Oulton, and the youngest brother, Alexander, sailed as a mate. Thomas married Maggie, with whom he had three children, and lived in Pictou, Nova Scotia, while continuing to sail for a living. Alexander married and eventually settled with his family in California.

Margaret O’Brien accompanied her brother, John, and her Uncle William on a two-year voyage, after which she worked as a milliner, married David MacLean and moved to Stellarton, Nova Scotia, where husband established a medical practice. Margaret was widowed shortly after the birth of their only child in 1876.

The youngest O'Brien child, Primrose ("Sis”), married Nathaniel Purdy and moved to Waltham, Massachusetts.

Novanet, Inc. is a consortium of academic libraries in Nova Scotia that shares resources and cooperates to improve common access to information and knowledge for the benefit of their users. Dalhousie University is a founding member.

In 1982 the Council of Metro University Librarians (COMUL) of Halifax was founded in order to create a shared, automated, integrated library system that would handle ordering, circulation, and bibliographic control of the holdings of the member institutions. The members include:

The Nova Scotian Institute of Science was founded in 1862 as a direct descendant of the Halifax Mechanics’ Institute (1831–1860) and the Halifax Literary and Scientific Society (1839–1862). It is one of the oldest learned societies in Canada. The Institute was incorporated by an act of the Nova Scotia Legislature in 1890, the Revised Statutes of Nova Scotia in 1967, and received its first grant from the Legislature in 1867.

The Institute provides a meeting place for scientists and those interested in science and publishes The Proceedings of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science. The Institute's library was established in 1864 and is now housed in the Killam Library at Dalhousie University. It holds a number of periodical titles not available elsewhere in Canada.

In the fall of 1975, the Nova Scotia Women’s Action Committee (NSWAC) was formed in Halifax by women wishing to work in a practical way toward the full and equal participation of women in all aspects of Nova Scotia society -- political, economic, educational, cultural, and social. Membership was open to all female residents of Nova Scotia.

Members' meetings were held roughly every two months to set policy and decide on major activities. Between public meetings, a Steering Committee of six to eight women (elected annually in September) acted for the whole committee, acting on issues as they arose and speaking for the whole committee. The committee was active in many areas, such as abortion, day care, education, equal pay, matrimonial property, and unemployment. In 1978, NSWAC received a grant from the Secretary of State and published the Report of the Resource Bank Project on Boards and Commissions Access Kit to Nova Scotia’s Boards and Commissions.

The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) is the largest union in the province of Nova Scotia and is the recognized bargaining agent for 30,000 public and private sector employees. The union's founding convention was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 18-19 1958. Ninety-seven delegates representing 13 divisions with occupational and regional representation passed the constitution and elected their first eight member executive, managers and supervisors who would most effectively represent them.

The NSGEU is an active affiliate of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour (NSFL), the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).

The Nova Scotia Drama League (NSDL) was incorporated in 1951 by an Act of Provincial Legislature to foster theatre through the promotion of drama festivals, education and awards. One of the earliest non-profit organizations in Nova Scotia, the Drama League was funded through membership and registration fees, individual and corporate donations, and a provincial operating grant. The Drama League was owned and operated by its membership, which included professional and amateur theatre workers and theatre companies, as well as interested supporters of the arts. The Drama League was mandated to encourage and promote drama throughout Nova Scotia; to serve as an information centre and resource for theatrical activity in the province; to encourage, organize and/or produce provincial drama festivals; to solicit and administer funds for training and supporting amateur theatre workers; to advocate the writing and production of new plays; and to co-operate with individuals and groups in other areas of the arts (i.e., dance, film, music, radio and television and the visual arts).

To these ends, the Drama League produced and published a monthly newsletter as well as the quarterly magazine, Callboard. They co-produced with the Atlantic Television System (ATV) a public service television presentation called Stagelights. The group provided a lending library for its members, held workshops on theatre-related subjects, hosted a summer school, and presented an annual Provincial Theatre Festival. They also served as the provincial representative of the National Multicultural Theatre Association, providing lighting equipment rentals and operating a co-operative buying service of hard-to-obtain theatrical supplies at affordable prices. In the early 2000s, the Nova Scotia Drama League merged with the Nova Scotia Professional Theatre Association to form Theatre Nova Scotia.

The objectives of the Nova Scotia Family and Child Welfare Association, founded in 1968, were to coordinate the family and child welfare activities of its members; to foster public interest in the welfare of families and children; and to promote study, research, and education pertaining to family and child welfare programs and legislation.

The association was preceded by the Nova Scotia Child Welfare Association. The officers of the association included a President, Past President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, and Secretary-Treasurer. The executive was composed of Officers, a Chairman of the Standing Committees, and six Members-at-Large. The association also consisted of several committees, including Legislation, Nominating, Publicity, Maintenance Rates and Finance, Personnel Standards and Practices, Annual Meeting Program, and Study and Research Committees.

Annual General Meetings were held annually in June and there were a minimum of four executive meetings each year. Membership was open to recognized agencies concerned with the welfare of families and children and was subject to the approval of the executive.

The Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) was the third centre for agricultural education and research to be established in Canada. The college was created in 1905 through a merger of the School of Agriculture, set up in 1885 at the Provincial Normal School; the Provincial Farm, founded in 1889 at Bible Hill; and the School of Horticulture, established in 1894 in Wolfville. The new agricultural campus was centred around the farm at Bible Hill and a newly constructed science building. While NSAC's primary role was to educate and prepare farmers for practice, some students completed degrees at Macdonald College at McGill University or at the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph. Many of these graduates entered government and were among the early Canadian leaders in agricultural public service.

In 1913, campus facilities and programs were expanded in response to federal funding for agricultural education; among the initiatives were home economics education, women’s institutes, rural science and youth training. Government demand for increased food production during World War One further enhanced agricultural education, while pressures from NSAC field staff led to the formation of the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and, later, the Department of Agriculture. During the 1920s and 1930s, the college made significant contributions to improving the genetic base of Atlantic Canadian farm livestock.

After World War Two there was a surge in enrolment in response to veterans seeking agricultural training, and the college was further challenged when a fire in 1946 destroyed the science building. A temporary campus at the military hospital facilities in Debert, NS, served until 1953, when a new science building—now known as the Harlow Institute—and a central heating plant enabled the move back to the Bible Hill campus. In 1959 the first campus residence was opened.

During the 1960s, requirements for a more comprehensive vocational and technical agricultural education spurred the development of additional residences, three new academic buildings, new barns and campus services. NSAC's central role was formalized by the four Atlantic provinces in the 1960s, and the degree program was officially recognized through the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission. Continued growth throughout the 1970s saw women enrolling in larger numbers, and women’s sports teams and new student services were created, including the Athletic Centre and a new dining hall. The former auditorium in Cumming Hall was redeveloped as the Alumni Theatre.

Provincial legislation in the 1980s enabled an academic agreement with Dalhousie University for degree granting purposes, and September 1981 was the first year that NSAC students were registered into a full four-year BSc program in one of four areas of specialization: Agricultural Economics, Animal Science, Plant Protection and Plant Science. More facilities were built during the 1980s, including the library, Animal Science building, and an extension to the Cox Institute. Growth in faculty and expanded research activities followed, along with increased opportunities in international development programs. In the early 1990s, graduate studies were developed, with MSc and PhD degrees conferred by Dalhousie University.
On July 1, 2012, NSAC became Dalhousie University's Faculty of Agriculture, remaining a distinct campus within the university, led by a principal/dean, a dual role that oversees both academic programs and local campus services and supports.