Call for Canadiana Collection Development Projects
CRKN is delighted to launch our first annual call to the membership for Canadiana collection development projects.
Overseen by the Canadiana Content Sub-Committee (CCSC) and the Preservation and Access Committee (PAC), the goal of this call is to proactively expand the Canadiana collection with member content that contributes to current scholarship while representing the wide diversity of Canadian heritage.
Proposals may be submitted for physical materials to be digitized by CRKN staff in Ottawa, Ontario and added to Canadiana, or for materials already digitized at your institution or a partnering institution that you would like to see added to Canadiana. Projects will be completed at no cost to member institutions, excluding shipping costs for sending materials to Ottawa.
CRKN is seeking project proposals that fit a set of criteria determined by the CCSC and the former HCPTG. The criteria are as follows:
| Availability |
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| Format |
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| HCPTG Content Priorities (at least one of these criteria must apply) |
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The 2024 Call for Projects is now closed and the selected projects have been announced! Please contact us with any questions.
The CCSC will review all proposals and make final decisions on accepted projects.
Final decisions will be guided by the Criteria for Selection and Prioritization of Digitization and Preservation Projects and the Canadiana Collection Development Priorities. We recommend reviewing them as you complete your project proposal.
- September 13, 2024: deadline to submit project proposals
- September-November 2024: review of proposals
- November 2024: final selection of projects
- December 2024: digitization and associated work underway
The theme of this year’s call is Exploring Communities. Whether a local newspaper, special interest magazine, trade journal, or community zine, we want to see Canadian communities better reflected in Canadiana!
CRKN also welcomes project proposals that do not fit this theme but are otherwise well-suited to inclusion in Canadiana. Please see the criteria above for more information.
This call has been made possible through the creation of the new Criteria for Selection and Prioritization of Digitization and Preservation Projects and the Canadiana Collection Development Priorities. These documents, based on the recommendations of the former Heritage Content Priorities Task Group (HCPTG), were drafted by the CCSC with review by the PAC and the Board of Directors. They form the foundation and guiding principles on which Canadiana collection development will be carried out.
Questions?
We encourage members considering submitting a proposal to reach out to us to discuss their potential project. For questions, comments, and feedback, please contact Francesca Brzezicki, Heritage Engagement Officer, at fbrzezicki@crkn.ca.
Issues of Acadia University’s student publication The Athenaeum from 1874 to 1929 are now available on Canadiana! Featuring existing scans from microfilm and new scans from the original publications held by Acadia University, this project adds to Canadiana’s growing collection of student publications. The Athenaeum is the first project to be completed as part of CRKN’s inaugural Call for Canadiana Collection Development Projects, and we would like to thank staff at Acadia University’s Vaughan Memorial Library for their participation and support. Researchers can find more editions of The Athenaeum, digitized by the Vaughan Memorial Library Special Collections, at the Acadia Digital Collections website.
Scanned from the collection of the McGill University Libraries and provided to CRKN through our digital content sharing project stream, 30 Ontario illustrated historical county atlases and Dominion of Canada atlases are now available on Canadiana!
Dating to the 1870s, these illustrated historical atlases contain a wealth of cartographic and genealogical information about 19th century Ontario and Canada, including cadastral maps, local histories, and illustrations of notable homes and properties. Several of these newly digitized atlases replace microfilmed copies previously available on Canadiana, providing higher quality images and a better navigation experience for researchers.
CRKN thanks staff at the McGill University Libraries for their participation in this project, which is the second to be completed through CRKN’s Call for Canadiana Collection Development Projects. To get started with your research, simply search Canadiana for the illustrated historical atlas of your choice:
- Ontario county atlases: Brant, Carleton, Elgin, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, Haldimand, Halton, Hastings and Prince Edward, Huron, Lincoln and Welland, Middlesex, Norfolk, Northumberland and Durham, Ontario, Oxford, Peel, Perth, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Wentworth, York, township of West Gwillimbury and town of Bradford
- Dominion of Canada atlases: Bruce County edition, Grey County edition, Kent County edition, Lambton County edition, Lanark County edition, Simcoe County edition, Victoria County edition, Waterloo County edition
Researchers can now access issues of two groundbreaking abolitionist newspapers, Voice of the Fugitive and The Provincial Freeman, on Canadiana. Scanned from paper originals and contributed by OurDigitalWorld, these newspapers expand Canadiana’s collection of Canadian Black historical materials.
Voice of the Fugitive was the first Canadian abolitionist newspaper published by Black editors. It was founded by Henry Bibb (1815–1854) and his wife Mary Miles Bibb (1820–1877), who fled from the United States to Canada after the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The Bibbs began publishing Voice of the Fugitive in 1851, with Mary contributing substantially to the newspaper, despite her name not appearing on the masthead. Voice of the Fugitive was published until 1854.
The Provincial Freeman was founded by Mary Ann Shadd (1823–1893), the first Black female publisher in North America. Born to an abolitionist family in Delaware, Shadd worked as a teacher before moving to the Windsor, Ontario area in 1851 at the encouragement of Henry and Mary Bibb. When differences of opinion emerged with the Bibbs, Shadd began publishing her own newspaper, The Provincial Freeman, in 1853. The newspaper ran until 1860.
This project includes 51 editions of Voice of the Fugitive dating from January 1851 to December 1852, and 96 editions of The Provincial Freeman dating from March 1855 to September 1857. Canadiana previously featured a small selection of microfilm scans of The Provincial Freeman, which have been replaced and expanded through this project.
CRKN is grateful to OurDigitalWorld for contributing these newspapers through the Call for Canadiana Collection Development Projects. Voice of the Fugitive and The Provincial Freeman are also available through OurDigitalWorld’s Abolitionist Newspapers of the 1850s portal.