Blogs

Digitized materials are not always easily indexed by Google and other search engines, meaning that in the past, users had to visit each individual website to find content related to their research- a very time consuming process.

The Municipal World (CIHM 8_06700) has the distinction of being the oldest continuously published monthly municipal magazine in the world. It is also one of only a handful of Canadian magazines that has been publishing throughout three centuries. Indeed 120 years after its inception, it is still going strong, and a perusal of some of the fascinating articles found in the 108 issues currently available on Early Canadiana Online (ECO), quickly explains its exceptional longevity.

Family Tree Magazine, a US based publication, has named Canadiana.org as one of the top 101 websites for genealogy research. The magazine provides articles and guidance for amatuer genealogist on how to "discover, preserve and celebrate their roots". Although most of the websites listed are housed in the US, they have a "Canadian Cousins" section which include six Canadian websites - one of which is Canadiana.org.

The Canadiana Discovery Portal has been in operation for about a year now. Over the course of that year, we have changed the Solr index schema numerous times, experimenting to find what works best.

In a recent article published by the Stratford institute, I argue that in order for Canada to remain competitive in the “knowledge economy”, we must invest more heavily in creating and preserving our digital heritage resources.

Over the last 15 years, we have digitized approximately 13% of Canada’s text based documentary heritage and less than 1% of all other multi-media. While this represents significant progress, we must do better. Canada is falling behind other nations in providing access to our national heritage

The University of Victoria has contributed metadata from their collection of Colonial Despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia (1846-1871) to the Canadiana Discovery Portal.

There are currently more than 50 periodicals relating to agriculture available for subscribers on Early Canadiana Online (ECO). Dozens more are slated for digitization over the next few years. This reflects the huge role that agriculture played in the economic, social, and political spheres of 19th century Canada.