Member Digitization Projects
Overseen by the Canadiana Content Sub-Committee (CCSC), the Member Digitization Projects initiative guides CRKN’s commitment to expand the Canadiana Collection with diverse content from member libraries, while allowing us to effectively plan our digitization services for the following year.
Participation in this initiative is an opportunity for member libraries to have their physical materials digitized and added to Canadiana, or for already-digitized materials to be transferred to CRKN and added to Canadiana. Participation is also open to community organizations partnered with members. As a result, researchers will be able to discover and access this content on Canadiana at no charge – thanks to the collective ownership of the CRKN membership.
Interested in submitting an application? Read the Guide for Applicants for full details or contact us at digitization@crkn.ca.
There are two streams for Member Digitization Projects:
Accelerated Digitization:
- Two to three projects selected
- Digitized as a priority and complete by March 2028
- Digitization fees apply
- Hosting, OCR, and preservation costs borne by CRKN
Digital Content Sharing:
- One to two projects selected
- Hosting, OCR, and preservation costs borne by CRKN
- Shipping/hard drive costs (if applicable) borne by members
- Extra ingestion costs charged back to members
The Criteria for Selection and Prioritization of Digitization and Preservation Projects and the Canadiana Collection Development Priorities are based on the recommendations of the former Heritage Content Priorities Task Group (HCPTG), and were drafted by the CCSC with review by the Preservation and Access Committee and the Board of Directors. They form the guiding principles on which Canadiana collection development is carried out.
Criteria and priorities at-a-glance:
| Availability |
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| Format |
|
| HCPTG Content Priorities (at least one of these criteria must apply) |
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Fees are charged for Member Digitization Projects on a cost-recovery basis to ensure financial sustainability. Before the final selection of projects, CRKN will present and discuss anticipated costs with applicants.
| CATEGORY | DESCRIPTION | FEE |
| Digitization | Bound items (e.g. books) on v-scanner | $3.50 per item + $0.79 per image |
| Bound items (e.g. books) on a flatbed scanner | $3.50 per item + $0.97 per image | |
| Foldouts scanning | $8.35 - $16.70 per foldout | |
| Unbound/Disbound items (fragile) | $3.50 per item + $2.57 per image | |
| Unbound items (high-speed scanning) | $3.50 per item + $0.36 per image | |
| Microfilm (serials) | $3.50 per item + $0.52 per image | |
| Microfilm (monographs) | $3.50 per item + $0.20 per image | |
| Microfiche | $3.50 per item + $0.20 per image | |
| Slides (Slide scanner) | $1.49 per image | |
| Photographs | $15.00 per image | |
| Negatives | $9.74 per image | |
| OCR | Books, magazines, etc. | Borne by CRKN for Member Digitization Projects |
| Newspapers | Borne by CRKN for Member Digitization Projects | |
| Metadata | Metadata creation and review for integration into Canadiana | $140 per hour |
| Administrative Fees | Project management / Administration Fee | $175 Flat fee |
| Shipping and materials | Shipping costs to and from and materials (hard drives) | To be determined |
- August 26, 2026: Launch of call for projects
- November 27, 2026: Application deadline
- December 2026: Review of applications by CRKN stsaff
- January 2027: Review of applications by CCSC
- April 2027: Projects begin!
Before preparing your application, please read the Guide for Applicants for full details on project requirements and an overview of the Member Digitization Projects process. Be sure to choose the application form that corresponds to your project: Digitization or Digital Content Sharing.
Submit the following materials to digitization@crkn.ca to apply:
- Complete PDF application form
- Metadata sample for each title in your project
- (For projects in copyright) Proof of permission to reproduce each title in your project and share it in Canadiana, or information on a risk assessment process from your institution
- (For digital sharing projects) Digital image sample for each title in your project
- (For digital sharing projects) Screen capture showing file organization/naming
The deadline to submit an application is Friday, November 27, 2026.
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 us at digitization@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.
In collaboration with the University of Alberta Library, CRKN has added 1,984 issues of the Franco-Albertan newspaper La Survivance to the Canadiana Collection, covering the years from the launch of the publication in 1928 until 1967.
La Survivance, published by l’Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta, was a key newspaper for the francophone Albertans, covering local community news, updates from the Catholic Church in Canada and abroad, and world events. With its title reflecting the French-Canadian community’s efforts to sustain their language and culture in a largely anglophone province, La Survivance bears witness to the history and pride of Franco-Albertans.
La Survivance joins dozens of publications in the Canadiana Collection produced by French Canadians outside of Quebec, as well as thousands of other French-language publications available to explore on the platform. CRKN thanks the staff at the University of Alberta Library for contributing La Survivance through the Call for Canadiana Collection Development Projects.
CRKN has added eleven additional years of the London Advertiser newspaper—one of Canadiana’s most popular titles—to the Canadiana Collection. Contributed by Western University Libraries and the Western Archives and Special Collections, issues of the London Morning Advertiser and London Evening Advertiser now extend until October 1936, covering local southwestern Ontario news as well as Canadian and world events.
Through the London Advertiser, researchers can access reporting on this transformative period in twentieth century history, including coverage of the Great Depression, labour unrest, the rise of fascism, the ever-increasing popularity of radio and film, and the golden age of aviation.
This contribution from Western Libraries has expanded Canadiana’s collection of the London Advertiser from under 1,000 issues covering 1922 to 1925 to over 4,350 issues covering 1922 to 1936. CRKN thanks the staff at Western Libraries for providing these issues through their participation in the Call for Canadiana Collection Development Projects.