diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index daf913b..13e3457 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -22,3 +22,5 @@ _testmain.go
 *.exe
 *.test
 *.prof
+
+coverage.out
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 96b40c3..d49d423 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ go:
 before_install:
   - go get github.com/mattn/goveralls
 script:
-  - go test -v -covermode=count -coverprofile=coverage.out
+  - go test ./cap -v -covermode=count -coverprofile=coverage.out
   - $HOME/gopath/bin/goveralls -coverprofile=coverage.out -service=travis-ci -repotoken $COVERALLS_TOKEN
 env:
   global:
diff --git a/atom.go b/cap/atom.go
similarity index 100%
rename from atom.go
rename to cap/atom.go
diff --git a/atom_test.go b/cap/atom_test.go
similarity index 99%
rename from atom_test.go
rename to cap/atom_test.go
index 8c9bb6f..6fde971 100644
--- a/atom_test.go
+++ b/cap/atom_test.go
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func getNwsAtomFeedExample() (*NWSAtomFeed, error) {
-	xmlData, err := ioutil.ReadFile("examples/nws_atom.xml")
+	xmlData, err := ioutil.ReadFile("../examples/nws_atom.xml")
 
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/cap.go b/cap/cap.go
similarity index 85%
rename from cap.go
rename to cap/cap.go
index a17e3e9..409bbd7 100644
--- a/cap.go
+++ b/cap/cap.go
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 package cap
 
-import "encoding/xml"
+import (
+	"encoding/xml"
+	"time"
+)
 
 // Alert provides basic information about the current message: its purpose, its source and its status
 type Alert struct {
@@ -85,6 +88,32 @@ type NamedValue struct {
 	Value     string `xml:"value"`
 }
 
+// ParseAlert parses XML bytes into a CAP 1.2 Alert
+func ParseAlert(xmlData []byte) (*Alert, error) {
+	var alert Alert
+
+	err := xml.Unmarshal(xmlData, &alert)
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return &alert, nil
+}
+
+// ParseAlert parses XML bytes into a CAP 1.1 Alert
+func ParseAlert11(xmlData []byte) (*Alert11, error) {
+	var alert Alert11
+
+	err := xml.Unmarshal(xmlData, &alert)
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return &alert, nil
+}
+
 // search checks a slice of NamedValues for the first value with a specific name
 func search(nva *[]NamedValue, name string) string {
 	for _, element := range *nva {
@@ -135,3 +164,11 @@ func (a *Area) AddGeocode(name string, value string) {
 	geocode := NamedValue{ValueName: name, Value: value}
 	a.Geocodes = append(a.Geocodes, geocode)
 }
+
+// CAPDate is the form specified by the DateTime Data Type in 3.3.2 of the CAP specificaftion
+const CAPDate string = "2006-01-02T15:04:05-07:00"
+
+// ParseCAPDate parses a string into a CAPDate formatted value
+func ParseCAPDate(dtValue string) (time.Time, error) {
+	return time.Parse(CAPDate, dtValue)
+}
diff --git a/cap_test.go b/cap/cap_test.go
similarity index 77%
rename from cap_test.go
rename to cap/cap_test.go
index df6ba6e..4a4a953 100644
--- a/cap_test.go
+++ b/cap/cap_test.go
@@ -1,27 +1,20 @@
 package cap
 
 import (
-	"encoding/xml"
+	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
 	"testing"
 )
 
 func getCAPAlertExample() (*Alert11, error) {
-	xmlData, err := ioutil.ReadFile("examples/nws_alert.xml")
+	xmlData, err := ioutil.ReadFile("../examples/nws_alert.xml")
 
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	var alert Alert11
-
-	err = xml.Unmarshal(xmlData, &alert)
-
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	return &alert, nil
+	return ParseAlert11(xmlData)
 }
 
 func TestUnmarshalAlertHasProperValues(t *testing.T) {
@@ -294,3 +287,54 @@ func TestAreaGecodeReturnsEmptyStringIfNotFound(t *testing.T) {
 	geocodeValue := area.Geocode("not-a-real-key")
 	assertEqual(t, geocodeValue, "", "Geocode did not return an empty string")
 }
+
+func TestParseCAPDateReturnsCorrectValue(t *testing.T) {
+	alert, err := getCAPAlertExample()
+
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	info := alert.Infos[0]
+	dt, _ := ParseCAPDate(info.EffectiveDate)
+	_, zoneOffset := dt.Zone()
+	zoneOffsetHours := zoneOffset / 3600
+
+	// 2015-08-15T20:45:00-05:00
+	assertEqual(t, 2015, int(dt.Year()), "Year does not equal expected value")
+	assertEqual(t, 8, int(dt.Month()), "Month does not equal expected value")
+	assertEqual(t, 15, int(dt.Day()), "Day does not equal expected value")
+	assertEqual(t, 20, int(dt.Hour()), "Hour does not equal expected value")
+	assertEqual(t, 45, int(dt.Minute()), "Minute does not equal expected value")
+	assertEqual(t, 0, int(dt.Second()), "Second does not equal expected value")
+	assertEqual(t, -5, zoneOffsetHours, "TZ offset does not equal expected value")
+}
+
+func TestABC(t *testing.T) {
+	var xmlData = []byte(`<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' standalone='yes'?>
+		<alert xmlns='urn:oasis:names:tc:emergency:cap:1.2'>
+		    <identifier>NOAA-NWS-ALERTS-AR1253BA3B00A4.FloodWarning.1253BA3D4A94AR.LZKFLSLZK.342064b5a5aafb8265dfc3707d6a3b09</identifier>
+		    <sender>w-nws.webmaster@noaa.gov</sender>
+		    <sent>2015-08-15T20:45:00-05:00</sent>
+		    <status>Actual</status>
+		    <msgType>Alert</msgType>
+		    <scope>Public</scope>
+		    <info>
+		        <category>Met</category>
+		        <event>Flood Warning</event>
+		        <urgency>Expected</urgency>
+		        <severity>Moderate</severity>
+		        <certainty>Likely</certainty>
+		    </info>
+		</alert>`)
+
+	alert, err := ParseAlert(xmlData)
+
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Errorf(err.Error())
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	fmt.Println(alert.MessageID)
+	fmt.Println(alert.Infos[0].EventType)
+}
diff --git a/utils_test.go b/cap/utils_test.go
similarity index 100%
rename from utils_test.go
rename to cap/utils_test.go