Connecting Stories to Sources: CRKN and Historica Canada Launch Landmark Partnership
The Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) and Historica Canada are pleased to announce that we have signed a new memorandum of understanding to enhance access to Canadian knowledge and strengthen connections between scholarly and public audiences.
This new collaboration brings together two critical open resources for learning about Canada’s history and culture – The Canadian Encyclopedia and Canadiana. Published by Historica Canada, The Canadian Encyclopedia includes more than 25,000 articles and plays an essential role in providing Canadians and others with accurate, updated information about our people and culture. CRKN’s Canadiana Collections and Infrastructure is a Canadian library-owned digital platform with more than 69 million pages of digitized Canadian documentary heritage. Through this agreement, articles in The Canadian Encyclopedia will interlink directly to primary sources on Canadiana, allowing anyone to seamlessly explore the original document and enrich their knowledge with the context for its historical importance. The organizations are also collaborating to identify key documents in Canadiana and develop new or update existing articles for The Canadian Encyclopedia to highlight the role of these documents in Canadian history.
Together, these efforts will increase awareness of both organizations and expand access to reliable, high-quality Canadian content for audiences across the country and beyond.
“This partnership is about making Canadian knowledge easier to find, understand, and use. Thanks to the continued support of our member libraries, CRKN is empowering Canada by creating pathways to trusted knowledge. By connecting Canadiana’s primary sources with the trusted context of The Canadian Encyclopedia, we will enable more people—both inside and outside academia— to directly engage with Canada’s past in richer and more meaningful ways.” — Clare Appavoo, Executive Director, Canadian Research Knowledge Network
“This partnership between Historica Canada’s The Canadian Encyclopedia and Canadiana provides an opportunity to deepen Canadians’ connection to our shared history and culture. By bringing together research, archival material and accessible storytelling, we help ensure that Canada’s stories are preserved, enriched and available to audiences across the country for generations to come.” – Anthony Wilson-Smith, President & CEO, Historica Canada
To view this partnership in action, see The Canadian Encyclopedia’s article on A true report of Martin Frobisher’s voyage,1577.
About the Canadian Research Knowledge Network
CRKN is a national network of 88 Canadian universities, libraries, and research institutions dedicated to making trustworthy knowledge accessible to all. Through its work in licensing scholarly content, advancing open access, and preserving Canada’s documentary heritage, CRKN supports researchers, educators, students, and the public in discovering and sharing knowledge. The Canadiana Collections and Infrastructure provide online access to more than 69 million pages of digitized Canadian historical documents. Stewarded by CRKN and made freely available through the financial support of CRKN member libraries, Canadiana provides open access to these heritage materials for researchers, educators, and the public worldwide.
About Historica Canada
Historica Canada is a charitable organization that offers programs in both official languages that you can use to explore, learn, reflect on our history, and consider what it means to be Canadian. All our programs are offered free of charge in both of our country’s official languages – and in addition, The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in 35 other languages. Our online programs and resources are accessed by more than 28 million users annually, and our educational tools have been distributed to more than 65,000 teachers from coast-to-coast-to-coast.
For more information, please contact:
Mélanie Plante, Communications Coordinator, Canadian Research Knowledge Network
Email: mplante@crkn.ca
Cait MacMullin, Communications Specialist, Historica Canada